Lawmakers question school heads on antisemitism in K-12 schools

WASHINGTON — New York City Department of Education Chancellor David Banks was pressed during a congressional hearing Wednesday on why the former principal of a high school where hundreds of students led a riot against a Jewish teacher was reassigned to a senior position within the department.

The exchange occurred at a U.S. House of Representatives education subcommittee hearing focused on combating antisemitism in K-12 education as multiple reports surface of Jewish students facing harassment and intimidation in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre and Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza. 

In addition to Banks, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel of California and Montgomery County School Board President Karla Silvestre of Maryland testified about their respective districts’ response to antisemitism. Emerson Sykes, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, also testified at the hearing. 

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Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York questioned Banks about former Hillcrest High School Principal Scott Milczewski.

The principal was removed from his position following a November incident in which hundreds of students rampaged through the halls for around two hours and forced a Jewish teacher to take refuge in a locked office. The students staged a protest after learning that the teacher attended a pro-Israel rally.

Banks told Stefanik that he could not confirm the former principal’s current position and that he would have to double-check. The congresswoman asked Banks to confirm whether Milczewski is currently the director of teacher development and evaluation,  to which the chancellor responded that he did not know the former principal’s official title.

“That’s concerning to me that you have him in a senior position,” Stefanik said. “And what’s very concerning about these hearings is that we’re getting lip service but a lack of enforcement and a lack of accountability.”

Stefanik, who called for the resignation of various university leaders in the wake of anti-Israel protests on college campuses throughout the country, questioned Banks about allegations of an incident at Origins High School in Brooklyn in which students chanted “Death to the Jews” during a protest march. Banks said an investigation couldn’t find evidence of students making those remarks. 

However, Banks confirmed an investigation into the school uncovered things that he said were “deeply troubling.” He also disclosed that several students had been suspended. 

Before Stefanik questioned Banks, Republican Rep. Kevin Kilney of California highlighted the civil rights complaint submitted against the Berkeley Unified School District in California by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League. In an updated complaint, the two groups stated, “Jew hatred is escalating at an alarming level.” 

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced a formal investigation into the complaint accusing the district of failing to address antisemitic harassment against Jewish students since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. 

Kilney asked Morthel if she approved a curriculum that taught students that the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a “call for freedom and peace” for some Palestinians. 

The slide presented as part of the curriculum also included a quote from Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who was censured for using the same slogan. The slogan is considered antisemitic, as critics say it calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and the genocide of Jews. 

The California representative asked Morthel if she thought the slide seemed appropriate to show to students, and the superintendent responded that the district believes it’s “important to expose students to a diversity of ideas and perspectives.” 

“If it was presented as a perspective, then I do think it’s appropriate,” Morthel said about the slogan. 

Earlier during the hearing, Republican Rep. Aaron Bean, who chairs the House Education and Workforce subcommittee on elementary and secondary education, asked all the witnesses if “Free the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic. Morthel replied that the phrase has a “different meaning” for some people. 

During her opening statement, the BUSD superintendent told members of the subcommittee that “antisemitism is not pervasive in Berkeley Unified.” She also said that the district tries to ensure every child is “seen, valued and educated,” adding that she often describes the students as “our babies.” 

“You can be confident that I am there at my schools every day, in the classrooms with the babies,” Morthel told Kilney. “There have been instances of antisemitism in Berkeley Unified School District, and every single time that we are aware of such an instance, we take action.” 

The antisemitic incidents outlined in the civil rights organizations’ complaint against BUSD range from bullying to people reportedly shouting things like “dirty Jews” to Jewish parents at school board meetings.

Students at Berkeley High School also displayed posters expressing solidarity with an art teacher who would reportedly play “violent pro-Hamas videos” in addition to “projecting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic images.” The teacher was placed on leave after several media outlets reported on his behavior.

According to the complaint, BUSD is “unabashedly shirking its legal duty under Title VI.” One reason for this, according to the two civil rights groups, is because the BUSD official tasked with investigating antisemitism has also expressed a bias against Israel. 

The complaint highlighted a photo of the BUSD employee liking a social media post that condemned Israel and accused Jews of “McCarthyism.” The civil rights groups alleged that complaints of antisemitic harassment sent to the employee for review “have gone unanswered or ignored for months.”