• 7 months ago
Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) leads a House Education Committee hearing on antisemitism in K-12 education.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript


Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Transcript
00:00:00 will come to order. A quorum is present without objection. The chair is
00:00:04 authorized to call a recess at any time. The Holocaust ended in 1945. The hate
00:00:13 behind it has not. Anti-Semitism is repugnant in all its forms but the
00:00:19 topic of today's hearing is particularly troubling. It's hard to grasp how
00:00:24 anti-Semitism has become such a dominant force in our K through 12 schools.
00:00:30 Some kids as young as second grade are spewing Nazi propaganda which begs the
00:00:35 question who has positioned these young minds to attack the Jewish people? The
00:00:42 very need for this hearing is a travesty. The aftermath of October 7th has
00:00:47 revealed some of the ugliest, most deprived ideas once marginalized from
00:00:51 polite society and our education system has failed to stop it. It's not just
00:00:55 anti-Israel, it's anti-American, it's anti-democracy. Our witnesses today
00:01:01 represent, three of our witnesses represent some of the largest school
00:01:06 districts in the nation where there's been some vile anti-Semitism in their
00:01:13 districts. Just a few minutes ago we heard from students, parents, and even a
00:01:19 teacher who said this is happening without an appropriate or any response
00:01:25 at all. Jewish students in their districts fear riding the bus, wearing
00:01:32 their kippah to school, or just eating and breathing as a Jewish student. Today
00:01:39 we get to hear from the leaders of these districts to tell us what are you doing,
00:01:43 what are they doing to keep students safe. New York City and I just met Mr.
00:01:49 Banks is the home to the largest, most vibrant Jewish community in the nation.
00:01:52 So the stories coming out of the New York City public schools are harrowing.
00:01:56 Reports that we have surface that students march through the halls
00:01:59 disrupting class, chanting "kill the Jews." One student was called on security camera
00:02:03 appearing as Hitler and performing a Nazi salute. Three swastikas were drawn
00:02:08 on teachers walls in one week. Anti-Semitism is concurred within
00:02:12 Montgomery County Public Schools and it's close to home, it's just 15 miles
00:02:16 from here. MCPS schools have been home to student walkouts featuring calls to
00:02:22 kill the Jews, bring Hitler back, and what's worse the administrator
00:02:26 administrators approved excused absences for the walkouts in violation of district
00:02:31 policy. And finally Berkeley, unified school district, was thrust into the
00:02:35 national spotlight in perhaps the most public fashion of the group. The
00:02:39 allegations are most serious. While not exhausted, the details of the piece
00:02:45 includes kids playing Nazi salute songs to their Jewish classmates, chants of
00:02:50 "kill Israel" and "KKK" and telling Jews to pick up pennies. In light of these
00:02:55 reports I'll tell you what my question is going to be to our witnesses. What are
00:02:59 you doing to keep students safe and how can we stop this? How can we stop this?
00:03:04 You've been accused of doing nothing and turning a blind eye. We're gonna give you
00:03:09 a chance to say exactly what you're doing and what are you doing to keep
00:03:13 students safe. Middle and high school students are hard enough. It's just
00:03:17 hard enough being a kid in middle and high school without the added fear of
00:03:21 being Jewish. I can hardly fathom sending one of my sons to school knowing he'll
00:03:26 be exposed to vile hate-filled discrimination yet parents are faced
00:03:33 every day with this struggle. It doesn't have to be this way. This is the moment
00:03:38 for all of us to take a stand against hate, against the indoctrination and
00:03:41 radicalization of the next generation of future leaders. With that I yield to the
00:03:45 Rankin member for her opening statement. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. There
00:03:50 is no question that we must do more to combat anti-Semitism not just in schools
00:03:55 but everywhere. We must do more to protect Jewish students and Jewish
00:04:00 Americans who are threatened and harassed and attacked because of who
00:04:03 they are. Every student deserves to feel safe and be safe at school. At the same
00:04:09 time we must do more to address the rise in Islamophobia and other forms of
00:04:14 discrimination and hate as well. I have said multiple times I hope this
00:04:18 committee can work together on constructive ways to address the
00:04:21 scourge of anti-Semitism and I will express that hope again today that we
00:04:25 seek solutions that recognize the seriousness and scope of the challenge,
00:04:30 the importance of keeping students safe at school, and the need to balance the
00:04:36 civil rights of students to be free from discrimination under Title VI of the
00:04:40 Civil Rights Act with the First Amendment right to free speech and
00:04:43 expression. This is the Education Committee and I hope we will discuss the
00:04:48 important role of education and importantly prevention. In fact at the
00:04:53 top of the list on the Biden administration's US national strategy to
00:04:57 combat anti-Semitism is to increase school-based education about
00:05:01 anti-Semitism including the Holocaust and Jewish American heritage. Anti-
00:05:06 Semitism is not a new problem. The ADL, the Anti-Defamation League, has been
00:05:11 working on it for decades and in fact they even have a Center for
00:05:14 Anti-Semitism Research. AJC, the American Jewish Committee, has an action plan with
00:05:19 a toolkit for public school administrators. Lesson plans and other
00:05:23 teaching materials are widely available through organizations like the US
00:05:27 Holocaust Memorial Museum. Like New York and several other states, my home state
00:05:33 of Oregon requires Holocaust and genocide studies with age-appropriate
00:05:37 curriculum available. I remember and thank my late friend, Holocaust survivor
00:05:43 Alter Weiner, who when he was in his 80s and early 90s told his story of survival
00:05:48 to hundreds of audiences in universities, colleges, middle schools, and high schools,
00:05:53 places of worship, prisons, and clubs. Personally and through his book, From a
00:05:58 Name to a Number, that's the kind of unforgettable education that makes a
00:06:02 real difference. May his memory be a blessing. I also want to emphasize and
00:06:07 emphasize strongly that it's important for leaders to stand up to anti-Semitism
00:06:12 no matter where it comes from. Many of my colleagues claim to care about the rise
00:06:17 of anti-Semitism in this country, but when white supremacists marched in
00:06:21 Charlottesville, Virginia with burning torches and chanting, "Jews will not
00:06:25 replace us," the president at the time, Donald Trump, said there were very fine
00:06:30 people on both sides. One of the participants at that Unite the Right
00:06:34 rally was Nick Fuentes, a vile anti-Semite, who among other statements
00:06:39 has denied the scope of the Holocaust while comparing Jews exterminated in
00:06:44 concentration camps to cookies being baked in an oven. Former President Trump
00:06:49 hosted Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago in November of 2022. General John Kelly, who
00:06:54 served as then President Trump's chief of staff, has stated that the former
00:06:58 president spoke favorably about Hitler, including that Hitler had done some good
00:07:02 things. And just a few months ago, Donald Trump said, "Any Jewish person
00:07:07 that votes for Democrats hates their religion." Despite these
00:07:11 persistent examples of comments that others have called anti-Semitic and
00:07:15 continued relationships with well-known anti-Semites, I have not heard one word
00:07:20 of concern from my colleagues across the aisle. In fact, what we have seen is
00:07:24 consolidation of support for the former president. If my colleagues care about
00:07:28 anti-Semitism, they would condemn and denounce these comments from the leader
00:07:32 of their party. So I will offer my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
00:07:36 the opportunity right now to condemn these previous comments. Does anyone have
00:07:40 the courage to stand up against this?
00:07:44 Let the record show that no one spoke up at this time. I look forward to the
00:07:50 testimony and conversation today, again with the hope that we can have a
00:07:53 constructive dialogue about how to fight back against anti-Semitism so all
00:07:58 students can be safe and feel safe at school, whether that's a K-12 school, a
00:08:03 college, or a university. And I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you very
00:08:06 much, Ranking Member Bonamici. Pursuant to Committee Rule 8C, all committee
00:08:10 members who wish to insert written statements in the record may do so by
00:08:13 submitting them to the committee clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format
00:08:18 by 5 p.m. after 14 days from the date of this hearing, which is May 22nd, 2024. And
00:08:24 without objection, the hearing record will remain open for 14 days after the
00:08:28 date of this hearing to allow such statements and other materials referenced
00:08:31 during the hearing to be submitted for the official record. I note the
00:08:35 subcommittee, for the subcommittee, there are members of colleagues that are not a
00:08:41 permanent part of the subcommittee who may be waiving on for the purposes of
00:08:45 the day's hearing. And now, let's get to the introductions of our distinguished
00:08:49 panel. Our first witness is Mr. David Banks. He is the Chancellor of the New
00:08:54 York City Public Schools for the New York City Department of Education in New
00:08:58 York, New York. The New York City Public Schools is the largest,
00:09:04 the largest system in the nation. He was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams on January
00:09:09 1st, 2022, but he started his career as a school safety officer, after which he
00:09:16 began his first teaching job at PS Public School 167. Chancellor Banks
00:09:22 serves as an assistant principal at PS 191 before becoming a founding principal
00:09:28 at the Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice. He is a native New Yorker
00:09:32 and graduate of the New York City Public School system. He holds a bachelor's
00:09:37 degree from Rutgers University and earned his JD from St. John's University
00:09:42 of Law. Our second witness is Carla Silvestri. Silvestri, who is the
00:09:50 president of the Montgomery County Board of Education for the Montgomery County
00:09:53 Public Schools in Rockville, Maryland. Ms. Silvestri was elected to her second
00:09:58 four-year term on November 8th, 2022. She's currently serving a second term as
00:10:04 president of the Board of Education. Ms. Silvestri's education policy experience
00:10:08 began at the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked at the Penn-Merck
00:10:12 Collaborative for Science Education, working as a teacher, professional
00:10:17 development, and hands-on science education in West Philadelphia schools.
00:10:21 She served as vice president for children and youth for a large
00:10:24 nonprofit managing preventive school year and summer youth programs. Ms.
00:10:30 Silvestri graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor's degree in
00:10:35 biology and received her master's degree in education from the University of
00:10:40 Pennsylvania. Greetings from the Sunshine State, Ms. Silvestri. We're glad to see
00:10:45 where you are. Let's yield to Ms. Bonamici for introduction of a witness.
00:10:52 I welcome to the committee Emerson Sykes, the senior staff attorney with the
00:10:56 American Civil Liberties Union, who works on the speech, privacy, and
00:10:59 technology project. He focuses on First Amendment free speech protections and
00:11:04 among other things, he previously served as a legal advisor for Africa at the
00:11:08 International Center for Nonprofit Law and served as an assistant general
00:11:12 counsel to the New York City Council. Mr. Sykes holds a bachelor's degree in
00:11:16 political science from Stanford University, a master's in public affairs
00:11:20 from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and a
00:11:24 jurisdoctor from the New York University School of Law. Welcome to the committee,
00:11:28 Mr. Sykes. And our final witness is Ms. Anikia Forde-Morthel. Morthel, absolutely.
00:11:36 She's the superintendent of the Berkeley Unified School District in
00:11:39 Berkeley, California. Ms. Morthel is an urban educator and community activist
00:11:44 with over 21 years of experience. Aside from serving as superintendent of
00:11:50 Berkeley Unified School District, she is a professor, senior lecturer at the Urban
00:11:56 Education at Loyola Marymount University. She is active in the community, serving
00:12:01 as a board member for organizations such as 826 Valencia, WestEd, and other
00:12:05 nonprofit organizations with missions aligned to hers. She is a proud member of
00:12:10 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Ms. Forde-Morthel holds a BA and
00:12:16 master's degrees in education from the University of California at Berkeley.
00:12:20 Welcome to all our witnesses. We thank you for being here and look forward to
00:12:24 your testimony. Pursuant to committee rules, I would ask that you limit each of
00:12:28 your oral presentations to five minutes with summary of your written statements.
00:12:33 Your full written statement is in the record, but just like us up
00:12:37 here, you get five minutes. That's what our little timer system will do it. If by
00:12:43 chance you go past, I'll give you a little time and that's the great way to
00:12:46 say wrap it up. I recognize of their, I want to recognize of you, of your
00:12:54 responsibility to provide accurate information to the subcommittee. With
00:12:59 that, let's get started. It's now a pleasure to recognize Mr. Banks for his
00:13:04 five-minute testimony. Welcome, you're recognized.
00:13:08 Okay, hope I didn't lose my time. Thank you so much again. Good morning
00:13:24 Chairwoman Fox, Chairman Bean, Ranking Member Scott, Ranking Member Bonamici,
00:13:30 and distinguished members of the committee and subcommittee. Thank you for
00:13:34 inviting me to address the horrific rise in anti-Semitism, the number one
00:13:39 religious-based hate crime in America. I just want to thank DeVore Howardstam,
00:13:44 Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Michael Cohen, and Reverend Jacques de Graff for joining me
00:13:49 here today. Today I will share how we are confronting the scourge of
00:13:53 anti-Semitism in our New York City public schools. The New York City school
00:13:58 system, which is our nation's largest, is a community of over 1 million students
00:14:03 and staff. We speak over 180 different languages in our schools. Our diversity,
00:14:09 however, means that our classrooms are not insulated from the global stage.
00:14:13 Since October 7th, our students and staff, Jewish and Muslim, Israeli and
00:14:19 Palestinian, have suffered immensely. I too have felt deep pain reflecting on my
00:14:26 own two trips to Israel with the Jewish Community Relations Council. Again and
00:14:31 again, my mind has returned to my visit to Yad Vashem, a profoundly moving
00:14:36 experience for me. In the immediate aftermath of October 7th, New York City
00:14:41 Mayor Eric Adams made very powerful remarks condemning the terror attacks. I
00:14:45 too sent messages to our school community strongly condemning the heinous
00:14:50 acts of Hamas. But words are not enough. There have been unacceptable incidents
00:14:56 of anti-Semitism in our schools. When Jewish students or teachers feel
00:15:01 unwelcome or unsafe, that should sound the alarm for us all. So I recognize the
00:15:07 urgency of addressing this crisis from my seat as an educator of 30-plus years, as
00:15:12 the leader of the system nurturing the next generation of New Yorkers. It is not
00:15:17 only my job to produce good readers and writers. Our schools must also build good
00:15:22 people. People who demonstrate respect and appreciation for our shared humanity.
