Your Right to See What Your Child Is Being Taught
Parents are entitled to inspect all instructional materials used in connection with their child’s education. Cal. Educ. Code § 49091.10(a). This right is not limited to textbooks. Most assignments are being communicated on student-teacher platforms such as Google Classroom and Canvas. Find out whatever system your child’s school uses to distribute assignments and course content. Parents should be able to log in alongside their student and see the same assignments, readings, and materials that their child sees. Parents should especially request to view curriculum when their child is enrolled in Ethnic Studies. These courses are where antisemitic and antizionist content is most likely to appear — not as a rogue lesson by an individual teacher, but as part of the course design itself. If a school is teaching that Zionism is colonialism, that Israel is an apartheid state, or that Palestinians are indigenous and Jews are settlers, that content is almost certainly being delivered through an Ethnic Studies framework. You cannot evaluate what your child is being taught if you cannot see the materials. Request access early in the semester, before a problem arises.
What Happens When Parents Request Curriculum
In practice, schools have been deeply resistant to providing curriculum materials — particularly Ethnic Studies curriculum. Requests that should be routine are instead met with delay, obstruction, and legal intervention. In many cases, a parent’s simple request to see what their child is being taught is answered not by the principal or the superintendent, but by a law firm retained by the district. The firm then produces records in small batches, sometimes as little as 100 pages per month, dragging out a process that should take days into one that takes months. A parent should not have to request materials under the public records law. However, any member of the public has a right to request the curriculum under the public records law. The district must respond within 10 days. Cal. Gov. Code § 7922.535. If it needs additional time, it must provide a specific estimated date for production — not an open-ended promise to produce records in rolling batches at the district’s convenience.
Case Study: Jewish Legal News, Inc. v. San Mateo Union High School District , No. 25- CIV-00282 (San Mateo Co. Super. Ct. 2025)
In August 2024, Jewish Legal News, Inc., submitted a formal request under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) to the San Mateo Union High School District seeking copies of the curriculum for three Ethnic Studies courses — Intro to Ethnic Studies, Advancing Ethnic Studies, and Agency and Social Justice — as well as all curriculum related to Israel and Palestine. The request was sent by certified mail and delivered to the district on August 29, 2024. The district did not respond. It did not acknowledge the request, produce any records, claim any exemption, or provide an estimated date for production. It simply ignored the request entirely. JLN followed up with a second letter on September 13, 2024, sent by fax. The letter noted that the district’s response was already overdue under the CPRA’s 10-day response requirement and asked for the results of the search by September 20, 2024.
On January 13, 2025, Jewish Legal News filed a Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate in San Mateo County Superior Court, seeking a court order compelling the district to produce the requested records. Through this litigation, the petitioner was able to obtain access to the district's student-teacher software platform for the district’s Ethnic Studies courses. The matter resolved by settlement, in which the district agreed to pay the petitioner's attorneys' fees.
Why This Violates the Law
Cal. Educ. Code § 49091.10(a): Parents have a statutory right to inspect all instructional materials used in connection with their child’s education. This right extends to digital platforms (such as Google Classroom and Canvas) where assignments and course content are distributed.
California Public Records Act, Cal. Gov. Code § 7922.535: Any member of the public — including parents — may request curriculum records from a school district. The district must respond within 10 days. If additional time is needed, the district must provide a specific estimated date for production. Open-ended delay or rolling-batch production violates the CPRA.
What families should take from this: If your child is enrolled in Ethnic Studies — or any course where you suspect antisemitic or antizionist material may be taught — request the curriculum at the beginning of the semester. Ask for access to the student-teacher platform so you can view the assignments in real time.