Open Letter from the Eureka Teachers Association (ETA) to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Board of Directors:

A Call for Ethical Divestment and Alignment with Educator Values We, the undersigned educators, organizations, ETA and CTA union members, and concerned citizens of California, write to express our profound ethical concern regarding CalSTRS’s financial investments. As the custodians of our retirement funds, we believe our financial security must not be built upon the suffering of others.

Researchers have identified over $1.1 billion of CalSTRS’s $367.7 billion portfolio invested in entities that support the illegal occupation of Palestine and facilitate the ongoing genocide in Gaza. These investments include companies that manufacture bombs, munitions, military aircraft, and surveillance technologies, as well as Israeli bonds and banks operating in illegal settlements.

As educators committed to the well-being of all children and the building of a better future, we cannot in good conscience retire on investments that profit from violence and human rights violations. We demand that CalSTRS immediately divest from these assets and end its complicity in these injustices.

Our union, the California Teachers Association (CTA), is dedicated to advancing “the cause of free, universal, and quality public education for all students” and to ensuring that “the human dignity and civil rights of all children… are protected.” These principles are universal.

Since October 2023, this commitment to education has been rendered impossible for Palestinian children. Approximately 90% of schools and all universities in Gaza have been destroyed, depriving over 650,000 children of their right to learn. This systematic destruction of education is a profound tragedy.

The human cost is staggering. International organizations report that over 50,000 Palestinian children have been killed or injured. Over 19,000 have been orphaned, and more than 1,000 have undergone amputations. This horrific reality demands a moral response from all institutions, including our pension fund. Just since March 2025, at least 1,309 children have been killed. Each day 100 children are killed or injured by Zionist forces.

CalSTRS currently invests in numerous companies that are directly implicated in this crisis and in other human rights abuses globally. These include:

  • Caterpillar Inc. ($213.8M): Provides militarized bulldozers used for illegal home demolitions and the destruction of infrastructure in Palestinian territories.
  • Lockheed Martin Corp. ($176.9M) & Boeing ($198.6M): Major manufacturers of bombs, missiles, and munitions used in aerial attacks on Gaza.
  • General Dynamics Corporation ($84.8M) & Northrop Grumman ($110M): Supply key weapons systems, including missile delivery systems and munitions components, to the Israeli military.
  • Elbit Systems ($7.3M): Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, providing 85% of its military drones and surveillance systems used in the occupied territories.
  • Palantir Technologies Inc. ($44.9M): Provides AI targeting software (“Lavender”) and surveillance technology to the Israeli military, and also enables human rights abuses against migrants by ICE in the U.S.
  • Valero Energy ($95M) & Chevron (~$267M): Provide jet fuel for military aircraft and are complicit in the exploitation of natural resources in occupied areas.
  • ZIM Integrated Shipping Services ($1.3M) & Maersk ($22.3M): Shipping companies that transport weapons and components for the arms industry.
  • Israeli Bonds & Banks: CalSTRS holds investments in Israeli bonds and banks like Bank Leumi that operate in illegal settlements, providing direct financial support to the government of Israel.

CalSTRS has a strong history of divestment, having previously divested from tobacco, Iran, firearms, thermal coal, and private prisons. This demonstrates a clear recognition that financial decisions carry moral weight. Although STRS’ investment in Israeli genocide is in the billions of dollars, it represents only 0.2% of their investment portfolio, a proportion that will be less noticed by stakeholders than by victims of the genocidal onslaught.

As of September 16th, 2025, a United Nations commission determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Furthermore, the International Court of Justice has found Israel guilty of apartheid and ordered an end to the occupation. Just as the world once applied economic pressure to end apartheid in South Africa, we now call on CalSTRS to use its influence for justice.

Our Demands

We call upon the CalSTRS Board of Directors to:

  1. Immediately divest from all companies and bonds that enable, facilitate, and profit from weapons manufacturing, military occupation, apartheid, and violations of international human rights law.
  2. Reinvest those funds into ethical and socially responsible investments that align with the values of educators and our commitment to justice.
  3. Commit to a transparent and public timeline for the divestment and reinvestment process.
  4. Engage in ongoing dialogue with stakeholders through periodic reports on the progress of ethical investment review and divestment.

CalSTRS has the opportunity to stand on the right side of history. We urge you to act swiftly and decisively to ensure our pension fund reflects our values and does not contribute to the suffering of the Palestinian people or any oppressed nationalities across the globe.

In solidarity toward liberation,

Eureka Teachers Association