00:15:27 When it comes to rooting out anti-Semitism, our public schools must be
00:15:32 part of the answer. So let me tell you about our work to meet this moment, which
00:15:36 are focused on safety, engagement, and education. Number one, safety is a
00:15:42 precondition for learning. I started my career as a school safety officer and my
00:15:48 father was a proud decades-long officer of the New York City Police Department.
00:15:51 Keeping schools safe is in my DNA. When anti-Semitism rears its head, I believe
00:15:59 we must respond and we have. We are removed, disciplined, or are in the
00:16:05 process of disciplining at least a dozen staff and school leaders, including
00:16:10 removing a principal in the middle of a school year. We have suspended at least
00:16:15 30 students. We've involved the NYPD when hate crimes are committed and we've
00:16:20 retrained all 1,600 principals on our discipline code to ensure that it is
00:16:26 enforced properly. Secondly, we've engaged dozens of partners to help us design
00:16:31 longer-term solutions. My instinct as a leader in moments of crisis is never to
00:16:38 shy away from an issue, but rather to lean into it to understand it better. New
00:16:43 York City is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel and many of
00:16:48 the nation's foremost Jewish institutions. So we have strengthened our
00:16:51 relationships with these partners, which include the UJA Federation, the JCRC, the
00:16:56 Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance,
00:17:00 the Jewish Children's Museum, Project Witness, and many more. I also launched,
00:17:06 for the first time in our history, an interfaith advisory council because we
00:17:11 must model for our students how to build bridges, engage in genuine dialogue, and
00:17:16 share each other's pain in challenging times. And finally, education. We cannot
00:17:23 simply discipline our way out of this problem. The true antidote to ignorance
00:17:28 and bias is to teach. My own children learned about anti-Semitism firsthand
00:17:33 from our next-door neighbors who were Holocaust survivors in Teaneck, New
00:17:37 Jersey. But as survivors pass on, and in light of current events, the need for
00:17:42 education becomes even more pressing. Our students cannot grow up to view anyone
00:17:47 as the other. So in addition to covering the Holocaust in the 8th, 10th, and 11th
00:17:51 grades, we're creating a robust Holocaust educator guide with the Museum of
00:17:56 Jewish Heritage, and we're building a brand new curriculum highlighting the
00:18:00 culture and contributions of the Jewish community because the history of the
00:18:04 Jewish people extends far beyond the Holocaust. We've also partnered with the
00:18:09 Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes and a new hate crimes curriculum. We've
00:18:14 expanded our anti-Semitism resources and workshops. Finally, let me just say this,
00:18:19 at New York City Public Schools, we are focused on our charge to fight hate and
00:18:23 foster inclusion through safety, engagement, and education. We're working
00:18:27 hard and we have a long way to go. There's always more to do. I hope in New
00:18:31 York we can be a candle in the darkness. Thank you.
00:18:34 Thank you very much, Mr. Bank. Ms. Silvestri, you are recognized for five
00:18:39 minutes. Welcome. Chairman Bean, Ranking Member Bonamici, and members of the
00:18:45 subcommittee, good morning. My name is Carla Silvestri, and I'm the
00:18:50 president of the Board of Education for Montgomery County Public Schools in
00:18:53 Maryland. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today about our efforts
00:18:59 to address anti-Semitism in our school system. Let me begin by assuring the
00:19:05 committee, the Board of Education I lead is committed to combating anti-Semitism,
00:19:11 hate speech, and racism wherever and whenever we see it. I can't tell you
00:19:18 we've gotten it right every time, but as a board we are committed to working with
00:19:22 our administrators and our community to constantly improve our processes and our
00:19:27 outcomes. Montgomery County Public Schools is the 15th largest school
00:19:32 district in the country with a hundred and sixty thousand students and nearly
00:19:36 twenty five thousand employees. We are one of the most diverse districts in the
00:19:40 nation and our families and students come from every major religion and
00:19:44 ethnicity and speak over a hundred and sixty two languages at home. More than a
00:19:49 third of our county residents are foreign-born. In Montgomery County we
00:19:54 have an elected part-time Board of Education with a governance and
00:19:57 oversight role. The board sets the standard for achievement and
00:20:01 accountability. Our core mission is education. This is the lens through which
00:20:06 we approach our relationships with students, employees, and the community.
00:20:10 This is the perspective I bring to today's hearing. I also bring the
00:20:15 perspective of my history. When I was just eight I came to this country to
00:20:20 escape the violence stemming from Guatemala's Civil War. I became a proud
00:20:25 US citizen in 2007 and went on to be elected to serve on the Board of
00:20:30 Education by the citizens of Montgomery County. I'm also the parent of a student
00:20:35 in our school system. An incidence of anti-Semitism and hate-based language
00:20:40 are extremely important to me. With that in mind I know the committee is aware of
00:20:46 recent press reports and public complaints around anti-Semitic imagery,
00:20:50 language, and vandalism in our district. Let me be clear, we do not shy away from
00:20:57 imposing consequences for hate-based behavior including anti-Semitism. Our
00:21:02 policy is to initiate an investigation each time the school system receives a
00:21:07 complaint or we witness particular anti-Semitic hate-filled or racist
00:21:11 language or actions. There are a range of consequences for teachers and staff and
00:21:16 if our investigation finds a staff member cannot uphold the employee code
00:21:20 of conduct and support a safe learning environment for all students they will
00:21:24 not remain in Montgomery County Public Schools. Student discipline follows the
00:21:29 student code of conduct and students rights and responsibilities. We are
00:21:34 taking affirmative steps to address anti-Semitism and other forms of hate.
00:21:38 First, in the past year we revised policies and procedures to strengthen
00:21:44 our response to anti-Semitism, hate, and racist behavior. Second, we have put in
00:21:50 place a clear reporting process and training for school leaders and staff. We
00:21:55 are empowering students and families to report incidents of harassment so that
00:22:00 we can take action. Third, we're working to prevent anti-Semitic incidents from
00:22:06 happening in the first place through education. We enhance the curriculum
00:22:10 throughout K-12 to expand on topics related to the Jewish experience. Fourth,
00:22:16 we are strengthening our relationships and partnerships with our community. We
00:22:21 participated in listening sessions in synagogues and this year 12 community
00:22:26 organizations joined us to form a hate bias advisory group to support our
00:22:31 collective effort to address hate based speech and incidents including
00:22:35 anti-Semitism. Fifth, starting this summer we will have mandatory hate based
00:22:41 training for all staff. In closing, anti-Semitism has no place in Montgomery
00:22:48 County Public Schools. The suffering caused by anti-Semitism, hate, and racism
00:22:53 interferes with students learning and well-being. I want to do everything in my
00:22:59 power to make sure all students can pursue their education without worrying
00:23:03 about anti-Semitic, racist, or hate-filled threats. We will continue to evaluate our
00:23:09 policies and our actions to ensure all students and families, every single one
00:23:13 of them, feel safe, valued, and welcome in our school system. I welcome the
00:23:18 opportunity to continue this important discussion. Thank you. Thank you very much
00:23:23 Miss Silvestri. Well done. Mr. Sykes, welcome to the committee. You are
00:23:27 recognized. Thank you. Chairwoman Fox, Ranking Member Scott, Subcommittee Chair
00:23:33 Bean, Subcommittee Ranking Member Bonamici, and members of the subcommittee.
00:23:37 On behalf of the ACLU, thank you for the privilege of testifying today. I want to
00:23:43 start by acknowledging that today's topic, confronting anti-Semitism, is a
00:23:46 gravely important one. By many accounts, anti-Semitic incidents have been more
00:23:51 common in recent years, and Jewish colleagues and friends have been
00:23:55 struggling. I'm close with a law school dean and a New York City public high
00:23:59 school principal, both Jewish, who understand full well the impact of
00:24:03 anti-Semitism. But these Jewish school leaders are themselves being accused of
00:24:08 anti-Semitism, or at least failing to do enough to stop anti-Semitism in their
00:24:13 school communities. They are truly in unenviable positions. These are deeply
00:24:18 complicated and confusing times. But I've been invited here not to opine on
00:24:23 anti-Semitism, nor to condemn or defend my fellow witnesses. Rather, I'd like to
00:24:28 use my time to make three key points. First, I'll briefly describe the First
00:24:33 Amendment and its key principles. Second, I'll describe how the First Amendment
00:24:38 applies in the schools. Third, I'll suggest more productive ways to deal
00:24:42 with controversial speech. The text of the First Amendment is short, so I'll just
00:24:48 read it. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
00:24:52 or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
00:24:57 the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition
00:25:02 the government for a redress of grievances." As you no doubt noticed, the
00:25:07 very first word of the First Amendment is "Congress." You all are the stars of the
00:25:12 show. The First Amendment is primarily about restricting the government's
00:25:16 authority related to five related freedoms-- religion, speech, the press,
00:25:22 assembly, and the right to petition. Without government action, the First
00:25:26 Amendment does not apply. This is why the First Amendment applies in public
00:25:30 schools, but generally not in private ones. Burt Newborn, a legendary figure at
00:25:35 the ACLU, has described the poetry behind the ordering of the five freedoms
00:25:39 protected by the First Amendment. First, the government cannot regulate your
00:25:43 religion-- that is, what you believe, your thoughts, your ideas, and your faith.
00:25:47 Second, the government cannot abridge the freedom of speech. Now you've gone from
00:25:52 having an idea to communicating that idea to others around you. Third, the
00:25:58 government cannot abridge the freedom of the press. Now you've gone from an idea
00:26:02 to speaking that idea to those who are within shot-- you're shot-- to using the
00:26:07 press, which really means publishing or otherwise disseminating ideas to a
00:26:12 wider audience. Fourth is the right of the people peaceably to assemble. Now
00:26:17 you're not just thinking something or saying something or writing and
00:26:20 publishing something. Now you're gathering and mobilizing people around
00:26:24 this idea because people like to feel solidarity and share physical and
00:26:28 digital space. Fifth is the right to petition the government. This means that
00:26:33 you have the right not only to have an idea, not only to speak that idea or to
00:26:36 publish that idea, and not only to galvanize people around this idea, but
00:26:40 you have the right to bring that idea to the seat of power to redress grievances.
00:26:44 The First Amendment, looking closely at the text, can be read as facilitating the
00:26:49 journey from an idea to a movement. But notwithstanding the strong protections
00:26:55 of the First Amendment, not all speech is protected. True threats, fighting words,
00:27:00 incitement, and obscenity are categories of unprotected speech that we allow the
00:27:05 government more leeway in regulating. So what does all this mean in the K-12
00:27:09 context? The Supreme Court has famously said that students and teachers do not
00:27:13 lose their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate. But the court has also
00:27:17 recognized that public schools necessarily have more authority to
00:27:21 regulate speech at school than the government would normally have in other
00:27:25 contexts. The government can regulate official school content like curriculum
00:27:29 as long as its decisions are reasonably related to a legitimate educational
00:27:33 purpose. But authorities may punish student speech only if it will lead to
00:27:38 substantial disruption within the school environment. Outside school, students'
00:27:43 speech is fully protected by the First Amendment. The First Amendment also
00:27:47 protects the right to access information, including students' right to access
00:27:51 information through school library shelves. Despite this, school board
00:27:55 officials, lawmakers, and others across the country have recently stepped up
00:27:59 efforts to ban books from circulation in libraries. Government employees at work
00:28:03 are generally not protected by the First Amendment, but teachers do maintain their
00:28:07 First Amendment rights when they are outside of school, just like students.
