US public school officials push back in congressional hearing on antisemitism

David Banks, chancellor of New York City public schools, on Capitol Hill in Washington on 8 May 2024. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Some of America’s top school districts rebuffed charges of failing to counteract a surge of antisemitism on Wednesday in combative exchanges with a congressional committee that has been at the centre of high-profile interrogations of elite university chiefs.

Having previously grilled the presidents of some of the country’s most prestigious seats of higher learning in politically charged settings, the House of Representatives’ education and workforce subcommittee switched the spotlight to the heads of three predominantly liberal school districts with sizable Jewish populations.

The hearing was presented as an investigation into how the authorities were safeguarding Jewish staff and students in an atmosphere of rising bigotry against the backdrop of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Calling the need for the hearing “a travesty”, Republican member Aaron Bean from Florida said 246 “very vile” antisemitic acts had been reported in the three districts – in New York City, Montgomery County in Maryland and Berkeley in California – since last October’s attack by Hamas on Israel.

“Antisemitism is repugnant in all its forms but the topic of today’s hearing is pretty troubling,” he said. “It’s hard to grasp how antisemitism has become such a force in our kindergarten-through-12 [high] schools.”

He cited instances of students marching through corridors chanting “kill the Jews”, a pupil caught on a security camera imitating Hitler and performing the Nazi salute, and Jewish children being told to pick up pennies.

The three districts insisted in response that they did not tolerate antisemitism in their schools. They said they had taken a mixture of educational and disciplinary steps to combat it following the 7 October attack by Hamas, which led to an Israeli military offensive in Gaza that has triggered a wave of demonstrations on university campuses and beyond.

However, the districts gave divergent answers on whether teachers had been fired for actions deemed antisemitic. Each district has received complaints over their handling of post-7 October allegations of antisemitism.

David Banks, chancellor of the New York City school system, engaged in a testy exchange with Republicans over an episode at Hillcrest high school, whose principal had been removed following a protest against a pro-Israel teacher but had been reassigned to an administrative role rather than fired.

The Republican representative, Elise Stefanik – noted for her pointed questioning of three university presidents over free speech at a previous hearing last December – sparred with Banks and accused the school leaders of paying “lip service”.

Banks stood his ground and appeared to challenge the committee, saying: “This convening feels like the ultimate ‘gotcha’ moment. It doesn’t sound like people trying to solve for something we actually solve for.”

He added: “We cannot simply discipline our way out of this problem. The true antidote to ignorance and bias is to teach.”

Banks said his district had “terminated people” over antisemitism.

Karla Silvestre, president of Montgomery county public schools in Maryland – which includes schools in suburbs near Washington DC – said no teacher had been fired, prompting Bean to retort: “So you allow them to continue to teach hate?”

Enikia Ford Morthel, superintendent of the Berkeley Unified school district in California, said her authority’s adherence to state and federal privacy laws precluded her from giving details on disciplinary measures taken against staff and students.

“As a result, some believe we do nothing. This is not true,” she said.

“Since October 7, our district has had formal complaints alleging antisemitism arising from nine incidents without our jurisdiction,” she said. “However, antisemitism is not pervasive in Berkeley Unified school district.”

Echoing previous hearings that featured the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University, Bean asked all three district heads whether they considered the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” antisemitic.

Each said yes, although Silvestre and Morthel qualified this by saying their affirmation was dependent on whether it meant the elimination of the Jewish population in Israel – an interpretation disputed by many pro-Palestinian campaigners. Bean said tersely: “It does.”

Responding to the three opening statements, Bean said: “Congratulations. You all have done a remarkable job testifying. But just like some college presidents before you that sat in the very same seat, they also in many instances said the right thing. They said they were protecting students when they were really not.”

The subcommittee’s ranking Democrat, Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, accused Republicans of being selective in their stance against antisemitism, singling out the notorious white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, whose participants chanted “Jews will not replace us”. The then president Donald Trump later said the rally included some “very fine people” .

She described one of those who took part, Nick Fuentes, as a “vile antisemite … who denied the scope of the Holocaust”, but noted that Trump hosted him at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida in November 2022.

“I will offer my colleagues on the other side of the aisle the opportunity to condemn these previous comments,” Bonamici said. “ Does anyone have the courage to stand up against this?”

When committee members remained silent, she said: “Let the record show that no-one spoke at this time.”