San Francisco School Workshop Labels Teachers as Oppressors of Students
A San Francisco high school hosted a workshop promoting "adult supremacy" theory, which labels teachers and parents as oppressors of children based on age dynamics.
According to New York Post, the April workshop took place at John O’Connell High School as part of an “Ethnic Studies Everywhere” weekend seminar. The session, titled “Youth as Knowledge Producers: Challenging Adult Supremacy Through Ethnic Studies,” advanced the claim that standard teacher-student relationships constitute systemic oppression.
Presentation materials obtained from the event plainly stated that inherent power dynamics make the educator-student relationship oppressive by design, with the educator cast as oppressor and the student as oppressed.
The workshop was conducted by Jennifer Sanchez, a third-year ethnic studies teacher from California’s Central Valley, under the auspices of Teachers 4 Social Justice. This nonprofit organization seeks to reshape learning environments according to progressive ideological frameworks focused on equity and social justice, according to its stated mission.
Workshop materials defined adult supremacy as a system that positions adults as mature, intelligent, and experienced based solely on age, thereby ensuring adult control over resources and decision-making in society. The presentation went further, claiming that success within Western frameworks is inherently demanding, overwhelming, and dehumanizing.
Teachers 4 Social Justice was founded by Jeremiah Jeffries, a local activist educator who previously spearheaded an unpopular pandemic-era campaign to rename San Francisco public schools. That effort was ultimately abandoned following fierce backlash from parents.
Additional presentation slides referenced the academic work of Jackson Matos, who allegedly connects “adultism” to cultural imperialism, marginalization, exploitation, powerlessness, and violence.
The Friends of Lowell Foundation, which advocates for merit-based academic standards in San Francisco schools, compiled and released the controversial workshop materials.
One San Francisco parent, speaking anonymously to New York Post, expressed disbelief at the premise. The parent emphasized that adults possess knowledge and life experience that it is their duty to pass on to the next generation.
That same parent noted that with a substantial percentage of district students failing to meet grade-level standards in English and mathematics, the school district’s priorities appear wildly misplaced.
The organization has taken legal action concerning the district’s ethnic studies curriculum, which became a mandatory one-year requirement for high school freshmen this academic year.
California Agencies Embrace “Adultism” Framework
San Francisco’s teachers’ group is far from alone in promoting adultism as a framework for understanding societal structures. Adam Fletcher, a consultant whose clients include California school boards and government agencies, has made adultism central to equity training programs aimed at educators.
In an online seminar hosted by TEACH Los Angeles, an educators’ network funded through grants from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Fletcher described adultism as bias favoring adults over young people.
Similarly, the Oakland Youth Commission announced training last year for city employees focused on adultism, which the commission blames for stripping power from children, according to publicly available slides.
The Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services Department also sponsored an “anti-oppression training series” exploring how ageism and adultism supposedly drive discrimination. That program examines how the myth of independence, allegedly rooted in settler colonial capitalism, marginalizes youth and elders by diminishing their agency, excluding their perspectives, and reinforcing stereotypes in behavioral health practice.
Congressional Scrutiny Looms
The San Francisco Unified School District did not respond to requests for comment on the adult supremacy workshop.
The district may soon face federal scrutiny over its ethnic studies program. Superintendent Maria Su is scheduled to appear at a June 10 congressional hearing addressing parents’ rights and inappropriate content in public schools.
With information from New York Post