00:28:10 Parents also have an important role to play in K-12 schools. Families may have
00:28:15 the right to opt their child out of select teachings, but no family has the
00:28:19 right to control what all children are allowed to learn, including content about
00:28:24 racism, sexuality, and gender expression. Finally, I hope we can remember that when
00:28:29 exposed to more speech and more information, we can and do change our
00:28:33 minds. I submit that between throwing up our hands and saying there's nothing we
00:28:38 can do to address controversial speech, and excommunicating people because of
00:28:42 what they have said or thought, are all the good ideas for how schools and
00:28:46 communities can heal and grow together. I really appreciate the opportunity to
00:28:50 speak with you today. Thank you very much, Mr. Sykes, and Ms. Ford-Morthel, you are
00:28:55 recognized. Welcome to the committee. Thank you. Chairman Bean, Ranking Member
00:29:00 Bonamici, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for asking me to
00:29:03 participate in this critical conversation about anti-Semitism in K-12
00:29:07 schools. I hope to share the ongoing work we are doing in Berkeley Unified to
00:29:11 oppose anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate, and to provide every
00:29:16 student safe, welcoming, and humanizing classrooms during these challenging
00:29:20 times. My name is Enikia Ford-Morthel, and I'm the superintendent of Berkeley
00:29:24 Unified School District. I am honored to be the steward of the district's
00:29:28 powerful mission to enable and inspire our diverse student body to achieve
00:29:32 academic excellence and make positive contributions to the world. I grew up in
00:29:37 Inglewood, California, and witnessed how naturally brilliant and curious black
00:29:40 and brown children, thirsty for engagement, were trapped by narratives
00:29:44 that left them misunderstood and often ignored. These experiences formed the
00:29:49 roots of my belief that schools must nurture the heart, soul, purpose, and
00:29:53 intellect of each child. In Berkeley Unified, we work to ensure that each and
00:29:58 every child is seen, valued, and educated. We embrace this work every day, and it's
00:30:03 what caught me to do this work in this district. Berkeley is a small, diverse,
00:30:08 urban school district serving around 9,100 students in our 11 elementary
00:30:12 schools, three middle schools, and two high schools. Many know that I often
00:30:16 describe our students as our babies. As young as four, they are all someone's
00:30:21 baby, their most prized creation. It is a privilege and an awesome responsibility
00:30:25 to serve them. Public schools reflect the values and aspirations of their local
00:30:30 communities. Berkeley is no different. Our history of activism, social justice,
00:30:35 diversity, and inclusion is alive and well today, and we recognize the need to
00:30:40 teach students to express themselves with respect and compassion. This is why
00:30:44 we passed a policy against hate speech last year. True equity and inclusion
00:30:49 requires deep listening, ongoing reflection, engagement, and continuous
00:30:53 learning. As I've engaged members of our Jewish community, some have shared
00:30:57 painful experiences of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic incidents in our schools
00:31:02 are never acceptable, and they are not who we are. The conflict in the Middle
00:31:06 East has directly impacted our schools. Students and staff have family and
00:31:11 friends who died or were kidnapped during the October 7th Hamas attack, and
00:31:15 many have deep concern for what is happening in Israel. Berkeley-born
00:31:19 Israeli-American Hirsch Goldberg-Polen was kidnapped on October 7th. Members of
00:31:24 our community wear tape on their shirts with the number of days he and other
00:31:27 hostages have been held captive. Today is day 214. Other Berkeley students and
00:31:33 staff have family and friends who have died, been injured, are missing, or are
00:31:37 living under horrific conditions in Gaza. Most heartbreakingly, in both Israel and
00:31:42 Gaza, the death and suffering includes children. As educators, too often we are
00:31:47 called upon to address heart-wrenching events that occur far beyond the walls
00:31:51 of our classrooms. Our young students with ties to either Israel or Gaza, some
00:31:56 deeply traumatized by the horror they see and hear, sit side-by-side in our
00:32:00 Berkeley classrooms. They are friends. We work hard to make sure they are all seen
00:32:04 and all safe. Our babies sometimes say hurtful things. We are mindful that all
00:32:10 kids make mistakes. We know that our staff are not immune to missteps either,
00:32:14 and we don't ignore them when they occur. When the days of October 7th, we began
00:32:19 providing resources to our families and our educators about how to support our
00:32:23 children and each other. Since October 7th, the district has had formal
00:32:27 complaints alleging anti-Semitism arising from nine incidents within our
00:32:31 jurisdiction. However, anti-Semitism is not pervasive in Berkeley Unified School
00:32:36 District. When investigations show that an anti-Semitic event has occurred, we
00:32:40 take action to teach, correct, and redirect our students. We do not publicly
00:32:45 share our actions because student information is private and legally
00:32:48 protected under federal and state law. As a result, some believe we do nothing. This
00:32:54 is not true. Likewise, when an investigation shows that one of our
00:32:58 educators has crossed the line, we take appropriate action. In California,
00:33:02 personnel actions are also private and legally protected, so non-disclosure can
00:33:06 again be confused with an action. We work proactively to cultivate respect,
00:33:11 understanding, and love in our diverse district, modeling how to uplift and
00:33:16 honor each individual that makes up the beautiful fabrics of our schools. This
00:33:20 month, for the third year, we're celebrating Jewish American Heritage
00:33:23 Month. We are a community with differing, deeply held beliefs in this challenging
00:33:28 moment, and it is and can be uncomfortable. As I speak to you right
00:33:33 now, our families are packing school lunches, students are heading to bus
00:33:37 stops, and educators are turning on classroom lights. Soon, the bells will
00:33:41 ring and our students will begin learning side by side. I look forward to
00:33:45 this conversation this morning, but I also look forward to getting back to
00:33:49 them, our babies, to do and continue to do the work that needs to be done in
00:33:53 Berkeley. Thank you. Ms. Ford-Morthell, thank you very much. Under committee rule
00:33:59 9, we will now question witnesses under the five-minute rule. Put the clock on
00:34:05 bean, because I'm going to begin right now with some just some opening yes or
00:34:09 no questions to our school district leaders. Mr. Banks, does Israel have the
00:34:13 right to exist as a Jewish state? Ms. Silvestri? Ms. Ford-Morthell?
00:34:18 Is the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," is that
00:34:24 anti-semitic? I think most Jewish people experience that as anti-semitic, and as
00:34:29 such, it is not allowed in our schools. You would say it is? I would say it's anti-semitic.
00:34:32 Ms. Silvestri? It is if the intent is the destruction of the Jewish people, yes.
00:34:37 And it is? And it is. And so I would say I'd put you down as a yes. You're okay
00:34:40 with that? A yes? Yes. Ms. Ford-Morthell? It's a yes or, you can just go yes or no. It is if it is
00:34:49 calling for the elimination of the Jewish people in Israel, and I will also
00:34:52 say that I recognize that it does have different meaning to different members
00:34:55 of our community. I'm gonna go yes. I'll put you down as yes. I got to boogie because five minutes goes by
00:34:59 so fast. Were Hamas actions on October 7th, was that a terrorist attack, Mr.
00:35:06 Banks? Absolutely. Ms. Silvestri? Yes. Ms. Ford-Morthell? Yes. Is terrorism ever
00:35:11 justified? Mr. Banks? I don't think so. Not terrorism, no. Ms. Silvestri?
00:35:17 Ms. Ford-Morthell? I would agree now. Congratulations. Y'all all have, y'all
00:35:23 from Florida, y'all have all done a remarkable job testifying, but just like
00:35:28 some college presidents before you, that sat in the very same seats. They also, in
00:35:34 many instances, said the right thing, but then we watched the TV monitors and
00:35:38 America watched the monitors of their campuses on fire with hatred, really
00:35:44 reversing everything they said that they're protecting students and when
00:35:48 they were really not. This morning, I attended a gathering, a press conference,
00:35:53 just a chance for students and teachers and parents in your school districts
00:35:58 that have said nothing is being done, some really horrible things. We've gotten
00:36:04 reports in your school districts across America over 246 very vile anti-Semitic
00:36:10 acts that have happened. So, Mr. Banks, what are you doing with teachers, teachers
00:36:17 that are that are teaching hate? Have you fired any? Have you gotten rid of any?
00:36:21 What are, what are your actions say that you, because you're a man that has his
00:36:26 basis in school safety and you've said that earlier, but have you fired teachers
00:36:30 that are teaching this? Anyone that would suggest, I can't speak for my colleagues,
00:36:34 but anyone who would suggest that we haven't done anything, that that that is
00:36:39 certainly not correct. We have done quite a bit. Again, you have to remember this is
00:36:44 a very large system and when incidents arise, we investigate every single one of
00:36:50 them. We take them very, very seriously. We have taken a wide range of
00:36:54 disciplinary actions on all of these issues and so... Have students been fired, expelled?
00:37:01 We don't fire students. Yeah, I stand corrected. But we have, we have, we have
00:37:07 given appropriate discipline. I said in my opening testimony, wide range of
00:37:13 students who have been suspended from school. We have taken action against
00:37:18 employees. We have terminated people as well. You have terminated people.
00:37:22 Absolutely. Mr. Banks, thank you so much. Ms. Silvestri, I met with one of your
00:37:27 students this morning who, you know, it's one thing, bullies exist, bullies exist,
00:37:31 but this student has said, but for being Jewish, why I was suffered physically,
00:37:37 suffered physical harm. Have you expelled students and teachers? In terms, speaking
00:37:45 first about teachers, we have taken action in some cases. We put them... You've
00:37:51 gotten rid of teachers. You said, you know, they don't belong in Montgomery
00:37:54 County schools. We, you're teaching hatred and we're gonna get rid of you. Has that
00:37:58 happened? We have taken disciplinary action, yes. Have you fired anybody? No.
00:38:03 With, so you allow them to continue to teach hate. One of the teachers, one of
00:38:10 the people in this, at this meeting I gathered, was one of your teachers. One of
00:38:15 your teachers who is Jewish, who is scared for her life and has suffered
00:38:19 greatly because she is reporting, she was reporting anti-semitism on your campus
00:38:24 and one of your schools, yet she's the one that's suffering. Are you aware of
00:38:28 this? I don't have all the details of that case, but retaliation against
00:38:33 teachers is not acceptable in our school district. So you haven't fired anybody. Do
00:38:39 you think people need to be fired if they're teaching hate, hatred and in
00:38:43 letting people... Absolutely. As a part of our process, the teachers that have been
00:38:48 disciplined know that if this happens ever again, there will be deeper
00:38:51 consequences up to and including termination. You're gonna have to face
00:38:55 these people and I'm telling you they're fired up and they have stories that are
00:38:59 heartbreaking, heartbreaking. It's hard enough to go to school as a kid without
00:39:04 suffering. It's just a shame and I think we're better than this as a nation.
00:39:10 It's time to all stand together. I've got so many questions and I will now yield
00:39:16 to ranking member Bonamici for five minutes. Thank you very much, Chairman.
00:39:21 Thank you to the witnesses. As I stated in my opening statement, there's a need
00:39:25 to balance the civil rights of students to be free from discrimination under
00:39:29 Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act with the First Amendment right to free speech and
00:39:32 expression. I want to reiterate that we must stand together against anti-semitism
00:39:37 and do more to combat the harassment of Jewish students. And first and foremost,
00:39:41 we must support the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. OCR
00:39:47 is the primary office for investigating and intervening in Title 6 violations
00:39:51 and that's true both in K-12 schools and on college campuses. But OCR continues to
00:39:57 investigate a record number of incidences of discrimination and hate
00:40:00 receiving more than 19,000 complaints in 2023. 2024, the office has already seen
00:40:07 about a 26% increase in complaints. Despite those challenges and increasing
00:40:12 cases, OCR has only half the staff that it had when it was established 45 years
00:40:17 ago. So half the staff but an increase in the, a significant increase in the
00:40:23 number of cases. So there's no question that more resources are needed to hire
00:40:27 additional staff and increase the capacity of the office to fulfill its
00:40:31 mission. Unfortunately, the Appropriations Committee majority has
00:40:34 proposed a 25% cut to the program for fiscal year 2024. We can't cut a program
00:40:40 when there's increased need and there's already only half the staff it had 45
00:40:47 years ago. Well thankfully, this cut was not enacted but as other members of this
00:40:50 committee would agree, maintaining funding at the current level is
00:40:54 still not enough given the volume of discriminatory instances in our nation's
00:40:59 school. So I'm going to start with a question for Chancellor Banks.
00:41:03 What steps has your school system taken to address anti-Semitism
00:41:07 proactively before it becomes a problem? For example, can you tell us more about
00:41:12 your meeting the moment plan and the ways it addresses safety, education, and
00:41:16 engagement? Yeah, so first of all, as we talk about safety because we really
00:41:21 start with that and that is reinforced by the fact that we take action in
00:41:27 every single one of these cases. Whenever an issue is brought to our attention, I
00:41:30 can't state that I can prevent every incident from ever happening, but our
00:41:34 role as leaders are to make sure that once it is brought to our attention that
00:41:38 we respond in an appropriate fashion and that is what we have been doing. Since
00:41:43 this time, we've had 281 incidents since October 7th. Approximately 42% were
00:41:50 anti-semitic and 30% were Islamophobic and so this is an issue that ranges on
00:41:55 both sides. We take every single one of those very, very seriously. We
00:42:01 investigate and then we initiate the appropriate level of conduct. I've got a
00:42:05 this is our student code of conduct is a more than 40 plus page document that's
00:42:11 been developed over many, many years. We certainly would seek to enter this into
00:42:15 evidence for or put this on the record for this committee. I ask that that be
00:42:20 admitted into the record. Without objection. Thank you and so there are a
00:42:23 wide range that of disciplinary processes that we take place, but we also
00:42:29 have to follow a process of due process. Our teachers are represented by unions,
00:42:33 they have rights and we engage them in that process. Thank you and I do want to
00:42:37 get to the other witnesses, but thank you so much and I know you've all
00:42:40 expressed a desire to work with outside groups to address anti-semitism in your
00:42:45 school district. So both Ms. Silvestre and Ms. Ford-Morthau, what is your
00:42:50 approach? How do you anticipate that it will help prevent issues of and instances
00:42:54 of anti-semitism? If we start with Ms. Silvestre and then Ms. Ford-Morthau. Our
00:42:59 partnerships with our community organizations bring expertise, cultural
00:43:03 expertise that there's maybe some of our school leaders do not have and so they
00:43:07 help enhance the work that we do with our, in this case, a hate bias action plan. We
00:43:12 have 12 different community groups from various perspective to make to help us
00:43:15 get us get it right. We want to get it right and these community groups will
00:43:19 help us do that. Thank you and Ms. Ford-Morthau. Thank you. I would agree with
00:43:23 Ms. Silvestre that it is both bringing expertise but it's also bringing what I
00:43:26 think is really important. The opportunity to really listen and learn
00:43:29 and understand different perspectives and experiences. That's something that we
00:43:33 do in Berkeley that we really value and we do believe in the value of
00:43:37 collective coming in and sharing different ideas, perspective and
00:43:40 different ways to address issues and so we truly believe that not just the
00:43:43 expertise and sharing of experiences but the collaboration and bringing together
00:43:46 of different minds and hearts will lead us to the best way. I'm almost out of
00:43:49 time but in my remaining 35 seconds Mr. Sykes if you could just summarize what
00:43:53 is the interplay between Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the First
00:43:58 Amendment in schools. Sure, thank you. The schools must act when there is a hostile
00:44:04 educational environment under Title VI and that means there's unwelcome
00:44:08 conduct based on a protected characteristic that's subjectively or
00:44:12 objectively offensive and so severe or pervasive that it limits or denies a
00:44:16 person's ability to participate in or benefit from an educational program. So
00:44:20 the law is clear that the schools must act in those situations not withstanding
00:44:25 the tinker test that we described. And do you agree that we need funding to do
00:44:28 that? Absolutely. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you very much ranking member. We
00:44:32 now go to the great state of Utah Mr. Burgess you're recognized for five
00:44:35 minutes. Thank you. It's a first of all thank you for
00:44:41 witnesses being here today. It's one thing to hear about the bigoted
00:44:45 behavior present on today's college campuses. It's utterly appalling to hear the
00:44:49 activist teachers they're doing the same in our classrooms spreading the vitriol
00:44:53 of hate to our children in classrooms throughout our nation. Unfortunately and
00:44:56 often too often these carriers of hate are teachers and school administrators
00:45:00 and this is going down to our kids that are supposed to be teaching. Children as young as
00:45:04 second grade are being taught to hate Jews. Questions how does this come about?
