lawsuits<\/a> brought by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law regarding alleged antisemitism.<\/p>\n\u201cThe district BUSD has always and will continue to engage with organizations that are focused on equity, including the Education Equity UCP Office, and comply with actions that the office deems are necessary, especially when such actions are aimed at preventing discrimination in our schools and in our classrooms,\u201d said BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel at the board meeting.<\/p>\n
One case of unlawful discrimination involved posters displayed in a Berkeley Independent Study, or BIS, classroom that featured phrases such as \u201cStop the Bombing FREE FREE PALESTINE\u201d and \u201cSTOP Israeli\/US Genocide in Palestine!\u201d According to BUSD\u2019s initial internal review, additional posters addressing the Holocaust were also displayed in the classroom, which BUSD argued presented an \u201canti-discrimination message.\u201d<\/p>\n
BUSD concluded that the presence of posters may have been \u201cone-sided\u201d but did not by itself constitute discrimination based on a protected characteristic. BUSD\u2019s conclusion was appealed, and the CDE determined the posters \u201ccontribute to a discriminatory physical classroom environment\u201d toward Jewish and Israeli people. The CDE mandated discrimination prevention training for all BIS teaching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this conflation of antisemitism with criticism of Israel is wrong and, quite frankly, dangerous,\u201d said Dan Brownson, a clerical assistant at Berkeley High School. \u201cIt could lead to antisemitism because of people mentally conflating Jewish people with a government that is committing horrific crimes which my Jewish coworkers and students have nothing to do with.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other case of unlawful discrimination occurred during a student assembly led by the South and Southwest Asia and North Africa Club at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. BUSD\u2019s internal review found that some of the maps of the Levant region used in assemblies omitted Israel and that assemblies concluded with chants of \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLK Middle School also had an assembly led by its Jewish Student Union.<\/p>\n
BUSD concluded that the SSWANA Club assembly contributed to a discriminatory conflict on the basis of a protected characteristic. This conclusion was appealed, in part, for providing insufficient corrective actions. The CDE mandated discrimination prevention training for MLK Middle School students, with a focus on antisemitism, as well as a training for all administrators.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not asking schools to silence difficult conversations,\u201d said Jewish Coalition of Berkeley leader Hillary Kilimnik in an email. \u201cBut education must provide context, encourage critical thinking, address challenges and suffering on both sides, and allow students to hold different perspectives without social repercussions. Our children deserve educators who help them engage across differences and form their own perspectives, rather than dictating a single point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kilimnik said JCOB hopes the mandated trainings will foster \u201cgenuine dialogue and respect for multiple perspectives.\u201d She noted that JCOB wants the BUSD administration to listen to the concerns of Jewish families and work with them to foster a \u201cmore inclusive\u201d environment.<\/p>\n
According to Yvette Felarca, a BIS teacher and member of the Equal Opportunity Now\/By Any Means Necessary Caucus, the caucus\u2019s lawyers plan on taking legal action against the CDE\u2019s rulings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has a chilling effect on not just what\u2019s taught in the classroom or what\u2019s discussed by teachers, but it really has a chilling effect as well on the students,\u201d Felarca said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a form of censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n
In November 2025, Willard Middle School history teacher Andrea Prichett filed a complaint against Assembly Bill 715, which was approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom to prevent antisemitism in California schools. In an interview with the Berkeley High Jacket, Prichett argued the bill was vague and could suppress \u201cteachers\u2019 ability to have discussions in their classrooms about the situation in the Middle East and in Israel and Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
BIS teacher and union representative Corey Wade said a resolution entitled \u201cProtecting Teachers Who Support Palestinian Human Rights\u201d was unanimously passed by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers deserve academic freedom,\u201d Wade said in an email. \u201cEducators have a duty \u2026 to address global human rights issues including genocide, to foster critical thinking, and uplift the perspectives of historically marginalized peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California Department of Education has ruled in two appeals cases that unlawful discrimination against Jewish and Israeli…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[3630,64687,46144,184267,96734,6765,184263,3636,184274,184266,184264,184273,184265,5037,184271,67306,340,184270,42763,143,145,144,3783,184268,184269,78317,184272],"class_list":["post-467927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-ab-715","tag-andrea-prichett","tag-berkeley-federation-of-teachers","tag-berkeley-high-school-south-asian","tag-berkeley-independent-study","tag-berkeley-unified-school-district","tag-busd-board-of-education","tag-california-department-of-education","tag-corey-wade","tag-dan-brownson","tag-education-equity-ucp-office","tag-equal-opportunity-now-by-any-means-necessary","tag-erika-ford-morthel","tag-gov-gavin-newsom","tag-hillary-kilimnik","tag-holocaust","tag-israel","tag-jewish-coalition-of-berkeley","tag-louis-d-brandeis-center-for-human-rights-under-law","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-palestine","tag-southwest-asian-and-north-african-club-martin-luther-king-jr-middle-school","tag-sswana","tag-willard-middle-school","tag-yvette-felarca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}