{"id":15801,"date":"2026-03-23T10:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T10:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/lesson-plans-go-out-the-window-as-teachers-focus-on-cesar-chavez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T10:10:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T10:10:27","slug":"lesson-plans-go-out-the-window-as-teachers-focus-on-cesar-chavez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/lesson-plans-go-out-the-window-as-teachers-focus-on-cesar-chavez\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson plans go ‘out the window’ as teachers focus on Cesar Chavez"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Intense anger over Cesar Chavez’s legacy amid sexual abuse allegations is spilling over into California’s classrooms, prompting teachers, scholars and school systems to urgently revamp lessons about one of California’s most widely taught historical figures.<\/p>\n

Educators on K-12 and university campuses are rewriting lesson plans, reframing discussions and preparing for difficult conversations with students about the labor leader’s life and contradictions. <\/p>\n

Teachers say they don’t have the luxury of waiting for new state, district or university guidance. Instead, they are moving around in real time with nothing but rapidly evolving news coverage, student input, and their own judgment to guide them.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegular class plans are over,\u201d said Kimberly Young,<\/a> Joe teaches ethnic studies at Culver City High School and led the discussion over the allegations that first surfaced in The New York Times last week.<\/p>\n

at UCLA, Chicana\/o and Central American studies<\/a> Faculty have been grappling with how to present Ch\u00e1vez’s influence on social movements since they voted to cut his name from the department’s title. Schoolteachers are gearing up to address students’ questions, anger and confusion about a man whose name and books are deeply embedded in the state’s curriculum and ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles librarians say they are taking children’s books related to Ch\u00e1vez off the shelves. But they are preparing to cross-examine the parents and, if asked, explain that the titles were published before the allegations were made.<\/p>\n

The California Department of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District issued statements that instructors should not emphasize the importance of teaching about Ch\u00e1vez as a person and should instead focus on the farmworker movement he was central in founding. Educators across the state are assessing how to approach it in a thoughtful, age-appropriate context as they deal with the inappropriate personal conduct alleged by his accusers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time like this, you can’t avoid talking about C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez in class,\u201d said Gabriel Gutierrez, chair of the Chicana(o) and Latina(o) studies department at Cal State Northridge, one of the largest programs of its kind in the country. “We already knew he was a controversial figure, and now we have to confront him even more and interrogate him directly.”<\/p>\n

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<\/picture>\n
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Kimberly Young’s Ethnic Studies Literature class at Culver City High School has recently focused on discussing stereotypes and media representation. Young was recently inspired to add Cesar Chavez’s allegations to a class discussion.<\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

high school<\/h2>\n

At Culver City High School, Young’s 12th grade ethnic studies literature class was in the middle of a unit on stereotypes, racial and ethnic representation and media literacy when the news broke. On Thursday morning he asked students if they were aware of the revelations. Nearly half did so through TikTok and Instagram feeds.<\/p>\n

Young ran a podcast on the allegations and gave prompts to students.<\/p>\n

“I said, ‘Thoughts, feelings, reactions, questions? Where are we right now?’ And hands hit the air.\u201d <\/p>\n

Students expressed anger and resentment. He said he was concerned by negative news about a prominent Latino figure at a time of community conflict over challenges, including immigration raids. Students reported that Ch\u00e1vez’s name was immediately erased from public squares, while the name and image of President Trump \u2013 who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, all allegations Trump has denied \u2013 are being added to public buildings and institutions.<\/p>\n

Young, who also oversees the school’s comprehensive ethnic studies program, said Ch\u00e1vez’s name has “definitely” come up in classrooms during his decade of teaching in Culver City. But she said ethnic studies “really tries to center voices that have been historically marginalized, so we don’t center their narrative in our classrooms.”<\/p>\n

“It’s really important for students to not deify a historical figure, an individual, but to understand the inspiration and the movement,” Young said. <\/p>\n

State curriculum and feedback<\/h2>\n

More broadly, Ch\u00e1vez is a prominent figure in many California curricula and serves as a Latino and liberal icon in a Democratic state. His legacy has until now been considered safe to celebrate in schools.<\/p>\n

Their presence is especially visible around C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Day, March 31, with the state Department of Education offering comprehensive lesson plans, biographies in multiple languages, and service-learning activities. Grade level lessons highlight their civic values, personal lives, and influence. <\/p>\n

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\"Artist <\/picture>\n
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Artist MisterAlec on Friday replaced a portrait of C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez in a 2021 mural at the Watts\/Century Latino Organization in Los Angeles with a portrait of Dolores Huerta.<\/p>\n

(Christina House\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The Los Angeles Unified School District said the day off, scheduled to commemorate Ch\u00e1vez’s birthday, would continue this year.<\/p>\n

“We are specifically assessing the impact the holidays will have on our educational program,” said L.A. Schools Acting Superintendent. Andres Chait said last week.<\/p>\n

State law also requires instruction on Ch\u00e1vez, the farm worker movement and the role of immigrants. He appears in social science standards, English lessons, and units on American heroes and biographical writing. <\/p>\n

In the state’s ethnic studies curriculum, Ch\u00e1vez is taught alongside other prominent figures such as Dolores Huerta and the Filipino American labor leader. Larry Itliong,<\/a> With an emphasis on the broader farm labor movement and its diverse contributors.<\/p>\n