00:45:09 Mr. Banks I have a quick question. Sure. In the press release shortly after the
00:45:14 events of Hillcrest High School where students stormed a building demanding a
00:45:19 teacher's resignation and attempted to enter the teacher's room where she said
00:45:23 she hid what she hid you said this notion that this place these kids are
00:45:28 radicalized and anti-semitic is the height of irresponsibility. Do you think
00:45:34 that these kids were not radicalized? Do you stand by that statement? First of all
00:45:39 let me say this Hillcrest High School is the school that I graduated from so that
00:45:42 school is very personal. I'm sorry I only have a few minutes. This statement. Do you still stand by this statement? My statement at that time was that yes I
00:45:52 stand by that statement the entire school was not radicalized. All right so
00:45:55 if this was a black teacher and these are kids coming in because of her skin
00:46:00 because her background hiding out for two hours in a classroom these are high
00:46:05 school kids. I know that. Would you still say that this is not radicalized? There's
00:46:09 something wrong with this? Those kids engaged the kids who were responsible
00:46:13 who led that effort engaged clearly in an act of anti-semitism. Okay so I'm really not
00:46:18 to cut to the chase. My question is if this is a black teacher being
00:46:23 threatened and pushed by some white bigots would you still say that these
00:46:28 kids are not a problem that's not being radicalized by hatred? If that if it was
00:46:33 black if it was a black teacher that was being targeted absolutely not
00:46:38 unacceptable and this was unacceptable. Okay so let me ask you this. Were there any
00:46:42 I'm sorry were there any consequences? I mean I'm hearing nice words really nice
00:46:49 words here teaching redirecting directing what I'm missing is discipline
00:46:54 and I'm missing the word fired. Has anything happened to these kids that that
00:47:00 did this to this teacher hiding up for two hours? Well I'm not sure if you
00:47:04 heard clearly from what I said. What I said was very clear. We suspended a
00:47:08 number of students who were the leaders at Hillcrest High School number one.
00:47:12 Number two we removed the principal of that school for a lack of leadership and
00:47:17 oversight. I don't know how to make it much clearer. I condemn clearly what
00:47:21 happened at Hillcrest was a complete act of anti-semitism. It will not stand on my
00:47:26 watch. We responded okay and I don't know how to make it any clearer. No thank you
00:47:29 so much I'm glad to hear somebody was fired on that. Was the teacher was the
00:47:32 principal fired or just transferred to another school? The principal was removed
00:47:36 from the school. Was he taken to another school? He's not in another school no
00:47:40 he's not in front of any more children. Okay Miss Marthal the the Brandeis Center
00:47:45 as reported at most misguided administrators have attempted to resolve
00:47:49 problems involving teachers by moving students Jewish students and Israeli
00:47:53 students into new classes. As a result anti-semitism anti-semitic
00:47:59 anti-semitism is normalized. Quick question how does this work? So you find
00:48:05 teachers that are bigots and instead of firing them you transfer them to another
00:48:11 school where they can still remain bigots is that the way this works? I'm a
00:48:15 little confused by the question you started with students being moved and
00:48:18 then you went to teachers being moved. I'll tell you that it's not something
00:48:21 that we normalize it's not something that we agree with and we take action
00:48:23 every time this is any concern. Okay I'm running I'm running I'm just trying to
00:48:27 understand how this works. When you have teachers that are teaching hate to our
00:48:31 kids and showing it and our students are being feeling fearful for this do they
00:48:36 are they fired or do this transfer to another school? It appears that they are
00:48:39 just moving to another place. In this case here yeah I guess that's the
00:48:44 question I have is what how is this being resolved? If we have a concern or
00:48:49 complaint about anti-semitism or any form of hate we take it very seriously
00:48:53 we investigate and we take action pending the outcome of that investigation.
00:48:57 Okay all right so I guess the action is not firing I was just moving to some
00:49:00 place. The word of action is very subjective obviously. Mrs. Silvestri
00:49:04 real quickly there's been several complaints filed by the Department of
00:49:09 Education of Civil Rights and again what resulted in one administrative leave and
00:49:17 the three others merely being transferred I'm gonna ask you the same
00:49:19 questions. How is this working out? Do we do we have a process in which you guys
00:49:23 should get bad teachers out of the classroom, bad administrations that are
00:49:27 teaching our kids to hate like this? Are we addressing that at all? In all of
00:49:31 those cases the teachers were put on leave so that we could do a thorough
00:49:34 invest investigation. Disciplinary action was taken. I guess I'm just concerned we
00:49:44 want results we want discipline we see what's happening our kids and we've not
00:49:48 taken out the cancer which these teachers coming in administrators that's
00:49:51 pushing down their hate every day in these classrooms is a bad day for our
00:49:55 kids so are we getting rid of any of these people or just taking action or
00:50:00 other actions? Disciplinary action has been taken in all of those cases.
00:50:04 They understand any other further action will lead to up to
00:50:08 determination. Representative Owens thank you very much. Let's go to the
00:50:13 great northern Mariana Islands where Mr. Sablan is recognized for five minutes.
00:50:18 Thank you very much Mr. Chairman and good morning to our witnesses welcome.
00:50:25 This is a really difficult issue and it's an issue difficult for me also
00:50:39 because it has happened in my district in the past but in my observation and I
00:50:46 visit schools very frequently on almost every trip I take home I don't see that
00:50:52 existing in our schools and there is a diversity of different ethnicities
00:50:59 different people. I'm not sure why I'm made there may be something in there
00:51:07 there's gotta be there is bullying I'm aware of I have two teachers in my
00:51:11 family there is bullying I'm not sure about anti-semitism or Islamophobia
00:51:20 there must be but it's not obvious so let me but I need to ask a question of
00:51:26 Mr. Sykes for starters may I sir. As you know institutions that are own or
00:51:32 acting on behalf of the government the state on such as K-12 schools must
00:51:38 respect constitutional free speech of individuals but that does not mean that
00:51:43 such schools must allow their campuses to become institutions where hate speech
00:51:49 is pervasive so given the First Amendment speech protections how can a
00:51:54 public school work to make its campus a welcome space to all students in the
00:52:00 face of incidents of hate speech of any kind on campus generally. Thank you I'm
00:52:09 the only non educator on the panel I'll do my best to answer but I think the
00:52:15 work of creating an inclusive environment where students feel free to
00:52:18 express themselves and to learn and grow happens long before any of these
00:52:23 particular incidents I think it's a part of establishing a school community that
00:52:27 is accepting and welcoming as I said we at the ACLU believe strongly in the
00:52:32 importance of protecting the free speech rights of students of teachers and of
00:52:37 parents but those are not unlimited and as I mentioned title six says that the
00:52:41 school schools must act when there's a hostile educational environment if I can
00:52:45 just respond to the previous questions it doesn't say that someone must be
00:52:48 fired I think we need to think a little bit more creatively about how can we can
00:52:53 respond to anti-semitism and root out this idea I don't want anyone fired if
00:52:58 firing may be appropriate in certain circumstances but I think we need to
00:53:03 think about how we can address anti-semitism change hearts and minds
00:53:07 make children safe without only looking to the most punitive tool in our
00:53:11 toolbox you are you my remaining time to miss money thank you
00:53:17 are you Thank You mr. sublime first I want to thank you all for your
00:53:22 testimony and your condemnation of anti-semitism and the steps you are
00:53:26 taking as we all know we are facing a particularly difficult time for Jewish
00:53:31 students and their parents I've talked with Jewish students in my district who
00:53:36 are experiencing anti-semitism in North Carolina this is traumatizing kids it's
00:53:42 distressing parents it's putting pressure on teachers and principals and
00:53:48 superintendents and I feel strongly that this can be a powerful teaching moment
00:53:54 this is the time when schools should do what we expect them to do they should
00:53:59 teach they should teach the facts they should teach understanding they should
00:54:04 teach empathy and they should teach critical thinking skills yet many
00:54:09 students many teachers rather are struggling to figure out how to handle
00:54:13 the different kinds of anti-semitism that's going on not only to teach the
00:54:18 Holocaust but also in discussing what's going on in the Middle East and sadly
00:54:23 some teachers are simply getting the facts wrong and they're adding to the
00:54:28 distress of students and parents so I'd like to start and I'm gonna have to pick
00:54:34 up when my other when my time picks up later if each of you could describe what
00:54:41 resources are your teachers using to navigate the difficult questions about
00:54:46 anti-semitism or the Israel Gaza conflict and mr. Banks let's start with
00:54:52 you I know we'll have a short amount of time but this is where we engage our
00:54:56 partners I'm joined today by Devorah Halverstam who's here whose son Ari was
00:55:00 killed in one of the most heinous acts of anti-semitism almost 30 years ago and
00:55:05 she created the Jewish Children's Museum to teach the history I've sent thousands
00:55:09 of students to this museum and we were going to continue to send even more
00:55:13 joined by Michael Cohen from the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of tolerance they're
00:55:17 in our schools they've gone to Hillcrest and are engaged in this process so we're
00:55:22 trying to avoid just casting aspersions we are trying to lean in to how you
00:55:27 teach that's how you will solve for anti-semitism thank you my time but this
00:55:31 time is expired I'll be back later thank you so much let's go to the great state
00:55:36 of Michigan where representative McLean is recognized for five minutes thank you
00:55:40 mr. chair and and I just have to make one comment mr. Sykes there in lies the
00:55:48 problem your ability to tolerate this behavior is completely unacceptable and
00:55:56 sometimes you do need to use the stick because disincentives work so with that
00:56:04 I was just appalled by that answer but at any rate mr. Banks I appreciate your
00:56:10 passion I love it it is so refreshing to see I'm gonna ask a couple questions I
00:56:17 think they're really simple but then I want to move to outcomes and what we can
00:56:24 do to actually make change because I think you said something very insightful
00:56:29 we need to get to the root of the problem and change the curriculum and
00:56:33 change how we teach right so I'm assuming you're gonna agree with me but
00:56:38 let me just death to Israel is that anti-semitic of course it is of course
00:56:42 kill the Jews anti-semitic absolutely absolutely drawing swastikas or mimicking
00:56:48 is that anti-semitic absolutely hate crime in New York yes of course all of
00:56:53 these activities are anti-semitic vandalism of school property right
00:56:57 rioting we agree on that right and we talk about taking action right in action
00:57:07 is a vague term so let's move from actions to outcomes because sometimes
00:57:13 when we take action we don't get the desired outcome we appreciate or we or
00:57:20 we want right so let's take a look at what actions you have taken and what has
00:57:26 been the result of reducing the anti-semitism in your schools let me
00:57:32 give you an example what an example what was raised was Hillcrest High School
00:57:36 very passionately brought up my alma mater that I went to where a Jewish
00:57:41 teacher was targeted in a frightening episode we didn't accept that we pushed
00:57:48 back on that tremendously so can you give me an example of pushback because
00:57:53 to me pushback is that those people are dealt with swiftly but what's your
00:57:58 definition of pushback but in terms of outcomes what I meant was we suspended
00:58:04 students we removed the principal of the school we engaged the Simon
00:58:08 Wiesenthal Center for a deeper dive in education of those kids the teacher who
00:58:13 was targeted made a decision I think one of the most heroic things I've ever
00:58:17 heard to actually come back she could have gone to another school she made a
00:58:20 decision to say if I'm going to change this you fired the people you fired the
00:58:25 yes we move people absolutely and and the outcome is that what's happening at
00:58:30 that school now has transformed in significant ways we're not fully arrived
00:58:35 this is a work in progress I get it what have you done to change your curriculum
00:58:40 yeah so we have engaged in a wide range of new resource guides teaching about
00:58:47 anti-semitism teaching about what are those resource guides
00:58:51 excuse me what are those resource guides the resource we're working together with
00:58:55 the Museum of Jewish History okay in New York City who's helping us to create an
00:58:59 educated guide I would offer one solution as well because a lot of times
00:59:03 we come up here and we just talk about problems one solution is Morris life
00:59:07 does a really good job of teaching anti-semitic anti-semitism and and
00:59:12 really ruling out hate around the Holocaust and whatnot I think where
00:59:16 everyone gets frustrated is we use these words like pushback and I think we have
00:59:23 to have a real clear definition of if X happens if you vandalize school property
00:59:32 if you perform anti-semitic acts that here is a clear policy that will be
00:59:42 dealt with swiftly and justly am I hearing you say today that those
00:59:47 policies are in place those policies are in place here's the challenge these
00:59:52 things don't always come down to so clear yes and no I'll give you an
00:59:56 example we had a school where a teacher hung up a map of the Middle East that
01:00:01 eliminated Israel from the map so the question is is that anti-semitic to me
01:00:06 that's anti-semitic and we had it removed but others have said did you
01:00:11 fire her she said essentially I made a mistake I didn't intend it to be
01:00:16 anti-semitic and she had a reason for you I have one just a moment how do your
01:00:20 administrators response to students that ignore authority right I think we have
01:00:28 three perpetrators here we have the students we have the teachers and we
01:00:33 have the administrators right right and I think all three of those people need
01:00:37 to be dealt with and need to be dealt with swiftly and justly so with that I
01:00:43 apologize I'm out of time but I would like to see your written response to how
01:00:47 you deal with anti-semitism as it pertains to those three entities
01:00:52 students administrators and teachers and with that Thank You mr. chairman I yield
01:00:56 back thank you very much from the great state of California representative de
01:01:00 Saulnier is recognized for five minutes Thank You mr. chairman I want to thank
01:01:05 the witnesses sorry we were having a conversation collegial conversation here
01:01:10 let's start by everything everyone in this room I believe agrees to and you've
01:01:15 stated anti-semitism is unacceptable all students deserve to be free from hate
01:01:20 and be safe to learn and thrive we need to support all students who are being
01:01:24 threatened on school campuses and stand against all forms of hate any student
01:01:30 who feels unsafe or discriminated against deserves to have their case
01:01:34 investigated and the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights
01:01:37 should take all credible claims seriously and investigate superintendent
01:01:44 I'm a neighbor I represent a district just to the east of Berkeley I used to
01:01:47 own a business in Berkeley I love the atmosphere in Berkeley the openness but
01:01:53 it does create certain frictions openness I think you would agree is that
01:01:57 happening right now is the Department of Education investigating civil rights
01:02:02 complaints yes there is an open investigation now from the Office of
01:02:07 Civil Rights for Berkeley Unified and you are cooperating with that fully
01:02:10 correct we are fully intending to cooperate we just received the letter
01:02:13 yesterday actually informing us officially of that complaint and we do
01:02:17 see it as an opportunity to reflect and grow and continue to move towards our
01:02:19 mission and values and you and your board has done everything to to
01:02:23 reasonably stop a complaint from coming and you believe that the process will
01:02:29 show that we believe the process will show that thank you mr. chair I'd like
01:02:35 to insert into the record letters from Berkeley parents and community members
01:02:40 teachers detailing the difficulties that schools face in addressing the war in
01:02:44 Gaza and in support of the superintendent and the board to build
01:02:49 and maintain a safe and learning environment there's also letters from
01:02:53 Jewish parents about from about Berkeley Unified School District's support for
01:02:57 Jewish students I'd like to submit that for the record without objection so
01:03:01 ordered without objection mr. Emerson Sykes the balance between free speech
01:03:06 and protecting students is what we're challenged by justice Holmes and justice
01:03:11 Brandeis wrote about this extensively justice Holmes talked about screaming
01:03:16 fire in a crowded room justice Brandeis the first Jewish member of the Supreme
01:03:22 Court talked about the antidote to this I'm paraphrasing to challenges of
