U.S. Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) called on the U.S. Department of Education to ensure Jewish students in America’s K-12 public schools are not being subjected to antisemitism.
“We are deeply concerned that the Department of Education is not ensuring American K-12 schools are fostering a safe learning environment for all students following the terrorist organization Hamas’ violent attack on civilians, including Americans and Israeli citizens,” wrote the lawmakers in a Nov. 30 letter sent to U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
“We write to urgently inquire what your department is doing to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and to ensure students are not subjected to discrimination based on race, color, or national origin,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter, which was also signed by several other senators, including U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
In their letter, they cited several recent incidents of antisemitic violence in K-12 schools, noting that it’s “uniquely concerning” in high schools, where teenagers “are particularly impressionable [and] deeply affected by the social dynamics of their peers and by the authority of their teachers.”
“Young students are still developing emotionally and are less equipped to handle and process incidents of antisemitism, making recent reports all the more concerning,” they wrote. “We must understand what role public K-12 schools are playing in furthering these sentiments.”
The senators also pointed out that even before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, antisemitic incidents were increasing in public schools, with 494 incidents of antisemitism reported in non-Jewish K-12 schools during 2022, a 49 percent increase compared to 2021.
“Parents should feel confident that their children’s school will be safe and the focus will be on education,” they wrote. “Instead, parents are beginning to fear that not only is school not safe for their students, but school officials are actively working to undermine the safety of their children. Parents cannot trust their students are safe if they fear school officials are key perpetrators in spreading anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
The rise in antisemitic incidents, according to their letter, is a symptom of growing antisemitism among the nation’s young people, who they said are a product of America’s K-12 education system.
“Examples are continuing to surface of K-12 teachers using materials that perpetuate antisemitism,” the lawmakers wrote. “There is a trend of school districts establishing courses under the guise of ‘ethnic studies’ that are aimed to force a political agenda on students and that uniquely target Jews, alleging that all Jews are ‘white adjacent’ and illegally occupy Israel.”
The senators requested that the secretary provide them with a briefing by Dec. 14 to discuss several issues, including the Education Department’s plan to move forward with the Antisemitism Awareness Campaign, the technical assistance or guidance being provided to states and school districts on how to maintain safe learning environments, and data on antisemitic-related complaints.
“America’s K-12 schools must be a safe learning environment for all students,” they wrote. “Therefore, the department should use its full resources to enforce the law.”