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In this March 2024 file photo, members of the Berkeley school community packed a BUSD board meeting in support of ethnic studies programs focusing on Palestinian history. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/CatchLight<\/p>\nIn this March 2024 file photo, members of the Berkeley school community packed a BUSD board meeting in support of ethnic studies programs focusing on Palestinian history. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/CatchLight<\/p>\n
Berkeley Unified again found itself thrust into the center of a national debate over how to teach the Israel-Palestine conflict in classrooms, after congressional Republicans announced<\/a> last month that the district is one of three being investigated over claims of antisemitism.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, some Berkeley Unified community members are urging district leaders to not comply with requests from Congressional Republicans conducting a federal probe into alleged antisemitism<\/a> in Berkeley schools, citing privacy and safety concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) was one of three districts named in the investigation announced in late November, along with Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and School District of Philadelphia. In their statement, Republican lawmakers referenced walkouts and demonstrations, offensive imagery and harassment of Jewish students from BUSD educators and staff in \u201cclassrooms and hallways.\u201d District leaders at the time said the claims are old and have been addressed, and that the inquiry would be responded to \u201cappropriately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Last Wednesday, several Jewish BUSD students and members of the community attended the final school board meeting of the year, asking that district leaders protect free speech at schools. They said releasing personal information to the federal government for its inquiry could lead to privacy breaches that have negative consequences for students and staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI truly appreciate how hard the district has worked to protect its students, families and staff in the wake of these trials. I know that you will continue to protect us, but I sincerely hope you do not comply with these requests,\u201d Hannah Slattery Weisberg, a Berkeley High junior, told the board Dec. 10. \u201cBy providing information to the House Republicans, we open the gates to doxing and witch hunts, neither of which makes anyone safer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Emmett Davis, a freshman at Berkeley High, also spoke during public comment, sharing with the board that his teachers have appeared \u201cfrightened or nervous\u201d when the subject of Palestine is brought up during relevant class lessons.<\/p>\n \u201cI urge you to protect our teachers and our right as students to learn about atrocities, current and in the past, even if they make some people feel uncomfortable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n School board member Jen Corn said during the meeting that she was \u201cvery grateful\u201d for the advocacy \u201con behalf of our students and teachers.\u201d Board members clarified that no vote on the federal inquiry would take place that night, and it was not clear what, if any, information would be requested in the probe or released by the district.<\/p>\n The congressional investigation into BUSD was announced two months after UC Berkeley released the names of about 160 students, staff and faculty<\/a> to the U.S. Department of Education in September, as part of a different federal probe into antisemitism on college campuses. The decision drew criticism from many students and faculty, who raised similar concerns about privacy and free speech.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement released after the announcement of the federal inquiry<\/a> into BUSD in November, local activist group Berkeley Jewish Parents for Collective Liberation said the claims are \u201ctired, fully investigated and determined to be baseless.\u201d They also called on district leadership, including the superintendent and board members, to not comply with requests for documentation.<\/p>\n \u201cJewish children are safe and thriving in Berkeley\u2019s diverse schools. Congress is cynically using Jewish students to attack BUSD\u2019s long-standing commitment to social justice,\u201d according to the statement. \u201cWe support our educators teaching our students about global history, U.S. militarism, and race, in connection to current events.\u201d<\/p>\n Other members of Berkeley\u2019s Jewish community are more supportive of the federal investigation. In an email statement to Berkeleyside on Wednesday, the Jewish Coalition of Berkeley, which sprang up in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, urged BUSD to fully comply with the federal inquiry as \u201can important step toward restoring trust.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMany BUSD students have experienced antisemitism in school settings, as well as the extreme politicization of the classroom by many teachers that has left Jewish students feeling targeted, isolated, and unwelcome,\u201d according to the statement. \u201cA civil rights investigation is needed to affirm the lived experiences that have been reported repeatedly by families across multiple schools in the school district, and to push district leaders to take necessary steps to reform and enforce policies that protect the rights of Jewish students.