Staff Reports
Leaked curriculum slides from the North Monterey County Unified School District have blown the lid off a classroom controversy. Materials shared with the watchdog group Defending Education show a newly approved ethnic studies course treating 9/11 as primarily a moment that exposed “shameless” prejudice against Arab and Muslim Americans and even listing Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” as a classroom source. Parents who want their children to learn about the victims and the heroes—not a syllabus that centers the attackers—are rightly upset.
What the leaked slides actually show
The slide deck and syllabus that surfaced include a Unit on “Othering and Belonging” that frames the post‑9/11 era mostly in terms of increased Islamophobia. One slide bluntly states, “9/11 made the already existing prejudices against Arab and Muslim Americans more obvious and shameless.” The materials also point students to bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to America” as a primary source for discussion. The district board approved the locally developed ethnic studies course in July and classes began this school year, and the files were handed to Defending Education by a concerned parent before the story spread in conservative outlets.
Why this matters — and why people are angry
Ethnic studies can be useful when it fills gaps in history and shows students different perspectives. But there’s a big difference between adding missing stories and using classroom time to uplift a terrorist’s words or to frame America as the villain. Parents, veterans, and first responders want lessons that honor victims, explain the facts of the attack, and teach civic unity—not lessons that read like political activism dressed up as coursework. Defending Education’s director of research told reporters, “No child should be forced to take a course that teaches them to view Western culture and the United States with contempt.” That concern is easy to understand.
A practical fix: transparency, context and balance
The school district should do three simple things: release the full slide deck and syllabus, explain how teachers are instructed to use sensitive sources, and give parents clear opt‑out or alternative assignments. California’s AB 101 made ethnic studies a graduation requirement, and districts do have room to design locally developed courses — but that flexibility comes with responsibility. If a lesson uses a terrorist manifesto, it must be tightly framed with survivor testimony, law‑enforcement perspective, and careful discussion about extremism so kids don’t walk away confused or radicalized.
At the end of the day, schools should teach the truth about 9/11 without turning students into footnotes in a political argument. North Monterey County Unified School District should answer the public’s questions now — Superintendent Dr. Matthew Turkie and the school board can start by explaining whether these slides represent required coursework or raw drafts. Parents across California should pay attention: this is not just one district’s problem but part of a larger debate over how ethnic studies is being taught under AB 101. If districts want community trust, they’ll choose clarity and common sense over classroom stunt politics.
