Ninth Circuit Lets Jewish LAUSD Plaintiffs Try Again, but Has Not Ruled on the Curriculum

Jewish parents and teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District will get another chance to make their case against a "liberated" ethnic studies curriculum, after a federal appeals court ruled they must be allowed to amend their lawsuit.

But the ruling is a procedural one. The court did not decide whether the curriculum is antisemitic.

In an eight-page memorandum filed September 4, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Judges Kenneth K. Lee, Patrick J. Bumatay and Jennifer Sung, did three things:

• Affirmed the lower court's finding that the plaintiffs had not shown the personal injury required for standing under Article III of the Constitution.

• Reversed the decision to dismiss the case with prejudice, and directed the district court to let the plaintiffs file an amended complaint.

• Vacated the lower court's orders granting the defendants' anti-SLAPP motions and awarding them attorneys' fees and costs.

In a footnote, the panel stated plainly that it was deciding only the jurisdiction question and would not offer an opinion on the merits. The memorandum is marked not for publication, which means it is not binding precedent.

How the case got here

The lawsuit, Concerned Jewish Parents and Teachers of Los Angeles v. Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, was filed in 2022 by The Deborah Project, a public interest law firm, EdSource reported. The defendants include the consortium that developed the curriculum, United Teachers Los Angeles, UTLA's then-president Cecily Myart-Cruz, two other individuals, and LAUSD, which EdSource described as a minor defendant.

According to the appeals court, the curriculum has not been formally proposed to or adopted by LAUSD. The plaintiffs allege that at least two LAUSD teachers are informally using it, that it promotes anti-Zionist and antisemitic ideas, and that the consortium and the teachers' union hold informal influence over district curriculum. EdSource reported that the curriculum characterizes Israel as a modern example of 19th-century European colonialism, which the plaintiffs call inaccurate and prejudiced.

In November 2024, U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin dismissed the case with prejudice. Under California's anti-SLAPP law, he awarded the defendants about $600,000 in attorneys' fees, according to EdSource.

The appeals court explained why the plaintiffs' complaint fell short. It did not allege that the curriculum was being taught in any classroom or school attended by the plaintiffs' children or where the plaintiff teachers work. Simply knowing it was taught in two classrooms in a district with more than 100,000 high school students was too remote to count as an injury, the panel wrote.

The panel also said the plaintiffs do not have to show they were directly exposed to the material. They must allege some personal harm plausibly tied to the curriculum, such as an act of antisemitism linked to its use in the district or at their school. The court noted that the plaintiffs had offered possible amendments, including that the curriculum has spread since 2022 and that their children have faced related antisemitic acts such as bullying.

What comes next

The ruling sends the case back to the district court. Lori Lowenthal Marcus, legal director of The Deborah Project, told EdSource the firm will file an amended complaint. She said finding people who had been harmed was not the hard part; getting them to come forward, out of fear of retribution, has been more difficult.

The plaintiffs' attorneys also told EdSource that AB 715, enacted this year, could help their case. EdSource described the law as extending protections against discrimination based on religion and national identity to textbooks, instructional materials and teacher training.

The Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium said in a press release that the ruling would not change its commitment to its curriculum. It called the litigation part of a broad attack on academic freedom and said its work is protected by the First Amendment. UTLA did not respond to EdSource's request for comment.

The public reports reviewed for this article do not indicate whether an amended complaint has been filed yet or when it is due.

Sources

• Concerned Jewish Parents and Teachers of Los Angeles v. Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, Nos. 24-7676, 25-3436, memorandum, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, September 4, 2026

• Federal court revives antisemitism lawsuit involving Los Angeles Unified ethnic studies, EdSource, September 16, 2026