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n BUSD\u2019s role in California\u2019s new K-12 antisemitism legislation<\/p>\n In its November letter to BUSD<\/a>, the congressional Committee on Education and Workforce said the federal investigation aims to determine whether the district is or was a hostile environment for Jewish students. The committee is seeking documents to assess compliance and to determine whether federal legislation to \u201cspecifically address antisemitic discrimination\u201d is needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n State legislators have already passed a similar law. California Assembly Bill 715<\/a>, signed in October, aims to prevent and address antisemitism and discrimination in K\u201112 schools. It will go into effect Jan. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the bill has faced pushback, with a coalition of four California public school teachers, the organization LA Educators for Justice in Palestine, and three public school students filing a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent AB 715<\/a> from going into effect next year, according to EdSource. They argue the law is overbroad and would violate their First Amendment rights to openly discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n A federal judge in San Jose heard arguments on Wednesday for Prichett v. Newsom<\/a>, named for lead plaintiff Andrea Prichett, a history teacher at Berkeley\u2019s Willard Middle School. Prichett has been under investigation for months, according to the complaint, due to her drawing a connection between colonialism and Israeli settlements in the West Bank.<\/p>\n Prichett has been a public pro-Palestinian voice, urging the Berkeley City Council to support a ceasefire resolution<\/a>, according to the complaint. She also helped create the \u201cWatermelon Society,\u201d a student club at her school that offers a \u201csafe space to talk about their feelings regarding Israel and Palestine \u2026 and share cultural traditions.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Before the club\u2019s first meeting, the school principal informed Prichett that some parents were uncomfortable with its existence and asked her to avoid using words like \u201cgenocide\u201d and \u201ccolonization.\u201d According to the court document filed by the plaintiff coalition, Prichett has been the subject of two complaints at the school, both of which were determined to be unfounded following investigations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Prichett said in the court filing<\/a> that she has \u201calmost no doubt that I would be a target under the new law.\u201d<\/p>\n The role of Berkeley Unified and other Bay Area schools<\/a> in shaping this legislation cannot be overlooked. A 2024 federal civil rights complaint<\/a> alleging unaddressed \u201csevere and persistent\u201d harassment of Jewish students in BUSD propelled the school district into the national spotlight. In May that year, Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel testified before Congress<\/a> and denied that antisemitism was widespread in Berkeley schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n Allegations of antisemitism within BUSD were raised repeatedly this year at the state Capitol during hearings and public comments on AB 715. Sen. Jesse Arregu\u00edn (D-Berkeley) said during a Senate floor hearing on Sept. 12 that he was in \u201cstrong support\u201d of the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPrior to my election to the Senate, I served as the mayor of Berkeley, and I\u2019ll say that the issue around antisemitism is a very serious issue and a very visible issue in my community,\u201d Arregu\u00edn said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He mentioned a few incidents he said occurred after Oct. 7, 2023. He said Berkeley High teachers authorized a walkout in which students chanted antisemitic slurs, and an art teacher showed pro-Hamas videos in class and \u201cpapered his classroom walls with anti-Israel antisemitic images.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In a different September hearing<\/a>, David Schonholtz with the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area spoke in support of the bill during public comment. \u201cI\u2019m a Berkeley resident who is terrified for Jewish students in California,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n BUSD did not respond to questions about how the state legislation is expected to impact its policies once it goes into effect next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n AB 715 has also received pushback<\/a> from Bay Area activist groups, such as the Berkeley Faculty for the Freedom to Learn, and the Berkeley Families for Collective Liberation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advocates and plaintiffs in the suit argue that AB 715 is vague, overly broad and would violate their First Amendment speech rights and chill an open discussion of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. State officials responded that the law is consistent with other anti-discrimination legislation.<\/p>\n Five days after Arregu\u00edn\u2019s comments in September, BUSD school board member Jennifer Shanoski, during a school board meeting, expressed disappointment with \u201cthe way that Berkeley Unified was incorrectly called out at some of those hearings.\u201d \u200b\u200b<\/p>\n Shanoski said they \u201clook forward to seeing changes to that bill in the year ahead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Additional reporting from EdSource.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tA debate over Israel-Palestine curriculum flares at Berkeley schools<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tMarch 21, 2024March 25, 2024, 11:18 a.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tBerkeley school district walks thin line in response to Israel-Hamas war<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tNovember 3, 2023Nov. 6, 2023, 2:00 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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