01:03:26 irrational fear is more speech not less speech could you talk to a little bit of
01:03:30 that he actually has a quote where he talks about violence alone should not
01:03:35 the threat of violence alone and I'm quoting from him now from memory should
01:03:39 not stop free speech and that in that quote he talked about men burnt women as
01:03:46 witches and we can't condone that either so this balance that Brandeis and Holmes
01:03:50 struggle with all those years ago is your forte how are we balancing that
01:03:55 right now thank you the rules that apply according to the Constitution and
01:04:01 statutes differ whether you're in a crowded movie theater or in a public
01:04:06 square or in a k-12 school and so in the context that we're talking about today
01:04:12 on the one hand we have robust protections for the free speech rights
01:04:16 of all as the Supreme Court has also said you do not lose your constitutional
01:04:20 rights at the schoolhouse gates you have the right to hold your opinions to share
01:04:24 your opinions so long as they are within the bounds of the school context but the
01:04:31 school must act as I've said when there is a hostile educational environment and
01:04:36 so a lot of what we are dealing with today is how have schools responded in
01:04:41 those situations and I think you know as a husband of a public school teacher and
01:04:46 the parent of public school students I understand that when they make mistakes
01:04:50 we don't send them to their room we try to help them understand what they've
01:04:54 done wrong we try to help them understand the impact that they've had
01:04:57 on others try to figure out how to make the people who've been harmed feel whole
01:05:01 and try to change behaviors in the future and so I know that good teachers
01:05:06 and administrators across the country are doing their best to do that now and
01:05:10 this is the everyday work of schools trying to nurture students trying to
01:05:13 help them grow while also make them safe do you believe listen to the testimony
01:05:17 of your fellow panelists today that they are doing that I can only assume that
01:05:22 they are doing their best I find it interesting that some of the members of
01:05:27 the committee are prejudging for instance the case in Berkeley at the
01:05:31 same time we have a court case in New York about people complaining about
01:05:35 being prejudged in that one I think really what I hope comes out of this
01:05:39 conversation today and continues in the spirit of bipartisanship is that we all
01:05:45 again say that hatred in any form particularly in schools are is
01:05:50 completely unacceptable from the United States Congress and that we would adhere
01:05:54 to the laws as they are and if there's something wrong with them we would work
01:05:58 together to correct that Thank You madam mr. chair I yield back thank you very
01:06:02 much representative let's stay in the great state of California and
01:06:05 representative Kylie is recognized for five minutes Thank You mr. chair is it
01:06:13 doctor I'm sorry I'm having a trouble reading your last name Ford yes it's
01:06:18 Ford um I don't know we got an answer to you as to whether there have been any
01:06:24 professors terminated at your school for anti-semitic words or conduct so the
01:06:31 answer was that I'm not able to speak about personnel matters but what I can
01:06:34 say to you is we investigate every complaint and concern thoroughly and
01:06:38 thoughtfully sure I'm not asking you to anything but can you just tell us in
01:06:42 general has anyone been terminated in general I can say to you that I can't
01:06:45 speak about personnel matters but I can tell you that we do follow up and we
01:06:47 take I'm pretty sure your colleague dr. mr. Banks gave us an answer so you can
01:06:50 and I respect and appreciate that but I'm not gonna be able to do that I can
01:06:53 let you know that again when any issue comes up we investigated and pending the
01:06:57 outcome of that investigation we do take action and that those actions range
01:07:02 thank you you gave us a statement in your testimony where you said that any
01:07:06 suggestion or assertion that anti-semitism is pervasive in BUSD that
01:07:10 is that your district is false however the Brandeis Center and the
01:07:15 anti-defamation League have as we've mentioned filed a complaint and for the
01:07:20 sake of brevity I'll read from their release summarizing what's in it it says
01:07:24 incidents include students repeatedly hearing anti-semitic comments in
01:07:28 classrooms and hallways such as kill the Jews non-jewish students asking Jewish
01:07:32 students what their number is referring to numbers tattooed on Jews during the
01:07:35 Holocaust and Jewish students being derided for their physical appearance
01:07:39 and demonized as evil students have also had to endure anti-semitic teacher rants
01:07:43 and class activities teacher promoted walkouts and praise Hamas that praise
01:07:46 Hamas and even a second grade teacher leading a classroom activity where
01:07:50 children were writing stop bombing babies on sticky notes to display in the
01:07:53 building Jewish students report being worried about mob violence including
01:07:56 being jumped at school many have said they removed their Stars of David and no
01:08:00 longer wear Jewish camp t-shirts and that they are learning to keep their
01:08:03 heads down hide their Judaism and move through their school days in fear some
01:08:07 students have less the district due to pervasive bullying parents have
01:08:11 repeatedly reported anti-semitic instance the administration but BUSD has
01:08:14 done nothing to address much less curtail the hostile environment the
01:08:18 eruption of anti-semitism in Berkeley's elementary and high schools is like
01:08:21 nothing I've ever seen before said Kenneth Marcus chairman of the Brandeis
01:08:25 Center and former US Assistant Secretary of Education and yet you testify today
01:08:29 any suggestion or assertion that anti-semitism is pervasive and BUSD is
01:08:33 false so my question is if you're not willing to acknowledge the problem why
01:08:36 can we be confident that it's being adequately addressed you can be
01:08:39 confident that I am there in my schools every day in the schools in the
01:08:43 classrooms with the babies and I'm very clear that anti-semitism there have been
01:08:47 incidents of anti-semitism in Berkeley Unified School District and every single
01:08:51 time that we are aware of such an instance we take action and we follow up
01:08:54 and we take appropriate action at that okay can I ask you about the Israel
01:08:59 Palestine curriculum that's been introduced in some classes in the wake
01:09:02 of October 7th did you approve this curriculum so we do have a controversial
01:09:08 policy that says if something is instigated and cited by our students
01:09:12 which was the case with this that our that our teachers can respond so yes in
01:09:15 response to both student interests and parent ish sorry parent interest to
01:09:20 discuss this in our classrooms we did have a group of teachers who did try to
01:09:23 create lessons to respond to the moment and engage our students you approve it
01:09:27 you approve the curriculum our teachers did create it yes and so one of the
01:09:31 slides in this curriculum said for some Palestinians from the river to the sea
01:09:34 is a call for freedom and peace and then cited a support a quote from Congresswoman
01:09:39 Talib who was censured by this by body in a bipartisan vote do you think that's
01:09:43 an appropriate thing to have on a slide for students what was on slightly and
01:09:46 said again it said for some Palestinians from the river to the sea is a call for
01:09:49 freedom and peace do you think that's appropriate so we definitely believe that
01:09:52 it's important to expose our students to a diversity of ideas and perspectives
01:09:56 and if it was presented as a perspective I do you think it's appropriate you do
01:09:59 so you think I mean I think is it any wonder and you said earlier you thought
01:10:02 this was anti-semitic and you know you put this on a slide in the classroom and
01:10:06 then students go around the hall saying it I don't think there's any anything
01:10:10 surprising about that but I wanted to also ask you about the ethnic studies
01:10:14 curriculum you have because I think you contract with a group called the
01:10:18 liberated ethnic studies consortium is that right yes so this consortium as I
01:10:22 understand it grew out of the initial working group to form California's model
01:10:26 ethnic studies curriculum and the original version of that was universally
01:10:30 condemned as anti-semitic 14 members of the legislature all Democrats said it is
01:10:35 difficult to fathom why the state of California would want to actively
01:10:38 promote a narrative about Jews that echoes the propaganda of the Nazi regime
01:10:42 even Gavin Newsom said the curriculum was offensive in so many ways it would
01:10:46 never see the light of day so it was revised but this liberated ethnic studies
01:10:51 consortium was those were offers the original version of it they split off
01:10:55 from the group and said we're gonna stick with the original anti-semitic
01:10:57 version and that's the version that you went out and decided to have in your
01:11:01 classrooms is that right that is actually incorrect congressman I thank
01:11:04 you for the opportunity to clarify Berkeley Unified School District has not
01:11:08 purchased any curriculum from liberated ethnic studies consortium in fact our
01:11:12 ethnic studies curriculum is created in-house if you will we pride ourselves
01:11:16 on having I'm sorry I thought you said you contracted with the liberated
01:11:20 ethnic so we have a liberated ethnicity as a thought partner our teachers and
01:11:23 our staff and our community members actually create our curriculum so we're
01:11:26 not purchasing or buying any make any curriculum from liberated ethnic studies
01:11:29 I don't understand what the difference between a thought partner and working
01:11:32 with them on curriculum I can explain to you so liberated ethnic studies is one
01:11:35 of two experts in the field of ethnic studies that Berkeley Unified School
01:11:39 District evaluated to partner with our curriculum our units that are being
01:11:43 created the ethnic studies units are created by our educators in partnership
01:11:47 with community members etc and they are my time is expired but I'll just say
01:11:51 mr. chair that you know you specifically chose to work with a group whose work
01:11:56 product was rejected by political leaders throughout California is
01:12:00 anti-semitic and so I don't think it's any wonder then that you see
01:12:02 anti-semitism suddenly become rampant the gentleman's time is expired
01:12:07 Jerry you'll back thank you very much let's go to the great state of New York
01:12:09 representative Bowman you are recognized for five minutes thank you so much
01:12:13 Chancellor Banks you didn't just roll out of bed and become Chancellor and
01:12:17 your background is not only in school safety you are also a classroom teacher
01:12:21 and you're also the founder of two highly regarded high schools the School
01:12:26 of Law Government and Justice in the Bronx and the first all-male school in
01:12:31 the Bronx as well the Eagle Academy for young men so I want you to speak to us
01:12:35 briefly about the curriculum that is being implemented in New York City
01:12:39 schools to address the issue of anti-semitism and all hate please be as
01:12:43 concise as possible because I have at least two more questions to ask sure
01:12:47 thank you so much for the for the question so number one teaching about
01:12:51 the Holocaust first of all is required by New York State law it's important to
01:12:55 know we also cover the Holocaust in grades 8 10 and 11 and our social
01:12:59 studies curriculum as well as in a range of our ELA classes including literature
01:13:04 like the diary of Anne Frank night and and many other literary pieces we're
01:13:10 also now working on a little Holocaust resource guide which is going to be
01:13:14 available this fall in collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage and
01:13:18 but the thing I think we're really super excited about is we are developing a
01:13:22 very robust comprehensive curriculum new curriculum it's going to be about a year
01:13:28 before it's ready to go that is going to cover the entire range of the Jewish
01:13:32 history children need to understand deeply about the history of the Jewish
01:13:36 people if we ultimately want to solve for this issue of anti-semitism I
01:13:42 appreciate that because that was going to be my suggestion because Jewish
01:13:44 history didn't start with the Holocaust there's an entire history of persecution
01:13:49 that our kids need to learn about there's also a part of history where the
01:13:52 Jewish people and Muslims and Christians live together in harmony in the Middle
01:13:56 East in different parts of the world and I want to suggest you teach that as part
01:13:59 of the curriculum as well mr. Sykes can you talk about the distinction between
01:14:04 anti-semitic speech and speech that expresses solidarity with Palestinians
01:14:08 or criticisms of Israel why is it dangerous to conflate the two thank you
01:14:14 the ACLU has spoken out against the anti-semitism Awareness Act not because
01:14:21 we have any problem with anti-semitism awareness obviously but because it
01:14:25 incorporated a definition of anti-semitism that includes criticism
01:14:29 of Israel and just as it is totally legitimate to criticize the US
01:14:34 government or US government officials without necessarily casting aspersions
01:14:39 on any particular individual the government of Israel is certainly
01:14:42 subject to criticism just like all others where that goes into ethnic based
01:14:47 hatred or targeting of particular individuals obviously schools and
01:14:53 communities can and should respond but the but the right to dissent against our
01:14:57 government and against others is core to free speech thank you so much and I just
01:15:01 have a closing comment to make thank you all for being here and thank you for
01:15:05 your testimony and thank you for your clarity around when you identify
01:15:09 anti-semitism you respond swiftly and decisively because it needs to be
01:15:14 condemned and it needs to be handled accordingly so I appreciate you all for
01:15:18 being here and sharing that with us what I'm gonna ask of you because I've been
01:15:22 very disturbed by some of the language that have has come from the other side
01:15:27 of the aisle language around teaching hate our teachers in our schools are not
01:15:33 teaching hate the majority of them when I say majority I mean ninety nine point
01:15:37 nine percent my former educator in New York City schools I have never seen that
01:15:42 teachers make mistakes and teachers need to be educated and disciplined when
01:15:48 necessary when they do make those mistakes yes or no question just going
01:15:53 down the line starting with mr. Banks yes can we fight against anti-semitism
01:15:58 and other forms of hate simultaneously yes or no not only can we we must okay
01:16:04 yes yes of course yes so it's really important because there's also been
01:16:12 reports in the rise in Islamophobia in New York City schools and across the
01:16:17 country do you all agree with that yes or no yes yes yes yes yes does say
01:16:23 sexism still exists in our society absolutely yes of course yes does
01:16:29 anti-black racism still exists in our society absolutely yes yes yes we must
01:16:36 fight hate in all its forms at the same time I have members of Congress talking
01:16:41 about teachers teaching hate none of them have an education background by the
01:16:45 way they're talking about teachers teaching hate I work in Congress when
01:16:49 you go in the rotunda and you look at American history you see colonists
01:16:53 coming in and taking over America from the Native Americans there is no
01:16:58 reference to the black people who built this country in our rotunda but with
01:17:03 scolding you about teaching hate you know how many black statues there on the
01:17:08 Capitol three you know how many Confederate statues are on the Capitol
01:17:12 12 I work in an institution that teaches hate and with our policy yet we're
01:17:20 scolding you as educators who have been doing the secretary oh thank you yet
01:17:25 we're scolding you as educators who've been doing an exemplary job fighting
01:17:28 against hate in our school so thank you for your work please continue to educate
01:17:32 us let's stay in the state of New York where mr. representative Williams you're
01:17:38 recognized for five minutes Thank You mr. chairman and thank you for holding
01:17:41 this critically important and timely hearing I believe it's the moral issue
01:17:46 of our time when I was elected to Congress less than two years ago I was
01:17:51 alarmed that threats of violence against synagogues Jews and Jewish institutions
01:17:58 were on the rise so in March of last year as one of my first legislative acts
01:18:04 right here in this very room I introduced an amendment to House Bill
01:18:08 number five requiring and I quote it is the sense of Congress that all public
01:18:13 elementary school and secondary school students should have the opportunities
01:18:18 to learn the history of the Holocaust and anti-semitism in quote all that is
01:18:28 needed for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing and seven months
01:18:33 before the horrific events on October 7th this committee had the opportunity
01:18:37 to speak up and take steps to prevent the growth and spread of anti-semitism
01:18:42 by educating our children but every single one of my Democrat colleagues
01:18:47 voted against that amendment every single one and we submit to the voting
01:18:54 results for the record and now out of the other sides of their mouths they
01:18:59 pretend to be outraged yet they do nothing on October 7th Hamas announced
01:19:04 that it was open season on Jews in Israel mr. Banks kids in your school
01:19:10 district got the idea that it was okay to have open season on Jews in New York
01:19:14 City public schools instead of a reduction in amy's anti-semitic events
01:19:19 in your schools in the wake of this profound immorality of a Holocaust like
01:19:26 massacre of Jews we've seen an explosion of shocking anti-semitic events mr.
