California teachers amend lesson plans after Cesar Chavez abuse allegations

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics California teachers amend lesson plans after Cesar Chavez abuse allegations Public school teachers across California have taught Cesar Chavez's contributions to the labor movement for a long time.

+ Education California teachers amend lesson plans after Cesar Chavez abuse allegations March 31, 20264:41 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition From By Katie DeBenedetti California teachers amend lesson plans after Cesar Chavez abuse allegations Listen &middot; 3:47 3:47 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5758121/nx-s1-9710069" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Public school teachers across California have taught Cesar Chavez's contributions to the labor movement for a long time. Now they're figuring out how to revise those lessons given the recent allegations against him of sexual assault. Sponsor Message MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Today is the birthday of Cesar Chavez. For years, it's been celebrated as a holiday in California, where he co-founded the farmworker movement. But after reporters detailed sexual abuse and assault allegations against Chavez this month, California teachers are scrambling to come up with new lesson plans. Katie DeBenedetti with member station KQED has this report.

+ KATIE DEBENEDETTI, BYLINE: Hundreds crowded into a high school auditorium earlier this month in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood for the school district's annual mariachi concert. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) DEBENEDETTI: Students played alongside their teachers and professional musicians. Behind the scenes, sexual assault allegations against Cesar Chavez reverberated even through the concert's music. MARTHA RODRIGUEZ-SALAZAR: One of the sentences, it says, come, dove, and say to Cesar Chavez to stop shedding tears. DEBENEDETTI: That's mariachi teacher Martha Rodriguez-Salazar. RODRIGUEZ-SALAZAR: Instead of saying Cesar Chavez, we put campesinos, which is farmers. DEBENEDETTI: They chose to replace Chavez's name after a New York Times investigation revealed allegations that he sexually abused two young girls in the 1970s and raped fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s. The revelations came just before Chavez's birthday, which is a time when many teachers bring up his legacy. DAVID KO: I was already planning on explaining to students about Cesar Chavez Day and little kind of insights into the farmworkers movement. DEBENEDETTI: David Ko teaches high school ethnic studies and U.S. history in San Francisco. He says he used to describe the co-founder of United Farm Workers labor union this way. KO: I would say that he was a Mexican American activist and labor organizer. DEBENEDETTI: Now Ko says his lesson plan will be a bit more complicated. KO: There's people who have done remarkable, amazing accomplishments in advancing people's rights and causes, and it's also possible for those same people to have harmful ideas. DEBENEDETTI: Many educators, like ninth-grade teacher Samantha Aguirre, say they had already shifted focus away from him in recent years. SAMANTHA AGUIRRE: Students are often taught this one great man did all these amazing things, but what they don't always learn is that it was hundreds, tens of thousands of people behind them in the movement. DEBENEDETTI: Her classes study the farmworker movement's lesser-known Filipino leaders and women like Huerta. Now she'll include the allegations against Chavez as another piece of the movement's history. AGUIRRE: Hearing Dolores Huerta saying, like, he assaulted me, but I felt like I couldn't say anything 'cause it would be bad for the movement, I think that this is an important lesson in our communities. DEBENEDETTI: Education policy experts say the California Department of Education can't tell teachers exactly how to teach Chavez. But the agency does provide model curriculum for K through 12. After the state renamed its holiday to Farmworkers Day, the department put a three-sentence pop-up advisory on its Chavez curriculum page, urging teachers to focus on the movement as, quote, "a struggle greater than one man." The department did not respond to questions about if or how it will revise that curriculum in light of the new allegations. Aguirre says it will be up to teachers to evolve with the history. AGUIRRE: It's our responsibility as historians, as educators to take that new information and change what we teach and we know. DEBENEDETTI: It's not erasing history, she says. It's just teaching that history is a bit more complicated. For NPR News, I'm Katie DeBenedetti in San Francisco. (SOUNDBITE OF SALVIA PALTH'S "(DREAM)") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();