BREAKING: Brandeis Center Files First-Ever Antisemitism Lawsuit Against a U.S. State – California

California public schools are awash with anti-Semitic slurs, harassment and assaults but state authorities refuse to intervene, according to a lawsuit against California filed today on behalf of Jewish parents by the Brandeis Center and StandWithUs.

The lawsuit, lodged in the Los Angeles division of California Superior Court, also names the California Department of Education and Superintendent Tony Thurmond as defendants for not interceding with local school districts that allow anti-Semitic abuses to go unchecked.

“Plaintiffs urgently need this Court’s intervention because Defendants have failed to ensure that the treatment of Jewish students in California’s public schools conforms to the laws of California, rather than the standards of the European Middle Ages or the Soviet Union,” the complaint says.

“Sadly, the direct attacks on Jewish students and parents are not the only sign that California’s schools echo dark chapters of history. Defendants have allowed California’s schools to indoctrinate children, from the earliest ages, to believe that Jewish Americans and Israelis—including Jewish and Israeli classmates—are racists, white supremacists, and oppressors who should be shunned. Some school districts have allowed this kind of hateful indoctrination to occur, while others have expressly condoned or even promoted it. The entirely foreseeable (and perhaps intended) consequence of this indoctrination is that Jewish and/or Israeli children and children perceived as Jewish and/or Israeli are bullied and excluded by their peers and targeted by their teachers, who silence, mock, or punish them if they speak out.”

The complaint cites abuses–perpetrated by both Jewish students’ peers and teachers–in districts all across the state, including, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland.

Among the startling examples:

–In Santa Clara County, classmates threatened to “jump” a Jewish student and called her the “Jew.”

–At Kester Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a Jewish student’s teacher called her a racist and barred her from participating in the talent show.

–At Louis Armstrong Middle School in Los Angeles, a teacher took unwarranted disciplinary actions against a student after he wore a Star of Davis necklace and pro-Israel shirts to school

–At a San Bernardino County middle school, a student choked a Jewish student, yelling “shut your stupid Jew ass up.” Staff blamed the Jewish student for the incident.

–Students in the Berkeley Unified School District shouted “kill the Jews” and asked Jewish students what “their number is” in a reference to the Nazi concentration camps tattooing numbers on inmates’ arms.

–In the Berkeley Unified School District, an art teacher displayed anti-Semitic art work, including a portrait of a Jewish star with a fist through it. The same teacher promoted a walkout where people chanted “Fuck the Jews.” When the mother of one of his Jewish students complained to school authorities, they took no action against the teacher. Instead, the student was removed from his classroom and relegated to studying in the library and health center.

The lawsuit says this kind of practice–of isolating a Jewish student who complains about anti-Semtiic abuses–is common in schools across the state.

“Some school officials are intentionally and unlawfully segregating Jewish students, depriving them of their constitutionally-protected educational opportunities. On information and belief, schools and districts may fear political blowback (e.g., from unions) if they discipline offending teachers, so they are unlawfully segregating Jewish children facing a hostile environment. These districts are creating spaces where Jewish students are unwelcome and have been removed, thus enabling anti-Semitic hate to be taught in a Jew-free environment, with no one left to object. The districts’ creation of Jew-free classrooms through segregation based on shared ancestry and/or religion is not only unlawful and unacceptable, it also leaves non-Jewish children to be indoctrinated in Jew-hatred.”

The complaint also details how California teachers are turning their classrooms into anti-Semitic sewers with lessons that vilify Israel and demonize Jews in violation of state law requiring lessons to be free of bias.

“Horrifyingly, teachers and administrators not only fail Jewish and Israeli students in their apathy toward and tacit endorsement of anti-Semitism, but far too often are the bullies and bigots ostracizing and discriminating against them.”

“Defendants have allowed California schools to use required classroom time to teach anti-Semitic propaganda and hate instead of the State’s required course content and frameworks. Some teachers have abandoned approved curricula and are replacing them with anti-Semitic materials of their own choosing. Others have encouraged students to spend required classroom time attending administration-approved walkouts rife with anti-Semitic chants led by their own teachers—or by third-party contractors exploiting schoolchildren to bolster the ranks of their demonstrations. Turning California public schools into vehicles for anti-Semitic propaganda instead of teaching required course material violates the rights of not only Jewish and Israeli students, but all students by depriving all affected students of their fundamental right to an education.”

Brandeis Center lawyer Rachel Lerman told the California Globe that, “We have wonderful laws in California against discrimination. We want to see them enforced.”

In a telephone interview, she said that, “These state actors can do something–make sure the school districts are complying with the law. They have not been taking action to stop this. They have sent out letters. But the letters are not going to do any good without enforcement. We are looking for active monitoring and accountability. Teachers can be told not to impart this hateful propaganda.”

Similarly, StandWithUs lawyer Carly Gammill told the California Globe that, “There have been numerous complaints at the district level. Those individuals [state officials] have an obligation when the districts are failing to step in and fix that problem. They know how to do it when other minorities are targeted.”

“Under California education code the state is obligated to monitor what is happening” and “obligated to ensure that students are able to receive an education free from discrimination.”

The lawsuit has a long list of injunctive relief, or orders, it is seeking from the Court.

This includes requiring state officials to monitor districts and make them publish all the complaints about anti-Semitism they receive; anti-Semitism training for teachers and administrators; appointing an independent monitor to make sure Districts are complying with the law, and making state funding contingent on Districts following the law.

Gamill explained that, “The injunctive relief requests are the specific actions we are asking the court to require the state defendants to take to remedy the systemic antisemitism problem. Defendants have been unwilling to ensure equal treatment of all students in the state’s K-12 schools, despite their legal obligation to do so. Thus, we are asking the court to order them to take these actions to ensure such equal, unbiased treatment for all students, including Jewish and Israeli students.”

The Brandeis Center and StandWithUs released statements from some of the parents who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The statements  are eloquent and worth quoting.

Los Angeles middle school parent Melissa Alexander said that, “All children deserve to feel respected, safe and protected in their schools, and there needs to be accountability within the LAUSD system to stop anti-Semitism wherever it’s seen, especially if it’s promoted by teachers who are responsible to protect students. Watching my son navigate these challenges has broken my heart, as he refuses to speak about his Jewish heritage and wear his Jewish star anymore at school. This is more than just a lawsuit for our family. It’s about helping to create a safer future for all Jewish students so that no other student feels unprotected in the future.”

Mike Rosenthal, a Los Angeles area high school parent, said, “We are joining this suit because our child felt unsafe expressing their Jewish identity in the public school after an adult teacher was permitted to display anti‐Jewish, anti‐Israel, and anti‐American materials in the classroom. When the teacher set that tone, it signaled to students that hostility toward Jewish identity was acceptable—and that is exactly what happened as other students joined in. No child should ever be put in a position where they feel they must hide who they are in order to feel safe.”

But in the face of all these astounding allegations, the California Department of Education is not saying much of anything.

In response to an emailed inquiry about the lawsuit, Department spokesman Scott Roark wrote back, “Thank you for reaching out regarding this matter. The CDE cannot comment on pending litigation.”