LAUSD Reviews César Chávez Programs After Assault Allegations

Los Angeles Unified School District is reviewing its curriculum and educational resources tied to César Chávez following sexual assault allegations against the late labor leader, including an accusation from his longtime colleague Dolores Huerta.

Acting Superintendent Andrés E. Chait addressed the district’s response Thursday morning at a news conference, saying officials are still working through what the allegations mean for LAUSD’s educational programs.

“We’re all deeply, deeply troubled by the allegations that have come forward,” Chait said. “We are assessing the impact it’s having on our educational programs.”

The review comes after Huerta, the 95-year-old co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, alleged that Chávez sexually assaulted her during their years working together in the labor movement. Huerta’s account, released in a statement this week, added weight to what has become a fast-moving civic reckoning over how Los Angeles honors Chávez through its institutions.

Chávez’s name is woven through LAUSD’s physical and academic infrastructure. César Chávez Elementary School, which opened in 2005 near El Sereno northeast of downtown Los Angeles, carries his name. So does the César E. Chávez Learning Academies, a cluster of four independent high schools on a campus in San Fernando. Whether the district will move to rename either campus is unresolved. LAUSD did not address the question directly Thursday.

The district’s Wednesday statement framed the curriculum review around a specific principle: keeping the focus on the farmworker movement rather than on Chávez as an individual.

“Los Angeles Unified respects the voices and courage of survivors of all forms of violence,” the statement read. “The district is reviewing curriculum and resources to ensure the emphasis remains on the important work of the farmworker movement, not on any one individual.”

The March 31 César Chávez Day holiday, a day off on the LAUSD calendar, also came up Thursday. Chait said the district has no immediate plans to reclassify the date.

“It’s an unassigned day, and at this point we would not make any shift in the calendar,” he said, adding that the holiday is “part of the larger picture that we’re assessing.”

At the city level, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass moved more quickly. Bass was expected to sign a proclamation Thursday renaming César Chávez Day to Farm Workers Day in the City of Los Angeles, a shift that separates recognition of the movement from recognition of its most prominent figurehead.

The broader question of what to do with Chávez’s name across schools, streets, and public buildings is one that cities and districts across California are now confronting. Chávez’s legacy as a labor organizer and civil rights figure has been taught in California classrooms for decades. His name appears on schools, parks, and public infrastructure statewide. The allegations by Huerta, one of the people most central to building that legacy alongside him, have made the standard institutional response, which is to simply wait and see, politically untenable for many officials.

For LAUSD, the practical challenge is significant. The district serves more than 400,000 students, many from Latino families for whom Chávez has been a symbol of labor dignity and cultural pride. Any curriculum shift will require care, and renaming schools is a process that typically involves community input, board votes, and considerable time.

What Thursday’s news conference made clear is that the district is not dismissing the allegations or moving to protect Chávez’s institutional standing at all costs. Chait’s language was unambiguous about the district taking the accusations seriously. What comes next, on school names, on the March 31 holiday, and on how Chávez is taught, is still being worked out.

LAUSD has not announced a timeline for completing its review.