Teachers, union urge board to restore yearlong freshman world-history sequence to bolster Holocaust instruction and teacher stability

At Monday’s Mountain View–Los Altos Union High District board meeting, the District Teachers Association and dozens of social-studies teachers and parents urged trustees to restore a full-year freshman world history sequence paired with a semester of ethnic studies.

Dave Campbell, president of the District Teachers Association, presented the department’s proposal and said it would “provide a cohesive year long social-studies experience that supports heterogeneous grouping and consistent skill development.” Campbell said the change would protect social-studies full-time equivalents and reduce the annual staffing volatility that can lead to layoffs or other personnel actions.

Teachers who spoke in public comment described classroom-level effects they said followed the district’s 2023 move from a yearlong world-studies model to a semester-based sequence. Kevin Heikin, first vice president of the DTA, said the change left students without a shared historical foundation needed to recognize and confront antisemitism, and he argued restoring a common ninth-grade world-history experience would give students “the tools to recognize and combat antisemitism.”

Several teachers cited curricular coverage of the Holocaust and 20th-century history as a key reason for a yearlong freshman course. Roger Kim, a Los Altos High social-studies teacher, said “two semesters of world studies that we have proposed are already developed” and argued the plan would preserve heterogeneous instruction and many teacher positions. Krista Greksock, who teaches Latin and social studies, told the board some freshmen reported having no prior instruction about the Holocaust, saying that lack of shared content “is proof to me that we need a class that all students take.”

Board discussion later in the evening included references to the item as part of broader curriculum and graduation-requirement work. The board voted earlier in the meeting to set social-studies graduation requirements for the class of 2027 and beyond at 35 credits (ethnic studies, world history, U.S. history, government and economics), a separate action that dovetails with the teachers’ sequencing proposal.

The board did not take a final action Monday on the teachers’ sequencing proposal. Trustees requested additional information on implementation, staffing impacts and alignment with A–G requirements; staff suggested bringing a detailed proposal and staffing analysis back to the board for formal consideration.

What’s next: The district will compile a staff implementation analysis and return to the board with a formal recommendation and proposed course sequencing, scheduling and staffing implications.