A local nonprofit rented an SFUSD high school for an ethnic studies conference for educators, featuring a workshop about “adultism” and power dynamics in the classroom, which has drawn predictable criticism, largely due to the mistaken belief that city funds paid for it.
For anyone who was once a child, it may seem obvious that adults hold far more power than children over their daily lives. Still, many adults find this concept to be too outlandish, and they’re up-in-arms over a recent workshop on the topic, which took place at SF’s John McConnell High School, as the Chronicle reports.
Teachers 4 Social Justice, the nonprofit that sponsored the workshop, titled “Youth as Knowledge Producers: Challenging Adults Supremacy Through Ethnic Studies,” said it was part of a larger conference called “Ethnic Studies Everywhere,” designed to help educators incorporate ethnic studies concepts across subject areas amid ongoing pushback locally and nationally.
The adult supremacy workshop focused on “adultism,” a framework that examines how authority and decision-making are concentrated among adults and how those dynamics shape classroom relationships and broader social systems.
The Chronicle reports that the workshop drew immediate criticism online, amplified by confusion over who organized and funded it. SFUSD officials confirmed the district did not pay for the conference and had no role in its content or promotion, noting that outside organizations are allowed to rent district facilities and host independent events. The San Francisco teachers' union promoted the training in a newsletter, though it remains unclear how many district or outside educators participated.
Ethnic studies continues to be a contentious issue in San Francisco and statewide. The SFUSD recently replaced its earlier homegrown curriculum with a new standardized version and now requires a yearlong ethnic studies course for graduation starting with the class of 2028. Per the Chronicle, the shift has intensified debate over what the subject should prioritize, with some advocating for a focus on culture and historical understanding, while others support a framework centered on social justice and activism.
Friends of Lowell Foundation, which sent slides of the adultism presentation to the salacious California Post, is legally challenging the district’s ethnic studies curriculum, calling it “illegal and unvetted.”
Similar disputes have occurred across California, per the Post, including Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, and Santa Clara County Office of Education programs, where educators have also received training on adultism.
Additionally, Superintendent Maria Su is scheduled to travel to Washington next week, where she's been summoned by a congressional committee to testify on district policies tied to ongoing “culture war” debates playing out nationally, according to the Chronicle.
She is expected to face questions on transgender policies, LGBTQ instruction, sexual health education, and ethnic studies, areas that have increasingly become focal points in broader Republican-led challenges to race-based curriculum and diversity programming.
Previously: SFUSD Opts For Less Controversial Ethnic Studies Curriculum
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