Dept of Education investigating CA public school districts accused of antisemitism

The US Department of Education is investigating several local school districts that have been accused of antisemitic discrimination, alongside its probes of colleges and universities. Among the targets of scrutiny are the San Francisco Unified School District and the Oakland Unified School District, representing the public school systems of two Californian epicenters of pro-Palestinian activism in the months since October 7.

The investigations, based on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on membership in a group of ‘shared ancestry,’ are not confirmed to be about antisemitism, but they come in the wake of a spree of other investigations on that subject. 

In a statement late Thursday night, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area said, “While we do not yet have information about the subject of the complaints, we have been concerned since October 7 about the safety and belonging of Jewish students in both districts.”

At least 30 Jewish families took their children out of Oakland public schools at the end of 2023 due to issues related to the Israel-Hamas war, the district told the Jewish News of Northern California earlier this month. 

Some cited a statement by the Oakland teachers’ union in October, which announced the group’s “unequivocal support for Palestinian liberation and self-determination,” referred to Israel as a “genocidal and apartheid state,” and called for “elected officials to act in unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people.” The union later added a statement calling for the release of hostages. 

A walk-out and an open letter in San Francisco

In San Francisco, about 1,500 students staged a walk-out “in support of Palestine” in October, which the school district clarified was “not an SFUSD-sponsored activity,” but at which several school district teachers, as well as a state legislator with family ties to Israel, spoke. 

At the time, a group of about 70 public school parents signed an open letter to the district superintendent, writing that “Jewish families, who have spent the last 10 days mourning the brutal murders and kidnappings that Hamas inflicted against Jews in Israel, need your leadership and support to ensure our students are and feel safe, secure and respected at school.”

The Department of Education is also investigating the public school system of Teaneck, New Jersey. It has also opened probes of several colleges and universities in recent days, including, on January 16 alone, new investigations into Muhlenberg College, the Ohio State University, and the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.