Congressional Committee Questions School Leaders About Antisemitism in K-12

By Hamodia Staff

In a sometimes-contentious hearing in the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education on Wednesday, representatives questioned the school leaders of three cities about recent incidents of antisemitism in their districts and what they have done to eliminate the hate and fearful atmosphere created by it.

Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), head of the committee, began by decrying how troubling the reports of antisemitism are, and how much of a dominant force it has become in our K-12 schools, telling the participants they were here to answer for their role in what he called a “national tragedy.”

“Some kids as young as second grade are spewing Nazi propaganda, which begs the question, who has positioned these young minds to attack the Jewish people?” he asked.

The three school leaders included Karla Silvestre, President of Montgomery County Board of Education (Maryland), Chancellor David Banks of the New York City Public Schools, and Berkeley Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel. While all expressed their abhorrence for antisemitism and hate, they nevertheless pushed back when questioned specifically about the numerous incidents which took place in their respective schools.

“Let me be clear — we do not shy away from imposing consequences for hateful behavior, including antisemitism,” Karla Silvestre told the panel. Yet when pressed on firings and suspensions, Silvestre said Montgomery County has taken “disciplinary action” against some teachers, but none have been fired.

Rep. Bean suggested that wasn’t good enough: “So you allow them to continue to teach hate,” he said.

Chancellor Banks told the committee that New York City Mayor Eric Adams made powerful, poignant remarks condemning the terror attacks after October 7, and that he, too, sent a letter to the staff and a social media statement to families in which he strongly condemned the heinous attacks by Hamas.

“But words are not enough. There have been unacceptable incidents of antisemitism in our schools,” he admitted. “When Jewish students or teachers feel unwelcomed or unsafe, that should sound the alarm for us all…It is not only my job to produce good readers and writers; our schools must also build good people. When it comes to rooting out antisemitism, our public schools must be part of the answer.”

Banks related that the NYC public school system “removed, disciplined, or are in the process of disciplining at least a dozen staff and school leaders, including removing a principal in the middle of a school year. We have suspended at least 30 students.

“From the Jewish community, the organizations I’ve continued to consult include the UJA Federation, the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, the Jewish Children’s Museum, Project Witness, and many others.”

Committee members asked the school leaders pointed questions about Israel and the recent anti-Israel demonstrations taking place across the country and on college campuses. When asked by head of the committee Rep. Bean if Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, Banks answered “absolutely” while the others replied in the affirmative.

Concerning the phrase “From the river to the sea…,” Banks said, “I think most Jewish people experience that as antisemitic, and as such it is not allowed in our schools.” In a follow-up question, he stated, “I would say it is antisemitic.”

Sylvestri began by qualifying that it is if the intention is the destruction of the Jewish people, it would be antisemitic, but under further questioning by Bean she agreed that it indeed is.

Ford Morthel said calling for the elimination of the Jewish people in Israel is antisemitic, but added, “I will also say it has different meanings to different members of the community.”

All three agreed that the October 7 massacre was terrorism and that terrorism is never justified.

Congressman Burgess Owens (R-UT) questioned Chancellor Banks about numerous reports of antisemitic incidents in NYC public schools, including at Hillcrest High School where students stormed the halls and demanded a Jewish teacher be fired, and threatened her for 2 hours. In response, Banks said that the students who led the antisemitic incident were suspended, and that the principal of the school was fired in the middle of the school year for failure to address the issues.

“I condemned clearly what happened at Hillcrest was a complete act of antisemitism, and it will not stand on my watch,” he stated.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) asked Banks about the current position of the former principal of Hillcrest, and he answered that he is on “one of the teams of one of our deputy chancellors.” Stefanik said it’s concerning that he is still in a senior position.

Stefanik spoke about Origins High School in Sheepshead Bay, where in October some 40-50 students marched through the halls shouting “death to Israel” and “kill the Jews.” She cited an independent investigation which found that a student told a global history teacher that he wishes she was killed, and that the teacher had been called a “dirty Jew” by another student. Another student said he wishes Hitler would have killed more Jews, including her.

“What disciplinary actions have been taken against those students?” she asked.

“What we have found are deeply troubling antisemitic things that have happened at Origins High School,” Banks said, and told the committee that a number of students at that school have been suspended, but the case is currently under litigation, and he was advised not to speak to the specific things that happened there. He said that according to his department’s investigation, no marches were held which included calls to kill Jews.

When questioned by Stefanik about walkouts, Banks replied that he had no evidence about teacher walkouts despite the media reports, although he admitted that there were a number of walkouts of students.

“We have evidence of one [case], where a principal assigned a teacher to go with a student to a protest; completely inappropriate, that principal was disciplined, the teacher was disciplined, in that particular case,” although he would not share with the committee what the discipline was.

Ford Morthel denied that antisemitism has become “pervasive,” saying that her district has received complaints of antisemitism arising from nine incidents within the district’s jurisdiction. In reality, twelve complaints had been filed with the Office of Civil Rights.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) read a list of allegations from Jewish families submitted by the ADL and the Brandeis Center, including students antisemitic phrases in classrooms and hallways, asking Jewish students what their “number” is, and Jewish students being derided for their physical appearance and characterized as “evil,” and a 2^nd grade teacher having her students write “stop bombing babies” on sticky notes to be placed around the school.

Kiley related that students have removed their star of David necklaces, no longer wear Jewish camp t-shirts, and that they feel they must hide their Judaism, and proceed through their schooldays in fear.

“The eruption of antisemitism in Berkeley’s elementary and high schools is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” said Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and former U.S. Secretary of Education.

“If you’re not willing to acknowledge the problem, how can we be confident that it is adequately addressed?” Kiley asked.

Kiley asked if Ford Morthel contracts with the Liberated Ethnic Studies Consortium, and she replied in the affirmative. When he proceeded to say that the group were the architects of a widely-panned and rejected ethnic studies curriculum proposed for the state of California, which Governor Gavin Newsom said was antisemitic, Ford Morthel then changed her story and said that the Liberated Ethnic Studies Consortium is not contracted to sell the curriculum to BUSD, but rather they are a “thought partner” in building the curriculum with educators and parents, but she referred to the organization as “experts” in the field.

“You specifically chose to work with a group whose work product was rejected by political leaders throughout California as antisemitic, so I don’t think it’s any wonder then that you see antisemitism suddenly become rampant,” Kiley chastised her.

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) asked all three about how they are teaching children to deal with misinformation online, as it pertains to antisemitism.

“What we are seeing in our schools and in fact, many of these cases of antisemitism, are a result of young people not fully developing their ability to process what they’re seeing on social media,” Banks said, and added that much of the antisemitism found among Muslim and Arab students is a result of online instigation.

During the hearing, when Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) asked Chancellor banks what his message is to Jewish parents in New York, Banks answered: “I speak to Jewish teachers and parents every single day. What I say to them is that we do everything we can to ensure that your child, or that you as a teacher, will be safe in our schools.”

But he admitted, “We don’t always get it right.”