DECEMBER 2025 NEWSLETTER
Their minds are open.
Let's keep it that way.
Welcome to THINC Foundation’s newsletter! Releasing semi-monthly, it contains our views on key developments in Liberated Ethnic Studies (LES) in K-12 schools as well as relevant news articles and timely calls to action.
Warning Signs from Coast to Coast
By Mitch Siegler, Founder
Voters in Seattle and New York City just elected self-professed Democratic Socialist mayors who have lost no time in staffing their nascent administrations with advocates for “liberated” curricula in K-12 schools.
In the Emerald City, mayor-elect Katie Wilson has appointed extremist ethnic studies teacher Jesse Hagopian to her Arts, Culture & Creative Economy team. Hagopian co-edits the Zinn Education Project’s Teaching Palestine curriculum, which encourages teachers to frame the Palestinians as indigenous victims of a fundamentally racist, “settler-colonial” ideology: Zionism.
Hagopian was also a leading figure in the Black Lives Matter at School movement, among whose core values is “Black queer feminist anti-capitalist politics.” He sees classrooms as inherently political spaces where teachers have an obligation to fight for racial and economic justice.
In the Big Apple, mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani tapped Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari for his committee for youth and education. Shaakir-Ansari is the co-executive director for the Alliance for Quality Education, a public education advocacy group that connects its activity to a global struggle for racial justice, writing, “The same systems that treat Palestinian life as expendable also treat Black life as disposable.”
Shaakir-Ansari is a fervent admirer of Assata Shakur, the radical activist who was convicted of murdering New York State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973, escaped from jail with the help of Black Liberation Army comrades, and lived in Cuba until her death this September.
While these appointments may not surprise anyone who has been paying attention, they should deeply concern parents and city residents. Every signal from local officials that they see classrooms as vehicles for political organizing should be an alarm bell for the future of our children and our nation.
Please join THINC in staying vigilant against those who care more about activism than literacy. This poisonous ideology is in the water in more and more places. If you live in Seattle or New York City, or you’re seeing these concerning trends percolating in your child’s school, let us know!
Liberated Ethnic Studies (LES) Activists in Their Own Words
We talk a lot about the LES movement’s extreme positions, but what does that look like in practice? Take a look at these quotes from prominent LES leaders.
“Washington is a settler-colonial government, part of the broader settler-colonial society of the U.S….[S]ettler-colonialism is a powerful structure and dynamic that permeates all aspects of life in the state, including education”
- A report to the Washington Education Association, one of whose authors is Laina Phillips, the principal of Wellpinit Middle/High School in Washington
“we must dismantle patriarchy! specifically jewish patriarchy offending muslims & controlling our economy & campuses…more & more jews invading campuses, causing islamophobia, racism & intolerance [sic]!”
- Melina Abdullah, an activist for ethnic studies in K-12 who was involved in making ethnic studies a high school requirement in the Los Angeles Unified School District
THINC Voices
We wanted to share an installment of our THINC Voices video series.
Singer-songwriter John Ondrasik, who performs under the name Five for Fighting, warns that radical, anti-American indoctrination is reaching our youngest students – and it is up to all of us to stand up against it.
We Need Your Help!
We’re grateful for everyone who has helped THINC Foundation defend transparency, honesty, and integrity in the classroom. Your passion has allowed us to raise awareness of how “liberated” ethnic studies and other ideologically driven frameworks undermine social cohesion by indoctrinating children in a worldview that is anti-American, anti-Western, and antisemitic.
THINC’s advocacy is possible only through the generosity of supporters like you – people who believe in standing up against extremism in K-12 classrooms and restoring a constructive, academically grounded approach to learning.
As you reflect on your year-end giving priorities, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to THINC today (tax ID 37-2145886). Your contribution will help us expand our reach in 2026 – shining a light on harmful curricula, empowering grassroots voices, and advocating for learning that values individual dignity, mutual respect, and civics and teaches students how to debate and disagree in an agreeable manner.
Your support advances our mission to ensure that children learn in appropriate, apolitical environments where they are taught how to think, not what to think. Together, we can keep classrooms focused on common-sense teaching of the basics – reading, writing, and arithmetic – while nurturing thoughtful, informed, and compassionate citizens.
You can give directly on our website and send checks through your donor-advised fund. If you wish to make a gift of stock or other assets, please contact us for details on how to do so.
Support our Work
Our continued work depends on the generosity of people like you! Please consider making a contribution to THINC to fund our continued work to combat Liberated Ethnic Studies and advocate for more constructive education in K-12 schools.
THINC Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is qualified to receive tax-deductible donations.
