By Jill Tucker, Education Reporter
June 26, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)
Lowell High School journalism teacher Eric Gustafson poses for a portrait in his classroom on April 22. Gustafson has filed suit against the San Francisco school district after he was reassigned following a controversial article in the school paper. Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle
A San Francisco journalism teacher has sued the city’s school district, claiming he was illegally reassigned and removed as the student newspaper adviser for a controversial article published by students and another piece that was proposed, but had not run.
Lowell High School teacher Eric Gustafson filed the lawsuit Monday, asking the state Superior Court in San Francisco to require the district to reinstate him as the journalism teacher and adviser to the student publication, The Lowell.
“If permitted to stand, Petitioner’s reassignment presents student journalists at Lowell and elsewhere in California with an untenable — and unlawful — set of choices: Comply with administrators’ requests for greater editorial control over their publications; avoid investigating and writing about controversial topics altogether; or subject their teachers, advisors, and mentors to reassignment and other retaliation,” the lawsuit said.
District officials declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit, saying it is not their practice to do so considering pending litigation regarding employee matters.
“We take students’ freedom of expression very seriously,” said spokesperson Laura Dudnick. “We support our students in exercising their First Amendment rights through journalism programs in SFUSD high schools, including at Lowell High School.”
Gustafson, who is the spouse of a Chronicle employee, said he spent the last few months of the school year protesting his reassignment from journalism to English classes, citing state law that prohibits the reassignment, transfer, dismissal or other retaliatory actions for protecting students “exercising their right to freedom of speech and of the press.”
He said he was reassigned a few months after The Lowell published an article that quoted students complaining they had been verbally harassed by teachers.
Gustafson said the principal notified him in late March that he would no longer teach journalism or be an adviser for the student newspaper next school year, after eight years in these positions. He said the principal, Jan Bautista, told him, with a union representative present, that the decision was based on his handling of the published piece as well as a proposed story about the use of artificial intelligence by teachers.
District officials rejected the allegations, telling the Chronicle in April that Lowell, a public school with competitive academic admissions, followed the “regular process” for assigning staff in this instance and that the decision “had nothing to do with the content of the student journalism that was produced under the current teacher’s leadership.”
Paul Kandell of the Journalism Education Association of Northern California questioned the reassignment, saying in a letter to Superintendent Maria Su and the school board that “not only is reassigning Mr. Gustafson based on these two concerns the wrong message to send to students and community, but it is also likely illegal.”
Following Gustafson’s reassignment, current and former students protested the action.
“As alumni, we cannot fathom how it feels to work in Lowell’s current student newsroom under attack from the school administration,” said alumni in an April letter sent to Lowell administrators. “This is incredibly intimidating to the future of journalism, especially in the national and political landscape we are currently living in.”
“We feel that the removal of Mr. Gustafson as our teacher and adviser brings no benefit to the journalism program and, we believe, signifies a step towards limiting student voices in our publication,” current staff of The Lowell wrote in a May editorial.
Also in May, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting Lowell student journalism and urged the district to “uphold its commitment to students’ right to free speech.”
Bautista, in April, did not respond to specific questions about the reassignment but said in a statement, “The Lowell administration is committed to providing high-quality instruction that supports our students as we continue the proud tradition of Lowell’s journalism program. The Lowell newspaper is a pillar of our school community that celebrates student voices and perspectives.”
June 26, 2025
EDUCATION REPORTER
Jill Tucker has covered education in California for 27 years, writing stories that range from issues facing Bay Area school districts to broader national policy debates. Her work has generated changes to state law and spurred political and community action to address local needs. A Bay Area native, Jill earned a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a bachelor’s degree from the UC Santa Barbara. In between, she spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Cape Verde, West Africa. She can be reached at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.
