The U.S. Department of Education urged educators and lawmakers on Wednesday to protect Jewish students from harassment and bullying, as anti-Israel activists organized school and campus walkouts nationwide on the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
The department cited 2023-2024 data from the Civil Rights Data Collection, administered by the department’s civil rights office, which shows that “Jewish students are the most frequently targeted for religion-based bullying.” The collection tracks reported allegations of harassment or bullying based on perceived religion, including Judaism.
“On the third anniversary of the tragedy of Oct. 7, we encourage teachers, administrators and state leaders to uphold civil rights protections and ensure every student has a safe learning environment,” the department stated on Wednesday.
Steve Rosenberg, Philadelphia regional director for the North American Values Institute, told JNS that “the Department of Education’s data confirms what Jewish students and parents have been telling us for years: antisemitism in K-12 schools is not anecdotal—it is a serious civil rights problem.”
“Acknowledgment must now lead to action,” he said. “Schools must ensure that Jewish students can walk into a classroom proudly Jewish, without being harassed, isolated or forced to defend their identity or Israel.”
“Three years after Oct. 7, protecting Jewish students cannot simply be a statement of principle,” Rosenberg told JNS. “It must be an expectation backed by accountability and consequence. Unfortunately, the most disturbing lesson Jewish students are learning in school today may be how quickly the adults look away.”
Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition, an education advocacy organization, told JNS that “on a deeply painful day for the Jewish community, it matters to hear the Department of Education say clearly: Jewish students deserve to be safe.”
“At a time when Jewish children are being targeted simply for being Jewish, more families are looking to Jewish schools as a safe haven,” she said. “But our schools cannot shoulder this crisis alone.”
Teach Coalition has reported that the average Jewish school spends more than $400,000 annually on security, with costs rising substantially since Oct. 7, 2023.
“Fighting antisemitism is a shared responsibility,” Altfield told JNS. “We are grateful to have the federal government standing with our community and committed to working together to keep Jewish children safe.”
