“We are deeply concerned that the Department of Education is not ensuring American K-12 schools are fostering a safe learning environment for all students following the terrorist organization Hamas’ violent attack on civilians…”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville joined U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. and 30 other Republican senators in urging the Biden administration to address growing antisemitism toward Jewish children in K-12 schools across the country. In a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the senators asked for a briefing to be scheduled before December 14, 2023, on ED’s plans to address protecting students from antisemitism.
“Parents should feel confident that their children’s school will be safe and the focus will be on education,” said the senators. “Instead, parents are beginning to fear that not only is school not safe for their students, but school officials are actively working to undermine the safety of their children.”
“Some schools seem unwilling or unable to uphold their legal obligations,” continued the senators. “Therefore, the Department should use its full resources to enforce the law.”
Other signers include U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Katie Britt (R-AL), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Rick Scott (R-FL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
The full letter can be found here.
BACKGROUND
Since the Hamas-led massacre against Israel on October 7th, there has been a disturbing rise in anti-Semitic incidents, including targeted harassment, directed at Jewish children in K-12 schools. For example, on October 9th, the Superintendent of Revere Public Schools in Massachusetts sent an email to school staff promoting resources that claimed, “Israeli terrorism has been significantly worse than that of the Palestinians.” On October 17th, a New York City middle school teacher and United Federation of Teachers’ (UFT) school representative sent an email to teachers’ union members deriding the UFT’s official statement denouncing the October 7th attack and calling on the unions’ retirement system to “divest from weapons and other companies that are complicit in violations of Palestinians’ civil and land rights.”
Additionally, shortly after the October 7th attacks, an 11-year-old in Manhattan Beach told four Jewish girls at his school that “all Israelis and Jews should be killed.” On October 18th, students in San Francisco marched through the hallways of their high school chanting anti-Semitic slogans.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Department of Education (ED) has a responsibility to ensure schools that receive federal funds maintain a safe learning environment for students. While the administration has since announced new efforts to address antisemitism in schools, these actions do nothing to ensure schools are responsibly handling these events and working to prevent them in the first place. The senators urged the administration to use their enforcement power under Title VI to ensure K-12 schools are protecting Jewish students from harassment and maintaining a safe learning environment for all children.
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Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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