In a statement Thursday, the state Education Department said, “Schools and teachers are encouraged to teach about the farmworker movement as a struggle bigger than one individual, and the California Department of Education will update educational resources to support this shift.”<\/p>\n

Lesson depends on age<\/h2>\n

While open discussion of the allegations may be appropriate for older students, elementary students need a different approach, said Cal State Northridge professor Theresa Montano, a Chicano and Chicana studies scholar who helped develop the state’s ethnic studies curriculum.<\/p>\n

For younger children, “I would explain that something serious has happened and that adults feel it is time to remove Ch\u00e1vez’s name from institutions like schools and holidays.”<\/p>\n

Among Pomona Unified transitional kindergarten teachers, there has been little discussion so far about how to celebrate Ch\u00e1vez’s holiday, whose name state lawmakers are also considering changing in honor of farmworkers. Vaccine teacher expert Anna Trump expects many people to skip the topic.<\/p>\n

In transitional kindergarten, “key themes focus on fairness and helping others,” she said, avoiding any direct conversations about a person.<\/p>\n

“It forces you to rethink, ‘How do I present these individuals who represent certain character traits that we want our children to understand or live with, right?'” Trump said. <\/p>\n

Joanna Fabicon, who lectures on contemporary children’s literature at UCLA, said teachers, librarians and publishers must grapple with the allegations against Ch\u00e1vez and decide how to proceed.<\/p>\n

“What should they do now?” Fabicon said. “Do they retreat? New versions? Do they see other leaders in the movement who have been eclipsed by Cesar Chavez?”<\/p>\n

Phoebe Guiot, associate director of youth services, said that, for now, the charges will not lead to any changes in the Los Angeles Public Library’s children’s book selection. Families can decide whether to be tested or not.<\/p>\n

“The role of the library is to maintain diverse collections, even if some material may be objectionable,” Guiot said, noting material can be re-evaluated upon request.<\/p>\n

higher education<\/h2>\n

Ch\u00e1vez was part of the broader Chicano movement that inspired the creation of university Chicano studies departments. Faculty and students are reacting quickly \u2013 and not everyone agrees.<\/p>\n

At UCLA, professors in the Chicana\/o and Central American Studies program \u2013 its founding date commemorates a 1993 hunger strike by Ch\u00e1vez \u2013 voted to remove his name from the department. The leaders took away a bust of him from a conference room. <\/p>\n

But he will not be removed from teaching, said department chair Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda.<\/p>\n

“We need to update the narrative and look at him not just as this enormously moral person, but also as a flawed person,” he said. “It also teaches us that some of the greatest moral figures may be deeply flawed and that we must always remain vigilant and demanding.”<\/p>\n

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\"Activists <\/picture>\n
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Workers cover up a mural honoring Cesar Chavez in Cesar Chavez Cove at Santa Ana College’s Cesar Chavez Business and Computer Center on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(Alan J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

In his introductory courses, professors often begin class by showing slides that highlight Ch\u00e1vez’s quote: “Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels proud. You cannot oppress those who are no longer afraid.”<\/p>\n

This quote will remain in his text, Hinojosa-Ojeda said, because he has never seen it about “Ch\u00e1vez the man”. The quote, he said, is about “the power of critical education and social empowerment.”<\/p>\n

Luis Sotillo, a PhD student in the program, said a larger calculation is needed. He pointed to Ch\u00e1vez’s treatment of undocumented immigrants, whom the leader accused of threatening union power in an effort to report them to federal authorities in the 1970s. Ch\u00e1vez also faced criticism for attempting to discredit his opponents by accusing them of being communists, a practice known as “red-baiting”.<\/p>\n

“Cesar Ch\u00e1vez’s appreciation in our department has been a subject of controversy since before I arrived,” Sotillo said. He said that long-standing questions about Ch\u00e1vez’s record “have alienated many of us from his folklore status.”<\/p>\n

At Irvine Valley College, English professor Lisa Alvarez also still plans to talk about Ch\u00e1vez’s legacy as the March 31 holiday approaches. As a young woman she volunteered for the United Farm Workers, was arrested along with Ch\u00e1vez and other activists at the Nevada test site protests in 1987, and attended his funeral.<\/p>\n

She’ll update her PowerPoint slides to “talk about this figure and what he did for people and what we can learn about what he obviously did to people.”<\/p>\n

“It’s always good for the truth to come out,” Alvarez said. “Especially if it’s a harsh truth.”<\/p>\n

Employee <\/i> columnist<\/i> Contributed by Gustavo Arellano <\/i> this report<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Intense anger over Cesar Chavez’s legacy amid sexual abuse allegations is spilling over into California’s classrooms, prompting teachers, scholars and school systems to urgently revamp lessons about one of California’s most widely taught historical figures. Educators on K-12 and university campuses are rewriting lesson plans, reframing discussions and preparing for difficult conversations with students about<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1993,1994,2295,7677,1586,138,1545],"class_list":{"0":"post-15801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bible-verse","8":"tag-cesar","9":"tag-chavez","10":"tag-focus","11":"tag-lesson","12":"tag-plans","13":"tag-teachers","14":"tag-window"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15803,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15801\/revisions\/15803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}