According to the House Education and Workforce Committee, there was a 135% increase in antisemitic incidents in K-12 schools in 2023 alone since October 2023. The report singled-out districts including Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Berkeley, California, as well as the National Education Association.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) is the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee. He said that parents send their children to school to learn reading and math, but unfortunately, the committee’s investigation found that they are instead taught hatred toward Israel.
“Jewish students deserve to feel safe in their classrooms, and parents deserve to know what their children are being taught. Schools that receive taxpayer dollars must be held accountable when they fail to protect students from antisemitism," Walberg said.
The rise of antisemitism in public schools is not a surprise as AFN has reported on an Anti-Defamation League survey of over 300 Jewish educators who report witnessing hostility toward Israel and Jews in the teachers union since the October 7 attack.
Jonathan Greenberg, director for combating antisemitism with Defending Education, says the findings expose a deeper issue within public education.
“What it finds is an alarming spike, not only in antisemitism, but in extremist indoctrination, anti-Americanism and things like that. So, it's not just antisemitism, but antisemitism is kind of the lead symptom of the wider illness,” Greenberg says.
He warns that classroom hostility and activist curricula don’t just violate students’ civil right, but they create an environment where learning becomes virtually impossible for children.
“If they’re calling you, because you’re Jewish, a genocider, a colonialist... if they’re teaching you to look at the world through an oppressor, oppressed lens... no kid could possibly learn in that environment. And so, it’s shocking. It’s horrifying,” Greenberg states.
He urges all taxpayers and parents to pay close attention to local school curricula.
Parents can report classroom incidents directly to defendinged.org.