01:19:34 Banks now you say that you're leaning in on combating anti-semitism have the
01:19:39 episodes of rape and murder of October 7th been presented to your students of
01:19:44 examples of Jew hatred absolutely heinous of X events on October 7th
01:19:52 anti-semitic and they have been taught now in our schools and a continuing
01:19:55 to be taught across many of our schools is the former principal at Hillcrest
01:20:00 still drawing a salary from New York City Public Schools today yes he is I'm
01:20:07 sorry can you say that again I said yes he is you are still you are still paying
01:20:11 he's no longer the former of the school how can Jewish students feel safe at New
01:20:16 York City Public Schools when you can't even manage to terminate the principal
01:20:20 of open season on Jews high school or even endorse suspension of student
01:20:27 harassments how can Jewish students go to school knowing that he is still on
01:20:32 your payroll your payroll sir I know his payroll it is sir and it's not it's not
01:20:36 open season on Jew school it's called Hillcrest High School that's the name of
01:20:40 the school and at that school we considered his leadership not strong
01:20:45 enough to be the leader in that school Wow but he can still strong enough to
01:20:48 participate in your school district he's still strong enough to be on your
01:20:52 payroll leader of that school is he still strong enough a leader to be on
01:20:56 your payroll sir every one of the is that what you're saying you're endorsing
01:21:00 him to continue on your payroll has because he has the moral authority to
01:21:05 lead students within our system is that what you're saying that's what I said
01:21:09 that's what you're saying you're saying that he still has the moral authority I
01:21:12 did not say that that's what you said that is what I'm asking you you're
01:21:16 you're justifying what I said to you employment that's how I'm trying to
01:21:19 challenge how can that be he every employee who works in our schools has
01:21:25 due process rights sir do we do not have the authority or a
01:21:31 grievous crime I disagree there are a great someone that's not the way that it
01:21:35 works in our school system there are egregious crimes that have been
01:21:38 committed under your watch I want to give you the opportunity we have one
01:21:42 minute remaining to speak directly to the parents of Jewish students in New
01:21:47 York City as Jewish think of this as Jewish parents walk their children to
01:21:52 school tomorrow morning what can we say what should they say to their children
01:21:57 to allay their children's fears how should they reassure their children that
01:22:03 this anti-semitic nightmare in your school sir has come to an end please I
01:22:09 speak to Jewish parents when I speak to them now I'm speaking to the rolling
01:22:14 right here speak to them now I speak to Jewish teachers and parents and family
01:22:18 what do you say single and what do you say and what I say to them is that we do
01:22:23 everything we can to ensure that your child or that you even as a teacher are
01:22:28 going to be safe in our schools we don't always get it right part of the reason
01:22:33 that happened at Hillcrest High School was what I considered a lack of proper
01:22:36 supervision in that school that's why the principal was removed from the
01:22:40 school so the teachers in that school are not unsafe we remove the leader of
01:22:45 my time is expired I doubt very much that they're comforted that this
01:22:49 nightmare is over I'm sorry I feel that way let's go to the great state of
01:22:54 Connecticut where representative Hayes is recognized for five minutes thank you
01:22:58 and thank you to our witnesses for being here today to testify I would just like
01:23:02 to say that I agree with my colleague that those who have committed egregious
01:23:08 crimes should not have the moral authority to lead a school or a nation
01:23:14 also as an educator I just I don't know what people think it is that teachers do
01:23:20 I don't know what people think it is that teachers inside of a classroom or
01:23:25 people who choose this as a profession do I acknowledge and recognize that
01:23:30 there's been an unprecedented rise in anti-semitism in our k-12 schools and we
01:23:37 have had multiple hearings on this committee and the full committee on in
01:23:40 this full committee on anti-semitism but as an educator I remind you that we have
01:23:46 to teach children that all forms of hate are unacceptable I listen to my
01:23:51 colleague go down the list of all of the things we deal with that teachers deal
01:23:55 with in schools and I can remember I mean the only parallel I have is I'm not
01:24:00 in the classroom right now but I remember after September 11th going to
01:24:05 my department head and saying I we need some professional development on the
01:24:11 Muslim experience I need to be able to support our students and make sure that
01:24:16 other students understand their perspective we had parents come in
01:24:20 describing this is what this holiday means we had students come in saying
01:24:23 this is why I wear a hijab really doing a deep dive and helping students to
01:24:29 understand the background and perspective of their peers we're doing a
01:24:33 disservice to students if we are not teaching them about the backgrounds and
01:24:37 perspectives of all people and teachers have the impossible job of bringing
01:24:43 students together from different races religions ethnicities socioeconomic
01:24:48 backgrounds into one classroom and creating a space where all students feel
01:24:53 safe I really hope that on this committee that we spend some time really
01:25:01 looking at these intersections between what is happening in our classroom so
01:25:06 that kids it's it's a lot harder to hate someone that you know it's a lot harder
01:25:11 to diminish or devalue someone's experience when you know what it means
01:25:15 or or why a person practices a certain religion or or whatever according to
01:25:22 research conducted by the ADL Center on anti-semitism research there's a direct
01:25:28 relationship between deficiencies in Holocaust education and heightened
01:25:33 president prejudicial anti-semitic beliefs miss Silvestri in your
01:25:39 testimony you mentioned that your district is taking affirmative steps to
01:25:43 address anti-semitism and other forms of hate by enhancing the curriculum for k-12
01:25:49 students to expand on topics related to the Jewish experience can you tell us a
01:25:54 little bit about what your district has done to enhance the curriculum and
01:25:58 additionally why you believe the teaching of this education is important
01:26:03 and before you answer I just want to add one thing about the comment about
01:26:06 members of this committee not voting for Congress doesn't set curriculum you do
01:26:11 so can you let us know what you've done to make sure that students understand
01:26:17 the Jewish experience yes curriculum teaching and learning is the bread and
01:26:23 butter of what we know how to do well we have looking to we have been looking to
01:26:28 have our social studies curriculum better reflect our student population
01:26:32 and we have enhanced our Jewish experience education starting going
01:26:37 younger going into the elementary grades training teachers so that they could
01:26:41 implement Holocaust education in sixth grade training as I mentioned in my
01:26:47 statement for the first time we're having hate bias training starting this
01:26:50 summer for all staff 25,000 employees in our school system do you think it would
01:26:55 be important for students to understand why a statement like from the river to
01:26:59 the sea Palestine will be free could be harmful to some of their their peers or
01:27:04 why displaying a map in a classroom that does not have the state of Israel could
01:27:10 be hurtful and anti-semitic to their friends because that's what kids are
01:27:16 their friends around them absolutely congresswoman that is our role is to
01:27:21 educate them on the history so that they can understand why our Jewish students
01:27:26 might find that phrase is anti-semitic thank you miss for more feel can you it
01:27:34 wasn't your testimony it was actually mr. Banks testimony where he talked about
01:27:38 we can't suspend or expel our way out of this problem can you talk to us about
01:27:42 some of the direct actions that you've taken when things when these things do
01:27:47 occur because it has been my experience as an educator that oftentimes young
01:27:51 people repeat what they've heard from other people at home and really don't
01:27:54 understand the consequences or the history behind what they're saying or
01:27:58 doing yes thank you for the opportunity to respond so I appreciate you saying
01:28:03 that first and foremost we do believe in our role is to educate and so we engage
01:28:06 our students in conversation we want to make sure that our babies can actually
01:28:09 evaluate and reflect on their actions and their words to think about their
01:28:13 intent and also to think about the impact so conversations is something a
01:28:16 tool that we use as educators a lot we also believe in restorative
01:28:20 conversation so that students sit with their peers who they've heard or caused
01:28:24 harm to to hear from them and their perspective about what happened and why
01:28:27 it was hurtful all of these are efforts to again change and redirect and correct
01:28:32 behavior and then of course education we talked to students about history about
01:28:36 how and why for example the term that you just used might be hurtful to other
01:28:40 students when they hear it and again that's what we believe is really the way
01:28:43 to change behaviors for the long run not a short-term solution but one that
01:28:47 could actually keep and say thank you as they get older thank you very much the
01:28:51 gentlelady's time has expired let's go to the great state of New York again
01:28:55 where representative Stefanik is recognized for five minutes thank you
01:28:58 best thank you very much mr. chair mr. Banks there's been many questions on
01:29:03 Hillcrest and I just want to make sure it's very clear for the record the
01:29:07 principal of Hillcrest High School is still employed by the Department of
01:29:11 Education correct correct and what is his role he's serving in a role working
01:29:18 on one of the teams on the one about deputy chancellors I am told that he's
01:29:23 director of teacher development and evaluation is that accurate that I don't
01:29:29 know his official title right here I'd have to double-check that that's
01:29:32 concerning to me that you have him in a senior position and what's very
01:29:37 concerning about these hearings is that we're getting lip service but a lack of
01:29:41 enforcement a lack of accountability and these rules and policies matter whether
01:29:47 it's teachers administrators or students violating the rules I want to switch to
01:29:51 origins high school in October 40 to 50 students marched through origins high
01:29:57 school chanting death to Israel and kill the Jews in addition an independent
01:30:02 investigation found that a teacher who teaches global history was told by a
01:30:08 student quote I wish you were killed another student called her quote a dirty
01:30:13 Jew and the student said he wished Hitler could have hit more Jews
01:30:17 including her what disciplinary actions have been taken against those students
01:30:22 who chanted death to Israel at origins high school and against the student
01:30:26 who harassed with anti-semitic slurs that teacher two things first of all
01:30:31 when we've done our investigation we have found no evidence that there was
01:30:35 any movement through the hall saying death to the Jews we looked at and I
01:30:39 treat that very very seriously we that was reported in the papers we have found
01:30:43 no evidence that that actually happened what we have found a wide range deeply
01:30:49 troubling anti-semitic things that have happened at origins high school this
01:30:51 this is the one case that has troubled me the most congresswoman I will tell
01:30:55 you that so what are we horseman action I'm trying to tell you we have we have
01:30:58 in fact suspended a number of students at that school but currently this case
01:31:03 now is under litigation and I'm being advised not to speak to the specific
01:31:08 things that have happened there but just know that what I had visited that school
01:31:13 after these allegations have come up I met with parents family staff students
01:31:16 I'm deeply troubled by what has happened there and we're gonna get to the bottom
01:31:20 of it I can't say more because it is now under litigation you understand our
01:31:24 concern though as policymakers when we have witnesses testify whether it's
01:31:28 Columbia University Penn Harvard or New York City Chancellor when there is a
01:31:32 lack of enforcement and accountability that there is a set of rules but that
01:31:36 individuals who violate those rules are not held accountable we've held a lot of
01:31:42 people count that was part you want to hear when I gave my opening statement
01:31:44 but you didn't you said you fired the principal and it turns out the former
01:31:47 principal I never said I fired the principal you did a member you can
01:31:50 protect the testimony miss McLean asked you fired her you said yeah the
01:31:55 principal of who Hillcrest I never said I fired the principal Phil you check the
01:31:58 record I never said I will check the record mr. Banks I was said I fired the
01:32:04 chief said has he been fired you said yes and then we moved on that I will we
01:32:10 now know though that he is still employed by the Department of Education
01:32:13 at the school he's been but he's employed by the position of the school
01:32:17 and now he's not the same thing terminated at the Department of
01:32:20 Education you testified to that yes and you also said I believe you know we've
01:32:25 been told he's teacher director of teacher development evaluation and
01:32:28 you're not sure if that's the case our expectation is we'll get an answer by
01:32:31 the end of today whether that's the case or not absolutely my next question is
01:32:34 there have been multiple teacher-led anti-israel walkouts during school time
01:32:40 what are the consequences for those teacher walkouts and do those violate
01:32:44 policy of DOE what I'm not sure what teacher walkers we've had a number of
01:32:49 walkouts of students out of school including several of our high schools
01:32:53 which are also very troubling for me so what disciplinary action is taken in
01:32:57 that case right the challenge that we have in that case is we do not have any
01:33:02 rules within our code of conduct that would prevent a child from actually
01:33:07 walking out of the school when they walk out of the school they are marked absent
01:33:11 they're essentially cutting from school there are consequences for cutting
01:33:14 school and it's your testimony today that there's no teacher involvement in
01:33:18 those walkouts because independent media reports say that there is teacher
01:33:22 involvement in those walkouts I don't have any evidence of that we have
01:33:25 evidence of one with principal assigned a teacher to go with a student to a
01:33:31 protest completely inappropriate that principal was disciplined the teacher
01:33:35 was disciplined in that particular case what was the form of the discipline I'm
01:33:39 not at liberty to tell you this very specific they were not fired but we have
01:33:43 a wide range of discipline that takes place in those cases and we did take
01:33:47 action and my last question is you had a teacher at Gotham Tech High School in
01:33:52 Queens and you've spoken out publicly against this he posted images of a
01:33:58 Hamas paraglider to his social media repeatedly refers to so-called Israel
01:34:02 again this is highlighting a Hamas paraglider who slaughtered Jews we all
01:34:09 have seen the horrific footage who cooked babies these are terrorists what
01:34:14 disciplinary action has taken against this teacher again action was taken when
01:34:18 we first of all I want to just say I think what with that employee did
01:34:22 absolutely disgusting absolutely what action and we took action what was the
01:34:27 action I cannot give you the specifics on the action that was yes you can you're
01:34:30 in the gentleman is the action I cannot give you this one a specific employee on
01:34:35 this specific employee you can't get a gentleman's time to expire not to that's
01:34:39 unacceptable Tom has expired let's go to the great Commonwealth of Virginia
01:34:44 representative Scott you were very good let's go to the great state of North
01:34:49 Carolina representative Manning you are recognized Thank You mr. chair I'd like
01:34:54 to set the record straight mr. Williams amendment that he mentioned followed the
01:34:59 failure of every Republican on this committee to vote for my amendment to
01:35:05 prohibit the banning of books on the Holocaust which I offered because
01:35:10 schools in many states are banning books like the diary of Anne Frank which is an
01:35:15 incredible tool for teaching students about the perils of discrimination so
01:35:21 mr. Banks I was pleased to hear that your schools are still teaching the
01:35:24 diary of Anne Frank's and miss Silvestri I'm pleased to hear your description of
01:35:29 the training your teachers are getting to infuse your K through 12 schools with
01:35:34 teaching about what anti-semitism is and why it is so dangerous not just to Jews
01:35:40 but to our whole society miss Ford Morthel can you talk about the resources
01:35:45 you use to train your teachers about anti-semitism yes so we have a number of
