Congressional probe targets antisemitism crisis in Philadelphia schools

SPECIAL: A spokesperson for Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced that the School District of Philadelphia must tackle anti-Semitism that is rampant in classrooms.

The allegedly anti-Semitic environment in the nation’s eighth-largest school district, nicknamed the City of Brotherly Love, has recently sparked a congressional investigation into the education system reportedly tainted by Jew and Israeli hatred.

Rosie Lapowsky, Shapiro’s spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital: “Governor Shapiro does not take a backseat to anyone on these issues, and as he has stated repeatedly, anti-Semitism and this type of hateful rhetoric are unacceptable and have no place in Pennsylvania, especially in our classrooms. This is an issue that the Governor has made clear that the district must take very seriously.”

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Fox News Digital conducted interviews with parents and teachers in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) and presented the findings to the governor’s office along with the November notice of the House Education Committee and the Workforce investigation into anti-Semitism in Philadelphia public schools.

The House Education and Workforce Committee is investigating “whether there was a hostile environment toward Jewish K-12 students,” according to the letter obtained by Fox News Digital.

“The Committee is deeply concerned that SDP has failed to meet its obligations under Title VI. Since October 7, 2023, the Committee has received allegations that SDP is rife with antisemitic incidents, including allegations that teachers spread antisemitism in the classroom and that SDP has sanctioned antisemitic strikes that isolate Jewish students,” the Congressional letter said.

“Due to these alleged failures, SDP entered into a federally mandated corrective action plan with the U.S. Department of Education in December 2024: however, based on press and whistleblower reports, anti-Semitic incidents have continued to increase since the plan,” the letter continued.

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Governor Josh Shapiro speaks at the Freedom Celebration Ceremony during the Wawa America Welcome on July 4, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

Fox News Digital obtained messages and a document from a private Signal phone messaging group for Philadelphia Educators in Palestine. The group created a “Core Commitments” document advocating all Palestinian “resistance.” Critics say much of the Palestinian resistance includes violence and terrorism.

According to Philadelphia Educators for Palestine, “All resistance is justified. We reject any false equivalence between the systems of violence that oppress us and our responses to them.”

Signal text messages stated that the anti-Israel group was recruiting schoolchildren to further their anti-Semitic state agenda. According to district policy, educators should not communicate with students through social media platforms. “In order to maintain a professional and appropriate relationship with students, District employees should not communicate on personal social media sites with students currently enrolled in District schools,” the SDP policy states.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Philadelphia Palestine Educators for comment.

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Mika Hackner, director of research at the North American Values ​​Institute, told Fox News Digital: “This is a shocking example of public school teachers knowingly abusing their position and opposing their district’s policies to encourage political activism in their students. Inviting high school students into a private Signal chat and engaging them in discussions and activities that promote political violence is beyond the pale. The Philadelphia School District must take appropriate action.”

Several Jewish parents and teachers spoke to Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from anti-Israel teachers and the Philadelphia School District.

“There are teachers and administrators who perpetuate Jew hatred,” one Jewish parent said.[Ismael] Jimenez uses public social media to create hatred of Jews.” Ismael Jimenez is the director of SDP’s social studies curriculum.

Sunrise light shines on the U.S. Capitol dome on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress begins Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The congressional letter also mentions Jimenez as an SPD senior executive who “has been widely condemned by Jewish advocacy groups for ‘his denial of the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, his refusal to talk about peace or coexistence, and his disdain for the experiences of Jewish people in the face of violence.'” In a recent example, following the killing of two Israeli embassy workers and an antisemitic firebomb attack in Colorado, the senior executive wrote: “Groups that align themselves with American brutality will turn the brutality on you.” shouldn’t be surprised.”

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“Today, SDP employs numerous educators who allegedly promote antisemitic content in their classrooms. One such teacher allegedly threatens Jewish parents and students online. He and other Philadelphia educators also allegedly use lessons from an effort called Teaching Palestine whose classroom materials rationalize terrorist violence and advocate the destruction of Israel,” according to the congressional letter.

The congressional letter highlights the actions of teachers and administrators. The person who allegedly “threatened Jewish parents and students” was identified as Kaziah Ridgeway. Other teachers allegedly took lessons from the “Teaching Palestine” class, according to social media posts and the letter.

A Philadelphia school teacher told Fox News Digital that the current situation in the SDP is “indifference in the district and encouraging pro-Palestinian bias.” “There is no prescription for combating antisemitism in school.”

Philadelphia school teacher Shelly Robinson, who retired in 2021 and teaches at Northeast High School, Pennsylvania’s largest high school, told Fox News Digital that “there was a map on the stage at school and there was no Israel” at a multicultural fair. “A Muslim student group started selling buttons that said ‘River to Sea’ after October 7. Things got really bad for Jewish teachers at Northeast after October 7,” said Robinson, who graduated from Northeast and has deep connections to the school.

The Anti-Defamation League defines the phrase as “a anti-Semitic slogan “It frequently appears in anti-Israel campaigns and chants slogans at demonstrations.”

Memorials at the site of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, Israel, on Monday, May 27, 2024. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hamas, which the United States defines as a terrorist organization, invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and murdered more than 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans.

Robinson recalled a professional development instructor telling a student group called “No Room for Hate” that they “should stop supporting white heroes named Shakespeare and Einstein, and we should support refugees.”

When Robinson pointed out that German physicist Albert Einstein was a refugee from Nazi Germany, the teachers’ development expert said, “But he was a Jew.” “I started to see what was going on in the school district and what had been going on for 20 years,” Robinson said.

Jimenez and Ridgeway, who is reportedly also a member of Philadelphia Educators for Palestine, declined to answer Fox News Digital press questions.

While Shapiro easily made the case, other leaders in the state chose to take responsibility.

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Leah Uko, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, told Fox News Digital: “This is a matter with the School District of Philadelphia, not with the City administration. We have no comment.”

Philadelphia School District superintendent Dr. “It is the policy of the School District of Philadelphia to refrain from commenting on active investigations,” a spokesperson for Tony Watlington told Fox News Digital.