Jewish students in the Baltimore public school system, which has an enrollment of more than 75,000 students across 160 schools and programs, have experience “egregious and persistent discrimination and harassment” by teachers and fellow students, according to a new federal complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education.
The complaint, which alleges that Baltimore schools violated the rights of Jewish students under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, accuses the public school system of having “knowingly allowed its schools to become hostile environments for Jewish students, while neglecting to address numerous incidents of antisemitic harassment, bullying and discrimination,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“We commend the brave parents and children who came forward to share their experiences in Baltimore schools,” stated Dan Shallman, a partner at Covington & Burling, which is representing ADL pro bono.
“We are committed to seeking all legal remedies available to ensure a learning environment free from the type of hate and discrimination we allege in the complaint,” Shallman said.
Per the complaint, Jew-hatred has gotten worse in the public system since Oct. 7, and Jewish students have faced “relentless harassment, including a teacher directing Nazi salutes at the sole Jewish student in his classroom, threats from classmates that ‘6 million was not enough’ and comments including ‘all Jews should die.’”
The Baltimore district also still employs a teacher, who it knows told students he would “go all Nazi” and who “personally directed Nazi salutes towards a Jewish student,” according to the complaint, which notes that the teacher directed three Nazi salutes at the student in a single class.
Jewish students have needed to “isolate themselves, drop classes, eat lunch alone and hide their Jewish identities to avoid harassment,” the ADL said.
“When parents requested concrete action plans and educational programming on antisemitism, schools offered inadequate responses or ignored their pleas entirely,” it said.
A spokesperson for Baltimore City Public Schools, who did not provide a name, told JNS that the district “strongly” rejects and does not tolerate “antisemitism and racism against any group” and encourages those with concerns to report them.
“When issues are brought to our attention, we take diligent student-centered action to investigate and resolve them,” the spokesperson said. “We are aware of some of the incidents referenced in the recent complaint involving antisemitism. We addressed the issues at the time and provided updates as appropriate to each impacted school community about our actions.”
The district told JNS that it is “vigilant in ensuring that all schools are safe and welcoming environments for students, including members of our Jewish community” and that it “shared this commitment in a letter to our families and staff yesterday, prior to learning of the complaint.”
“We welcome feedback and collaboration with any individual or group, including federal and state agencies, dedicated to ensuring safe, inclusive and supportive school environments,” it said. “While there is always more work to be done, lasting progress comes through partnership, not division.”
Tali Cohen, the Washington regional director of the ADL, stated that “the failure of Baltimore City Public Schools to address this hostile environment has left Jewish students feeling abandoned and unsafe.”
“Rather than removing antisemitism from classrooms and protecting Jewish students, the district remained inactive and silent,” Cohen said.
The ADL asks the Education Department to probe the allegedly anti-Jewish climate at Baltimore public schools. It also says that the district ought to put “comprehensive remedies” into place, including adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred and better training staff about antisemitism and better teaching students about Jew-hatred and the Holocaust.
Larisa Spirt, vice president of marketing at The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, told JNS that the Federation and the Baltimore Jewish Council “are deeply concerned” about the allegations.
“We look forward to engaging with the Baltimore city schools to address these allegations and ensure that the necessary steps are put in place to eradicate any and all antisemitism within the system,” Spirt said.
