Berkeley schools chief grilled by Congress on claims of rampant antisemitism in K-12 classrooms

The school leaders repeated their support for Jewish students and reiterated that hate and antisemitism would not be tolerated.

The hearing was similar to one in December, where the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT were accused of mounting a tepid response to antisemitism on their campuses. The presidents of Penn and Harvard later stepped down.

Berkeley is not the only Bay Area district to face accusations of allowing antisemitism to fester in classrooms.

The teachers union representing Oakland teachers endorsed a pro-Palestinian “teach in” in December and provided educators with lesson plans that some Jewish families perceive as anti-Israel and discriminatory. Dozens of Jewish families have filed requests to transfer out of the district.

In San Francisco schools, families have raised concerns about anti-Israel content being shared in classrooms and student walkouts promoted by a pro-Palestinian organization working in the district.

During her testimony, Ford Morthel said Berkeley teachers and administrators work to ensure “each and every child is seen, valued and educated,” and recognize that some members of their school community have been personally affected by the violence.

“As educators, too often we are called upon to address heart-wrenching events that occur far beyond the walls of our classrooms,” she said. “Our young students with ties to either Israel or Gaza, some deeply traumatized by the horror they see and hear, sit side by side in our Berkeley classrooms. They are friends.”

Tyler Gregory, chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, said he hoped the hearing helped shed light on the “shortcomings” of the district’s response to antisemitism.

“There’s a clear red line when Jewish students and families don’t feel safe going to school because they are being targeted for their identity and their beliefs,” Gregory said. “And we do not feel that the district is taking that situation seriously.”

Gregory said Jewish families in the Bay Area have grown increasingly concerned with lesson plans, student walkouts, pro-Palestinian speakers being brought into the classroom and other incidents they argue show a bias against Israel.

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