Ben Austin, a former California State Board of Education member and ex-staffer on Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign, is calling for a fundamental shift in how America approaches public education. In a new analysis, he argues that schools have become ideological battlegrounds where political activism from both left and right is undermining the core mission of teaching students to think for themselves.
Austin points to recent webinars hosted by Code Pink's Marci Winograd, who leads the pro-Palestinian caucus within the California Teachers Association. These sessions, reviewed by the North American Values Institute, included a dance teacher named Laura Pinho who has a social media history filled with antisemitic tropes, such as referring to Jews as "Satanic bankers." Pinho demonstrated how to incorporate Palestinian "resistance" into dance lessons under the guise of state academic standards. Austin, who voted to enact those very standards, says this was not a lesson in culture but a tutorial in steering students toward a predetermined political conclusion.
The problem, Austin argues, is not confined to one side. In Los Angeles, a Jewish teacher and union leader of 25 years, Amy Leserman, was publicly denounced and removed from a union leadership meeting for being a "known Zionist." United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart Cruz oversaw the removal so the union could vote on five motions related to Israel and Palestine. Meanwhile, on the right, Oklahoma legislators have pushed to incorporate election conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack into curricula, and Texas recently approved new standards mandating Bible verses as required reading.
"These two ideological extremes share one damaging premise—that public schools should serve as a battlefield for adult political activism rather than as educational institutions devoted to building knowledge, judgement and civic responsibility," Austin writes. He notes that while adults fight over politics, student achievement has hit historic lows, with 12th grade reading and math scores falling to record levels. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are hollow promises for a child who cannot read those words."
Austin identifies the deeper issue: students and parents have virtually no enforceable power to demand that schools prioritize learning. Children have a legal right to a free education, but no rights regarding its quality. This creates an opening for ideological capture. He proposes making educational quality a civil right, which would empower families—not unions, bureaucrats, or political activists—to hold schools accountable.
Such a change would mean every child is taught to read, write, reason, and calculate at a high level, with instruction grounded in transparent academic standards rather than political recruitment. Families would have recourse when systems fail. Austin’s call comes as debates over classroom content intensify nationwide, from disputes over critical race theory to battles over LGBTQ+ representation.
For context, the intersection of education and civil rights remains a flashpoint in American politics. In a related development, the Michigan polling data reveals racial and educational divide in Senate primary, underscoring how educational disparities shape electoral outcomes. Meanwhile, the D.C. Circuit reinstates Pentagon escort rule for journalists, a reminder of how institutional rules can affect transparency and accountability.
"Our schools belong neither to the political left nor the political right. They belong to the parents and children of America," Austin concludes. His organization, Education Civil Rights Now, is pushing for legal and policy changes to enshrine quality education as a fundamental right, arguing it is the true civil rights issue of our time.
