Appeals court reviving challenge to Los Angeles ethnic studies materials ‘changes everything,’ Deborah Project says

A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit filed by Jewish parents and teachers against the Los Angeles Unified School District over ethnic studies materials they claim promote antisemitism. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a lower court's dismissal, allowing plaintiffs to revise their complaint to better demonstrate how Jewish students were harmed. Lori Lowenthal Marcus, legal director of The Deborah Project, which represents the plaintiffs, stated, "The Ninth Circuit undid that altogether," emphasizing that the ruling "changes everything." The challenged materials, tied to the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, allegedly describe Israel as a "colonialist" and "settler state" and Zionism as a "nationalist colonial ideology." The appeals court's decision also nullified over $500,000 in legal fees previously ordered against the plaintiffs, and the case will now return to the trial court.