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A STUDEN’T VIEW - Imagine learning that your child's public-school teacher publicly acknowledged using the classroom to advance a political cause, encouraged students to become activists, and stated during a public webinar that she married a foreign national to help him obtain U.S. immigration benefits. Whether one agrees with her politics is beside the point. Every parent should be asking the same question: Is this what taxpayers expect from public education?
Parents send their children to school expecting teachers to educate not recruit, persuade, or organize them around a political cause. That expectation is the foundation of public education and the trust that exists between families and schools.
Recent reports involving a Los Angeles Unified School District teacher have placed that trust under scrutiny. According to publicly reported accounts, Laura Pinho, a dance teacher at Canoga Park High School, stated during a public webinar that she married a man living in Gaza to help him obtain U.S. immigration benefits because she wanted to 'equalize the playing field.' Immigration attorneys interviewed by the media have said those statements could warrant federal review if they accurately describe the purpose of the marriage. Whether any laws were violated is for federal authorities not public opinion to determine.
Equally significant were the teacher's reported statements describing how she incorporated her personal views on the Israeli Palestinian conflict into classroom instruction, sponsored a Students for Justice in Palestine club, and encouraged student activism.
No one is questioning a teacher's constitutional right to hold political beliefs. Teachers are citizens first. They are entitled to speak, protest, volunteer, donate, and advocate as private individuals. But the classroom is different. Students are a captive audience, and teachers occupy a position of public trust.
Public education should challenge students to think critically not guide them toward predetermined political conclusions. The mission of our schools is to cultivate informed citizens, not ideological followers.
This is not about Israel versus Palestine. It is not about the political left versus the political right. It is about whether taxpayer-funded classrooms should become vehicles for political advocacy.
Would LAUSD respond the same way if a teacher promoted an opposing political ideology? Would district leaders defend the use of classroom instruction to advance a conservative cause? If the answer is no, then the standard is being applied selectively. Professional ethics cannot depend on whose politics are involved.
Political neutrality is not censorship. It is professionalism. Public schools serve students from every race, religion, ethnicity, and political background. Every family deserves confidence that classrooms remain places of education rather than political persuasion.
LAUSD also owes parents answers. District leaders should determine whether district policies governing political advocacy, instructional conduct, and employee responsibilities were followed. If they were, the district should explain why. If they were not, appropriate action should follow.
The reported statements concerning the marriage likewise deserve transparency. If federal authorities conclude that no laws were violated, the public deserves that clarity. If an investigation is warranted, it should proceed without regard to politics or ideology. Equal justice requires equal enforcement.
Public confidence in education has already been shaken by years of declining academic performance, growing polarization, and increasing skepticism from parents. Every incident that blurs the line between education and activism deepens that erosion of trust.
Public schools belong to every family not to any political movement.
Teachers should inspire curiosity, not conformity. They should teach students how to think not what to think.
LAUSD now faces a defining choice. It can reaffirm that classrooms exist to educate rather than advocate, or it can remain silent and allow public confidence to erode further.
Parents are watching. Taxpayers are paying. And students deserve classrooms where education not ideology comes first.
(Shoshannah Kalaydjian is a young Jewish student who writes about education, identity, and the challenges facing the next generation. Growing up in today’s climate, she has witnessed firsthand how rising antisemitism affects young people in classrooms and on college campuses. She is committed to sharing the perspectives of Jewish youth, amplifying student voices, and encouraging leaders to create safer, more inclusive environments for all students.)