01:35:49 resources that we use in Berkeley one first and foremost just to unite us
01:35:54 against hate in November we celebrate unite against hate month and week and
01:35:57 have a number of resources that equipped our educators with facilitating
01:36:01 conversations with our students about what hate is what it looks like and just
01:36:05 the impact of hate and the fact that as Berkeley unified we stand firmly against
01:36:09 hate we also have a number of curriculums our social-emotional
01:36:11 learning curriculums for our students that talk about harassment and bullying
01:36:15 how to be an ally and just how to be in community our upper grades particularly
01:36:19 our 10th grade educators do have curriculum on the Holocaust but to the
01:36:24 point of a previous congressman that is not the beginning or the end of the
01:36:27 story of Jewish peoples and so we also integrate curriculum throughout our
01:36:32 grade levels with texts and readings about the richness of the Jewish
01:36:34 heritage and Jewish culture in our schools and then generally just want to
01:36:38 make sure that our teachers pedagogy their approach to teaching is really
01:36:41 about centering diverse ideas and needs of the students and bringing those ideas
01:36:44 to the center so that they can engage in those critical conversations and come to
01:36:47 truths and understanding on their own thank you let me suggest the US
01:36:50 Holocaust Memorial Museum has many readily available resources to teach
01:36:55 about the Holocaust and the history of anti-semitism they are formulated
01:37:00 specifically for k-12 classrooms they are available online they have
01:37:04 courses your teachers can attend during the summer there are it is a wonderful
01:37:08 resource and I highly recommend using the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in fact
01:37:14 I have introduced a bipartisan bill the countering anti-semitism act which
01:37:19 includes in it opportunities and frankly obligations for schools across the
01:37:25 country to work with the US Holocaust Museum teaching anti-semitism teaching
01:37:32 what hate does to all of us and I hope that all of my colleagues on this
01:37:36 committee will co-sponsor my countering anti-semitism act it is a bipartisan
01:37:41 bill and it's important that my colleagues on this committee do more
01:37:46 than just talk before the cameras about anti-semitism but actually sign on to a
01:37:51 bill like the countering anti-semitism act so that we can actually do something
01:37:55 and build the structures to combat that now an important pillar of the US
01:38:01 national strategy to combat anti-semitism which was issued for the
01:38:05 first time ever by President Biden an important issue of that is media
01:38:09 literacy we know that many students are exposed to harmful misinformation
01:38:16 online every day by social media which in many cases has inflamed tensions and
01:38:23 led to anti-semitic incidents in fact I recently viewed a video on tik-tok that
01:38:28 was probably the most horrifying thing I have heard a young person talking about
01:38:34 why it's appropriate to hate Jews so I'd like to ask each of you how are your
01:38:41 schools teaching young people to check their sources to be savvy critical
01:38:46 consumers of online content because that is one way that hate is being spread and
01:38:53 Mr. Banks can I start with you yes please it's it's a very very complicated
01:38:59 issue we we actually have a social media policy every one of our schools gets a
01:39:03 level of training in digital literacy so that they understand how to think
01:39:09 critically through these issues but that is easier said than done what we are
01:39:15 seeing in our schools and in fact many of these cases of anti-semitism are a
01:39:19 result of young people not fully developing their ability to process what
01:39:24 they're seeing on social media and then emotionally responding to that in a way
01:39:29 particularly students of Muslim and Arabic background who are seeing
01:39:32 horrific acts happening themselves and are responding to that so it is a
01:39:38 difficult ongoing process. Ms. Silvestri any thoughts we only have in 13 seconds.
01:39:44 It is my understanding that social media literacy is taught in our health
01:39:48 curriculum and also just as a critical thinking strategy throughout all of our
01:39:52 classes. Thank you I would encourage all of you to do everything you can to figure
01:39:55 out how we teach our students to be critical thinkers and then maybe they
01:39:59 will teach their parents how to be critical thinkers. Thank you so much for
01:40:02 your testimony I yield back. Thank you very much let's go to the great state of
01:40:05 Michigan our representative Wahlberg you were recognized for five minutes. I thank
01:40:09 the chairman I thank the panel for being here I'm sorry I had to leave I was
01:40:13 speaking at a quick luncheon I didn't get the lunch from a number of
01:40:17 higher education institutions an important time to speak to them as well.
01:40:21 I wasn't here for the question I believe that my colleague representative
01:40:27 Stefanik asked about the principal at Hillcrest we had checked ourselves after
01:40:34 hearing your response Mr. Banks seeing some of the the room shaking their head
01:40:41 strongly that this person wasn't as a principal removed and didn't go on in
01:40:47 the New York education system. We we came to find information that this person went
01:40:54 to the New York Department of Education am I correct on that? What's
01:41:00 the question again I'm not sure that he's the principal that from Hillcrest
01:41:03 yes you said was removed right and didn't go in wasn't just transferred to
01:41:08 another school in the system right we want to check on that because I saw
01:41:12 indications in this room that that wasn't yes he was right answer he went
01:41:17 to the New York Department of Education as I understand it. Well he all of our
01:41:21 schools come under the Department of Education I oversee the apartment the
01:41:25 entire Department of Education that schools and then we have other
01:41:28 administrative concerns me that this guy is still in Education New York when he
01:41:34 had an egregious response at Hillcrest and so I just wanted to make make that
01:41:39 clear and make sure I understood it as well. He was removed from the school but
01:41:42 he is still in and he's still in Education New York and that that worries
01:41:46 me. I understand. Following the attack on Israel on October 7th our nation's
01:41:53 institutions of higher education have been rocked by anti-semitic protests as
01:41:57 we're talking about and direct harassment of Jewish students and while
01:42:01 a critical eye must be placed on the teachings and policies at these
01:42:04 institutions we can't overlook our k-12 system and so thanks for holding this
01:42:10 hearing today. In fact we know that the teachers that had been trained in our
01:42:15 higher education institutions to being change agents in the world are in our
01:42:20 k-12 systems and they have been for years been trained to be anti-semitic
01:42:29 themselves. Critical theories that they've been trained in, oppressor and
01:42:34 oppression and important as well anti-american so it's a challenge that
01:42:40 we have to look in our k-12 system. It's during this developmental phase the
01:42:44 students start to grasp the difference between right and wrong and critically
01:42:48 begin to realize that other people have their own feelings that might not match
01:42:52 theirs. If we fail students at this scholastic phase then it's no wonder
01:42:56 we're seeing the level of intolerance and violent record rhetoric later in
01:43:00 their studies and even our k-12 system. I recently met with educators who have
01:43:05 used the Morse Life Holocaust learning experience to help educate their
01:43:10 students about the realities of the Holocaust and anti-semitism history and
01:43:15 I encourage our institutions to look into that training. I'd like to oppose
01:43:21 for our educators in the room just this one question and answer as briefly as
01:43:27 possible. What have you done specifically to teach critical thinking in classrooms
01:43:32 and promote reason and the underpinnings of moral and civil behaviors that
01:43:37 mitigate hate? And I guess I'll start because I have a W for name I'll start
01:43:42 at the end of the table first. Ms. Ford-Morthau. Thank You congressman so
01:43:46 this is something that we integrate in our instruction starting from the
01:43:49 youngest of grades. First of all we engage our students in open-ended
01:43:54 questions and prompts that allow them to bring their ideas to the table and then
01:43:59 we share information with them as well but we are not a direct teach type of
01:44:03 organization and so that is one way that we facilitate and actually build our
01:44:06 students muscle to be critical thinkers and critically engaged. We have norms in
01:44:11 our classroom for example we talk to our students about being present, being
01:44:14 respectful, being brave, being open and being aware to different perspectives,
01:44:17 being flexible and being sensitive. So it's a muscle that they build throughout
01:44:21 the grades in Berkeley Unified School District and of course we teach them to
01:44:24 be critical consumers and evaluate and analyze the information that's coming to
01:44:28 them through a number of perspectives so that ultimately again they can make
01:44:31 decisions on their own. We'll hope we'll see the impact of that in an exemplary
01:44:35 way so Miss Silvestri. Yeah similarly I'm not a teacher or principal or
01:44:42 superintendent myself as a school board member it's my understanding that we
01:44:46 follow this Maryland State curriculum thus excuse me the Maryland State
01:44:49 standards we have a comprehensive curriculum that integrates critical
01:44:54 thinking throughout offering multiple perspectives so that students can see
01:44:59 history and facts through different perspectives that's my understanding
01:45:04 sir. Mr. Banks. First of all critical thinking starts with learning how to
01:45:08 read and we have leaned into a very significant way without NYC reads and
01:45:13 making sure that all kids are on grade level. Beyond that we have a wide range
01:45:16 of things from Socratic method to project-based learning all that and
01:45:19 finally I would also like to say sir that you know I would be careful to cast
01:45:23 in it casting aspersions on an entire system. We have some teachers who have
01:45:27 had some of these challenges but we've had members of Congress who've made
01:45:31 anti-semitic statements and I certainly would not cast aspersions on this
01:45:34 entire institution. Similarly I would stand in defense of New York City
01:45:38 educators as well we have some and when we see they raise its head we deal
01:45:43 with it. Well I would stand with you on that but I also think that. The gentleman's
01:45:46 time has expired. The gentleman's time has expired and now we go to the great
01:45:50 the great Commonwealth of Virginia representative Scott you're recognized
01:45:54 for five minutes. Thank you thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman earlier in the
01:45:57 hearing a gentleman from New York raised questions about the this side of the
01:46:03 aisle in terms of commitment to fight anti-semitism. I just remind him after
01:46:10 it was pointed out the context of his because we voted against his amendment
01:46:14 of context that amendment was pointed out but also we've after the UVA alt-
01:46:18 right rally we asked for hearings on anti-semitism and couldn't get it and
01:46:22 we've also been out able to get any hearings on other forms of hate and not
01:46:29 ask Chancellor Banks do you deal with other forms of hate other than
01:46:34 anti-semitism like homophobia racism do transgender students have a right to be
01:46:41 safe in school can you talk about other forms of hate? Yeah and and and hate
01:46:46 rears its head every single day and as a black man who's had to deal with you
01:46:51 know of my people with a history of racism in America as well this is
01:46:55 something that is ever-present but as the Chancellor of the New York City
01:46:58 Public Schools the work that we see the the aspersions that are cast against the
01:47:03 LGBTQ community the aspersions that are cast against Asian Americans
01:47:10 homosexuals it is it is there's no end to this scourge of hate and so that's
01:47:16 why I say anti-semitism doesn't simply affect Jews anti-semitism affects all of
01:47:24 us particularly all people of goodwill and so I stand up not only against
01:47:29 anti-semitism I stand up against Islamophobia and all other forms of
01:47:34 hate you can't put them in silos that's not the way that we can be responsible
01:47:39 about how we are going to approach this we have to deal with all forms of hate
01:47:42 the whole world lives in New York City and I have a responsibility to be the
01:47:47 champion and the Chancellor for everybody. Well thank you and just as an
01:47:53 aside is it your practice to determine facts and sanctions based on media
01:48:00 reports or due process? That for me? That's for you. We are responsible just
01:48:09 because something was written on the front page of a tabloid doesn't make it
01:48:12 true and so we have to investigate we do that responsibly and then we move
01:48:17 appropriately to deal with those situations on a case-by-case basis. And
01:48:22 you indicated that you can't discipline yourself out of the out of the
01:48:27 problem what did you mean could you say a little bit more about that? Yeah what I
01:48:33 mean is that ultimately if we really care about solving for anti-semitism and
01:48:40 I believe this deeply it's not about having gotcha moments it's about
01:48:46 teaching you have to raise the consciousness of young people and the
01:48:52 challenge we have as a system is that we do have some adults who bring their own
01:48:56 bias into the classroom and we've got to figure out how do we impact all of it at
01:49:01 the same time but the ultimate answer for anti-semitism is to teach to expose
01:49:07 young people to the Jewish community so that they understand our common humanity
01:49:14 and I would certainly ask that them my colleagues from across the nation and I
01:49:19 would call on Congress quite frankly to put the call out to action to bring us
01:49:24 together to talk about how we solve for this this this convening for too many
01:49:29 people across America in education feels like the ultimate gotcha moment it
01:49:34 doesn't sound like people who are actually trying to solve for something
01:49:37 that I believe we should be doing everything we can to solve for. Thank you
01:49:42 Mr. Sykes we haven't heard anything about in the context of any of these
01:49:47 events the seriousness of the problem whether there's anti-semitism or a
01:49:51 comment on the position of the war in Gaza can you say another word about why
01:49:59 it's so hard to determine whether or not expressions are protected under the
01:50:04 First Amendment or a violation of the criminal code or a violation of Title 6
01:50:10 or campus policy. Yes congressman these are all situations that are evaluated
01:50:17 based on the totality of the circumstances there are words that we
01:50:21 might agree here that we all agree are offensive but they we also can
01:50:25 understand that certain words depend on how they're used when they're used to
01:50:30 whom they're used how often they are used and all of those are relevant to
01:50:34 determining whether speech is protected or creating a hostile educational
01:50:38 environment and if I might I meant just just to add on to the question about how
01:50:42 do we promote critical thinking and exposure to a variety of ideas one of
01:50:47 the things that we are doing at the ACLU is fighting back against bans on
01:50:51 inclusive education this was started by an executive order by the former
01:50:55 president and has now been copied and pasted in multiple states 18 million
01:50:59 Americans now live under an education gag order where certain ideas are being
01:51:04 prohibited from classrooms so this is the epitome of trying to crack down on
01:51:08 critical thinking and so we think that this legitimate threat to free speech
01:51:12 and free inquiry needs to be addressed urgently as well. Thank you thank you
01:51:17 very much thank you represent Scott let's go to North Carolina where the
01:51:21 chair of education and workforce committee is Dr. Virginia Fox is
01:51:27 recognized for five minutes Dr. Fox. Thank You Mr. Chairman and I want to
01:51:31 thank our witnesses for being here today I'm gonna ask Miss Silvestri to pull her
01:51:35 mic a little closer to her mouth so I can I was having trouble hearing you
01:51:40 before. President Silvestri you said in your opening statement our policy quote
01:51:45 our policy is to initiate an investigation each time the school
01:51:49 system receives a complaint or we witness particular anti-semitic hate
01:51:53 filled or racist language or actions on average how long does each anti-semitism
01:52:00 investigation take? I don't have an exact number of weeks that it takes but I
01:52:09 think I believe that we do a very thorough job so we take as long as this
01:52:12 needed to investigate. Are the victims always notified of the results? The
01:52:21 victims are notified that an action has been taken but not specifics of what
01:52:25 the consequence was still allowed. Will you pledge to notify people when you
01:52:31 have result when you have done the investigation? We are working on
01:52:38 improving our communication so that the victims know had more information
01:52:43 about what the outcome has been. Okay working on it okay.
