Feds: Philadelphia Schools Failed to Address Antisemitism in School, Online

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Swastikas in the classroom. Nazi salutes in the hallway. A teacher who called those who filed a complaint against her “Zionist genocide supporters” — and named them online. 

These are among the numerous allegations of antisemitism The School District of Philadelphia failed to adequately address in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.  

Pennsylvania’s largest district didn’t demonstrate that it fulfilled its legal obligation to evaluate whether a hostile environment existed in schools and, if so, take the necessary steps to eliminate and prevent it, the office found.

As part of an agreement with the department, the 121,202-student district pledged to issue an anti-harassment statement that will be published on its website and printed or linked to in publications aimed at the school community. It will also provide annual staff training on federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics — and improve its documentation of related complaints.   

A district spokesperson said in a Jan. 3 statement that the school system “strives to create welcoming and inclusive environments that allow our students to feel safe and heard,” and that it takes complaints of bullying, harassment, and discrimination seriously. The district has also been embroiled in several recent controversies alleging that it discriminated against and censored pro-Palinstinian teachers and students.

As part of its agreement, Philadelphia schools will also provide an age-appropriate program for all 6th- through 12th-grade students to address discrimination: They’ll be taught to identify and report harassment — and will be informed about the disciplinary action that will follow a credible complaint. 

The district will also administer an OCR-approved school climate assessment in which students will be asked about the prevalence of harassment, their willingness to report it and how they believe such cases will be handled. Philadelphia schools will provide the office with its findings and take steps to address any concerns. 

The Department of Education has dropped a flurry of agreements regarding K-12 and higher education discrimination complaints in the weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Trump has, on many occasions, pledged to shutter the department, leaving its fate and that of its chronically understaffed civil rights office uncertain. 

Two other higher education cases announced in late December — one focused on the University of California system and the other at The University of Cincinnati — also sprung from the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. 

The ongoing conflict set off student protests throughout the country, including months-long standoffs at some of the nation’s top colleges.

In the case involving five UC campuses, the department found the universities failed to respond promptly or effectively to incidents of harassment based on students’ Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Palestinian and Arab ancestry — and some of them subjected students to different treatment regarding access to campus or university programs. 

The Cincinnati case, which included all such students except for Israeli, found the university misapplied laws governing reports of harassment or more commonly ignored discrimination complaints. 

Another case, this one announced in early January, found Rutgers University likely operated a hostile environment harmful to many student groups, including those of Jewish and Palestinian heritage. Johns Hopkins was also called out in the new year because its records failed to show whether it considered if nearly 100 harassment complaints — many by Jewish and Arab students — amounted to a hostile environment. 

In addition to numerous antisemitic incidents, the Philadelphia case also includes allegations of harassment against Black students. A Jewish teacher noting the hostility she and Jewish students felt, added that some of her Black students were called slaves and told to pick cotton until their hands bled. “The teacher wrote that they were traumatized and felt sick and asked who was going to help the students,” an OCR filing states. 

The Philadelphia school system also failed to maintain a required list of such complaints: a keyword search on a database where these incidents were supposed to be logged did not include several alleged offenses flagged by those who brought the complaint, OCR found. As part of the agreement, staff will be annually trained to better process, investigate and resolve such cases. 

OCR investigators examined documentation provided by an unnamed complainant, a community organization of approximately 250 Jewish families in the district and an advocacy group. The office also spoke at length with the district’s Title IX coordinator, among others.

Michael Balaban, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, filed a complaint with the district in April 2024. He said he did so to represent the concerns of many Jewish families, who told him they feared retribution if they complained directly. 

Balaban said teachers addressing the war should have presented facts about the Middle East in neutral terms, allowing students to come to their own conclusions. He said he is grateful for OCR’s efforts and hopes the district will move forward with making school a safer environment for all. 

“I’m happy with the work that OCR did,” he told The 74. “At the end of the day, the school board has to comply. That is really what we will be watching.”

In one case that sparked controversy, several posters, including those that read, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan that critics see as calling for the eradication of Israel, and “This is not war, this is genocide,” were displayed along with the Palestinian flag in close proximity to an Israeli flag in the common area of a school. The principal had the materials removed the morning they were discovered. 

Interviews revealed that a group of students stayed after school in a teacher’s classroom to create the posters. Video footage showed that teacher and two others displayed the materials. A principal later told the educators their actions created a hostile environment and a subsequent report about the incident noted it had a “negative and profound impact on Israeli and non-Israeli staff and students causing feelings of alienation and outrage.”

The teachers were not named by OCR, but three educators at one of the district’s middle schools said they were unfairly targeted and ultimately quit their jobs for trying to make the school a safe space for Palestinian students. 

“The punishment is not because we hung up posters, the punishment is not because we didn’t have parents’ permission after school, they’re going to say that that’s what it is,” one of the teachers told The Intercept. “But the punishment is the fact that these posters are pro-Palestinian, they are anti-genocide, they are anti-violence towards Palestinian people.”

These incidents, along with others, have caused an ongoing furor, one that has played out at raucous school board meetings. One October 2024 session was disrupted when protestors demanded that another pro-Palestinian teacher, who was dismissed, be reinstated. Her supporters said she was being punished for her views; those who complained against her said she made credible threats of violence against Jewish parents. 

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

The allegations of antisemitism detailed in OCR’s report, some supported by district documentation, include the following: 

• A teacher, in grading a geography assignment where students were asked to name various countries on a map, crossed out Israel and hand wrote Palestine on a list of possible answers. The school principal sent a note to families acknowledging the incident, stating that it left “students feeling unsupported.” 

• Students drew swastikas and the Hitler salute on a paper left on a classmate’s desk, and called the child “Big nose,” “Rich kid,” and “Cracker.” The student was put in a headlock and thrown into a trash can. The student reported the incidents to a teacher, but no action was taken until their parents notified the principal. The district transferred the student to a new school. 

• The teacher whose supporters rallied for her reinstatement wrote on social media: “Another Educator Misconduct Complaint to the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Another Dismissal. What’s the end goal here? … I guess I can’t expect anything less from Zionist genocide supporters. Zionism is Racism.” Another teacher, showing support for the post, responded with an expletive-filled rant against “all those who are trying to get those of us who speak out against a literal genocide in trouble.”

• The dismissed teacher identified one of her complainants and the organizers of a community group by name on social media: “I asked y’all nicely to keep my name out y’all mouth…Y’all been harassing me for almost a year…You can report me to the Department of Education 10 million times… What you want to happen won’t.” The next day, the teacher posted to her public Instagram account, “Blacked owned [gun emoji] shops in or near Philly? Asking for a friend.”

• Another teacher wrote on social media that, “These Zionists are no different from the swarms of white supremacist spectators cheering on the public lynchings of over 3,000 Black people.”

• Another wrote: “Let’s not be confused about this complaint, this is a group of racist white parents trying to get black teachers and staff fired, for fear that their children will learn the truth. (that their parents are racist.)” 

One teacher’s social media accounts were shared by the district with an external law firm so it could conduct an investigation. According to the district, the firm concluded the educator did not engage in discrimination or harassment based on religion or national origin.

The civil rights office said it requested a copy of the firm’s findings, but the district refused, citing attorney-client privilege. Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, told The 74 some information was shared with OCR.

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