Canceling Antisemitism Workshops

No more antisemitism?

San Francisco Schools Cancel Antisemitism Workshops After Complaints About Potential Bias

By Elize Manoukian, KQED - September 13, 2024

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) canceled mandatory antisemitism workshops for staff at four San Francisco high schools this week after parents and community groups expressed concerns about potential bias. A group of SFUSD parents and staff had called for the workshops, scheduled for Wednesday, in response to an increase in allegations of antisemitism from Jewish students. The district contracted the American Jewish Committee to provide training at George Washington High School, Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, Abraham Lincoln High School, and Balboa High School.

The training, titled "Who Are the Jews: Jewish Identity and Antisemitism in 2024," was expected to expand to additional schools in the future.

In the 11 months since Hamas attacked Israel, and Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, schools across the Bay Area have struggled with how to address education about the war, political expression by faculty and students, and accusations of both antisemitism and Islamophobia.

The cancellation of the workshops highlights the unique challenges facing school districts, teachers, administrators, and parents in educating students in a multicultural setting like San Francisco's public schools amid a highly charged and emotional conflict.

To understand how the workshops unraveled, KQED spoke with parents, staff, and experts, as well as advocacy groups that supported or opposed the training.

“People don’t realize how difficult it is to effectively educate about complex and nuanced issues, like the history of Israel and the Middle East, especially when the stakes and emotions are so high, like in the war in Gaza, where lives are at risk,” said Joe Kahne, a UC Merced professor who studies student civic engagement.

Last December, dozens of teachers in Oakland participated in unauthorized teach-ins that presented pro-Palestinian lessons. In May, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel testified before Congress about the district’s handling of antisemitism allegations in public schools after a group of Jewish parents, along with the Brandeis Center and Anti-Defamation League, filed a federal complaint in February alleging severe antisemitism in the district.

In January, the U.S. Department of Education announced investigations into SFUSD and Oakland Unified School District for alleged civil rights violations and claims of religious discrimination.

Some SFUSD parents and local community groups raised concerns about the American Jewish Committee's (AJC) support for Israel.

In an internal email forwarded to staff by school principals on Monday, SFUSD administrators Karling Aguilera-Fort and Davina Goldwasser said the workshop wouldn’t take a position on the Israel-Hamas war and that the training was “just awareness building.”

On Wednesday morning, Katrina Kincade, an SFUSD spokesperson, told KQED that the workshops would be rescheduled. “We want to ensure that every student and staff member feels safe and a sense of belonging in our schools,” she said in an email.

Julia David, an English teacher at George Washington High School, said that the idea for the training came from parents and staff concerned about the treatment of Jewish students in the city’s schools. She described incidents ranging from pro-Palestinian student walkouts to protests against the war, as well as graffiti reading "Free Palestine" and swastikas appearing on campuses.

David also said the Jewish Student Union, which she sponsors, had felt uncomfortable on campus due to staff members who identified as pro-Palestinian.

“We thought it was important to have training on Jewish identity in a multicultural society led by Jews,” David said. “Being a Jewish student in such a politically charged time has brought unique challenges to our schools, students, educators, and parents."

She added that she and a small group of other Jewish parents and staff reached out to the AJC, one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations, which agreed to provide the workshops at no cost to the district.

Parent Lee Filner pointed out that the AJC was chosen by the Biden administration to lead the national effort against antisemitism.

“There have been too many antisemitic incidents in the district,” Filner said. “It’s leading parents I know to pull their children from public schools in favor of private ones. We can’t afford to lose more students, especially in this budget situation, due to a hostile environment based on who they are.”

An email announcing the workshops reached a group of Jewish parents and political organizers critical of Israel.

Alex Lantsberg, a Jewish parent of students at two of the high schools on the workshop list, said he was shocked when he learned about the AJC-led training.

“Educating people on antisemitism is essential at a time when antisemitism is being used to justify ongoing genocide,” he said. “If SFUSD wanted to support its faculty and staff, it would be best to do so in a way that acknowledges the multiple strands of Jewish thought on antisemitism.”

Parents of Palestinian students, like Sonya Awwad, questioned the alignment of the AJC’s values with San Francisco’s.

“This group opposes a ceasefire in this war and isn’t neutral in the conflict,” she said. “And San Francisco voted for a ceasefire, so this seems contradictory.”

Progressive groups associated with SFUSD, such as the Arab Resource Organizing Committee, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Jewish Voices for Peace, criticized the workshop. They called for similar training on Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian sentiment, which they say is also on the rise, according to a joint press release.

Last year, Awwad and a small group of parents met with administrators to discuss the war’s impact on their children. Awwad said parents described bullying, racism, and isolation affecting students, particularly those with family in Gaza.

“Any anti-racism training is important,” Awwad said. “So why are our students’ concerns not being addressed with training that advocates for them too?”

Several parents who supported the antisemitism training said the overwhelming political messaging in their children's schools made it hard for students to focus. Some expressed frustrations with AROC, a group that has faced scrutiny for organizing student walkouts at SFUSD schools. After a parent group demanded an investigation into AROC’s contract with schools last year, students rallied outside the district’s office in defense of the organization.

Seth Brysk, the AJC’s regional director for Northern California, hopes the antisemitism training will be rescheduled.

“We neither endorse nor oppose candidates for office. We’re an apolitical organization, not only because it’s required by law, but we’re also known to be nonpartisan,” he said. “More importantly, I don’t see how that relates to anti-bias training on antisemitism.”

Nearly 50,000 students are enrolled in San Francisco public schools, which educate the majority of the city’s children. As SFUSD struggles with low enrollment, administrators must also contend with retaining students, while trying to accommodate teachers and parents with increasingly vocal demands on how schools handle the war.

Though these tense moments raise big questions for schools, Kahne said they also present important learning opportunities — for both children and adults.

“As educators, we often say our goal is to teach students how to think, not what to think. A big part of that is modeling,” Kahne said. “The better we do that, the better our democracy will function.

“Unfortunately, many teachers are choosing to do less of this kind of work, and districts are offering less support for this work to avoid conflict.”