01:52:48 Miss Superintendent Ford-Murthill you said in your submitted testimony that
01:52:54 you were quote excited end quote about California's new ethnic studies law
01:52:58 however we've heard from Jewish families who are concerned that Berkeley's
01:53:03 curriculum presents a slanted perspective of the Israeli-Palestine
01:53:09 conflict. For example the curriculum teaches that the war's consequences for
01:53:14 Palestine are quote no water no food no electricity end quote whereas the
01:53:20 consequences for Israel are quote ceremonies put on hold travel advisories
01:53:25 in place and cities shut down. Do you think that's a fair representation of
01:53:31 the Israeli-Palestine conflict? I do not think that's a fair representation. Have
01:53:38 you consulted with Jewish groups in considering how you will teach ethnic
01:53:42 studies? So councilwoman I want to I want congressman I want to distinguish the
01:53:47 the lessons that I believe you're speaking about and our ethnic studies
01:53:50 curriculum. The lessons that you're speaking about was a lesson set that was
01:53:54 created in response to a lot of curiosity a lot of questions and quite
01:53:58 frankly a lot of confusion from many of our students wanting to know what was
01:54:01 going on and so we had a group of history teachers and social studies
01:54:04 teachers and ethnic studies teachers create a lesson set in response to that.
01:54:08 That is distinguished from Berkeley's ethnic studies curriculum. Thank you. Mr.
01:54:14 Banks we've talked about the map that was posted in a school the Arab Cultural
01:54:21 Arts program at the school where the map has been funded by the Qatar Foundation
01:54:27 a nonprofit owned by the country's ruling family. The free press has found
01:54:33 that QFI donated over 1 million dollars to the New York Department of Education
01:54:38 from 2019 to 2022 for materials such as this map. You understand the map you know
01:54:46 the map I'm talking about where Israel does not exist. Yes. Okay does your office
01:54:51 vet the materials purchased by these funds for anti-semitism? If not will you
01:54:59 commit to establishing vigorous vetting to ensure that foreign entities
01:55:03 unfriendly to Israel are not stalking your classrooms with anti-semitic
01:55:09 content? Yes and we do vet the materials that that map was not a result of the
01:55:16 Qatar Foundation that that individual teacher bought that map on her own with
01:55:21 her own resources when she was in Jerusalem. That is what she told us so
01:55:24 was not it was not part of the resources that came from the Qatar Foundation but
01:55:28 we do vet all the other materials and resources that come into our schools and
01:55:32 that foundation has had no impact they write the check they've had no impact on
01:55:36 the curriculum that's been developed and how it's been implemented. So
01:55:41 individual teachers are allowed to bring in materials that may be very
01:55:45 anti-semitic. Are you going to vet those materials? Absolutely and as we hear
01:55:51 about those cases you know in New York City we have 77,000 teachers and so you
01:55:57 know this is not Mayberry it's New York City it is a very large system and it's
01:56:01 difficult for me as the Chancellor to say you know any individual map that's
01:56:05 up on a wall in any particular classroom I'm already aware of it but we make sure
01:56:10 that the principals of those schools they're supposed to provide that level
01:56:12 of supervision. I have one more quick question for you Mr. Banks. Do other
01:56:18 countries donate significant sums to New York City public schools? I do not have I
01:56:26 would have to get back to you on that I do not have any evidence in front of me
01:56:31 now that we have any other foreign governments which are supporting other
01:56:35 programs in our schools but I don't want to misrepresent here we can certainly
01:56:39 get you the answer for that by the end of the day. Well we'd be happy if you would
01:56:42 follow up with an answer on that. Absolutely. Thank you Mr. Chairman I
01:56:45 yield back. Thank you and Mr. Banks we would all like to see that answer. Yes. We
01:56:51 are nearing the end of our committee ladies and gentlemen thank you for your
01:56:56 thank you for being great audience members and we just have to have a
01:57:01 closing statements and I'll yield to ranking member Bonamici for her closing
01:57:06 thoughts. Thank you thank you very much Mr. Chairman and thank you to the
01:57:09 witnesses for being here today and for your work. I do want to note Mr. Chairman
01:57:15 that the witnesses today are from what might be considered blue states and I do
01:57:20 want to introduce into the record articles that discuss instances of
01:57:25 anti-semitism in Florida, Texas and Alabama so that's in the record as well.
01:57:30 Without objection. And Mr. Chairman as I said I was hoping this could be a
01:57:34 constructive conversation during which we would work together on finding the
01:57:38 most effective way to address and prevent anti-semitism in schools. Sadly
01:57:44 tasks like this are made more difficult because we are in an era of deep
01:57:48 division. A time when too often dialogue about tough issues is confrontational if
01:57:53 it happens at all and a time when it pains me to say this but it's relevant
01:57:58 the top Republican running for president of the United States has engaged not
01:58:02 only in anti-semitic tropes but also in divisive degrading and disparaging
01:58:08 language including mocking a reporter with the disability, calling American
01:58:12 troops cowards if they were captured, ignoring the rule of law, threatening to
01:58:16 have people shot by police for a shoplifting or a minor crime, bragging
01:58:20 about groping stars and making so many countless and demeaning comments about
01:58:25 women that it's impossible to count them. I could go on but my point is sadly
01:58:29 there has been a tone a tone set at the top that seems to tolerate disrespect
01:58:35 for others a tone that hurts not just us as a legislative body but as as a nation.
01:58:40 So I'll say it again it is my hope that this committee will set aside
01:58:45 differences and work on in good faith on how we can best address and prevent
01:58:50 anti-semitism in our schools in our country as well as other hate speech.
01:58:54 Thank You Mr. Chairman I look forward to continuing the conversation and I yield
01:58:58 that. Ranking Banner, Bond, Dicci, thank you so much. I would say it's been an
01:59:04 excellent meeting. I would say when I met each of you just for that brief moment
01:59:09 before we start I regret Mr. Sykes you were running in and we're all just
01:59:13 racing in Congress said we were you know our mission was to have an open and
01:59:17 honest conversation I think we delivered that and if we're gonna solve the
01:59:20 problems that we've identified today it starts with recognizing that it's
01:59:25 happening and that we need to do more. I think we're reminded of the most
01:59:30 precious asset that's under each of your purview and that's the next generation
01:59:36 these young kids some have described them as with minds full of mush that you
01:59:44 help form into shapes and critical thinking and we know that that any any
01:59:51 seeds of hatred or anti-semitism that's planted there without weeding it and
01:59:58 without shaping it can grow and we can look at the video screens of what it can
02:00:02 become if not left unchecked. Mr. Sykes I'm very aware of your presence here
02:00:08 today with the ACLU is is a reminder that we are a country built on free
02:00:14 speech but free speech doesn't include death to Jews or some of the other vile
02:00:21 slogans that we've heard I'm aware of that but we just it's so hard to be a
02:00:27 kid in today's society there's pressures I'm a children a kid of the 70s and 80s
02:00:35 and it's hard to imagine growing up now with social media and the other
02:00:40 pressures of being a kid today we shouldn't have to worry they shouldn't
02:00:44 have to worry about about getting beat up or whatever just for their religion
02:00:51 and so we're better than this so Mr. Banks when we met in the hallway you
02:00:57 said we've got work to do and indeed and indeed we do and hopefully it's not only
02:01:02 a wake-up call for your school districts but to everybody that's watching across
02:01:07 America it's 2024 2024 there's no place for this at all in America America is
02:01:17 the last great hope where we can all hopefully get along and we're not
02:01:22 proving it very well so I think the lesson too is no matter how small and
02:01:27 miss more Ford Morthel you said something to no matter how small the
02:01:31 incident it needs to be investigated and people need to be held to standards
02:01:38 there needs to be consequences for crossing that line we're holding all of
02:01:44 you because you hold our most precious asset our kids and so with that to the
02:01:49 kids and the parents and the teachers that I met with earlier than many of us
02:01:53 did we stand with you and we will not cease shining the light and holding
02:01:58 everybody accountable because as a nation we're just frankly we are better
02:02:03 than this and we all have a role to play so our work begins today going forward
02:02:09 to the witnesses thank you for coming forward for your frank discussion and
02:02:13 for your commitment going forward that we all can live in a safe society
02:02:18 without hatred and the fear of violence against us and with that with that of
02:02:27 jet and without objection there being no further business the subcommittee
02:02:31 stands and this hearing is now adjourned
02:02:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Recommended

5:39
I
Up next
'I'm Missing The Word Fired': Burgess Owens Grills NYC DoE Head On Disciplining Antisemitic Faculty
Forbes Breaking News
6:44
'We Have To Take Action': Bob Casey Voices Concern About Antisemitism On College Campuses
Forbes Breaking News
5:16
Alma Adams Asks Columbia University Officials About Efforts To Deal With Antisemitism On Campus
Forbes Breaking News
1:55
Steve Daines Denounces ‘Reprehensible’ Rise In Antisemitism On College Campuses Across The US
Forbes Breaking News
4:46
Michelle Fischbach Grills Witnesses On SJP's Role In ‘Explosion’ Of Antisemitism On College Campuses
Forbes Breaking News
1:56
‘Enough Is Enough’: Tom Emmer Slams College Campuses For Becoming Antisemitism ‘Breeding Grounds’
Forbes Breaking News
24:36
Kevin Kiley Slams Ilhan Omar For Trying 'To Minimize' Blocking Jewish Students' Movements At UCLA
Forbes Breaking News
5:53
'That's Really, Really Odd': Michelle Steel Stunned By UC Chancellor's Response
Forbes Breaking News
2:12
'We Will Not Stop... Until These Universities Are Held Accountable': Jason Smith Discusses Protests
Forbes Breaking News
1:40
Pete Aguilar Previews Upcoming Vote On Bill To Help Department Of Education To Monitor Antisemitism
Forbes Breaking News
3:43
‘Is The President Concerned About This?’: WH Pressed On Polls Showing Declining Support For Israel
Forbes Breaking News
18:59
BREAKING NEWS: Elise Stefanik Leads Press Briefing On Antisemitism With Columbia University Students
Forbes Breaking News
8:26
Laphonza Butler Warns Of ‘Sophisticated’ Scams Directed At Students
Forbes Breaking News
5:12
Mike Lawler: 'The Leader Of The Protest At Columbia Called For Death To Zionists'
Forbes Breaking News
34:10
JUST IN: DeSantis Signs Education Reforms To Spur Patriotic Organization Participation In Schools
Forbes Breaking News
9:39
'Lined Their Pockets At The Expense Of Students': Dick Durbin Decries 'Predatory' For-Profit Schools
Forbes Breaking News
1:52
Hundreds Of Stanford University Graduates Walk Out Of Graduation Ceremony To Protest Israel
Forbes Breaking News
1:15
‘Gross Abuse Of Technology’: Chrissy Houlahan Decries Students' TikTok Attack On PA Teachers
Forbes Breaking News
5:02
Walberg Stunned By Columbia Pres's Response To Professor Who Made 'Perverse' Statement After Oct. 7
Forbes Breaking News
5:29
‘What Type Of Borrowers Will Benefit The Most?’: Jayapal Asks Cardona About Student Debt Relief
Forbes Breaking News
1:21:48
Ron Wyden Leads Senate Finance Committee Hearing On Youth Residential Treatment Facilities
Forbes Breaking News
0:54
MUST WATCH: Freed Israeli Hostage Noa Argamani Reunites With Father
Forbes Breaking News
4:31
Pressley Says Infrastructure Projects Must Be Done 'In A Way That Addresses Longstanding Inequities'
Forbes Breaking News
3:47
'I Felt Them Change Their Minds': Political Scientist Describes Speaking At Columbia Graduation
Forbes Breaking News
5:47
Dem Lawmaker Responds To Jamaal Bowman & AOC's Criticisms Of Campus Ecampments Being Broken Up
Forbes Breaking News