BALTIMORE — The feds have officially launched a civil rights investigation into Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPSS).
News of the probe comes after the Anti Defamation League (ADL) filed a complaint last month, alleging ongoing antisemitism within the school system.
“The allegations that Baltimore City Public Schools tolerate virulent Nazi-inspired anti-Semitic harassment of its Jewish students is at once appalling and infuriating," said Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. "When a teacher allegedly directs a Nazi salute toward a Jewish student, or non-Jewish students harass their Jewish contemporaries by saying ‘all Jews should die,’ we are not simply talking about contemptible bullying; we are talking about a shocking abdication of educator responsibility that constitutes unlawful anti-Semitic harassment under Title VI.”
The ADL claims to have evidence of an active City School teacher previously threatening to “go all Nazi” on students in his class.
This particular teacher allegedly "directed Nazi salutes towards a Jewish student" on the school playground, per the ADL.
In turn Jewish students have been subjected to "relentless bullying," including antisemitic remarks like “6 million [Jews] was not enough,” referencing the Holocaust, or “all Jews should die,” and “we should call Hamas and have them come here.”
The ADL blames City Schools for permitting such hatred, by failing to "explicitly condemn and effectively address antisemitism in its schools."
As result, the City's very small Jewish student body has been left "isolated from their peers," and "afraid to walk down the hallways alone."
It's not the first time City Schools have been accused of creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.
"For years, malicious actors have routinely graffitied school property with swastikas, with little to no consequence to the wrongdoers, at several of the few public schools in the district with Jewish students," the ADL complaint states.
RELATED: BCPSS accused of failing to protect Jewish students, address harassment from teacher, other students
Since Hamas carried out a deadly terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, Jews have faced a massive uptick in antisemitism.
Here in Maryland, there's been a 227 percent increase.
As for schools, the ADL ranks Maryland third in the nation for on-campus bias/hate incidents.
"In each case, the schools have labeled these weighty allegations as 'inconclusive' and appear to have taken no action against the perpetrators," the ADL alleges. "Jewish parents also have asked repeatedly for educational programming for students on antisemitism and the Holocaust to help combat the persistent antisemitism at Baltimore schools. BCPS has ignored their requests."
Andre Riley, a Baltimore City Public Schools spokesman, previously defended the school's actions in response to some of the reported incidents.
"We acted in the moment. We're pretty efficient in conducting an investigation and taking the right steps," Riley said. "We also understand the solutions we sometimes come up with are not seen as palatable, sometimes folks don't feel like we have helped them. But our record shows that when we knew about two particular instances, we acted promptly."
Riley was speaking specifically about school incidents the ADL highlighted in their complaint at Bard and Mount Washington.
"They care about kids, and they're hearing 'you allowed antisemitic behavior,'" Riley stated. "They don't, we don't, as a school district. So while we have feelings about how those schools were mentioned, they took appropriate action, and so did we as a school district."
Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 strictly prohibits discrimination on the bases of race, color, and national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding, for which City Schools is a beneficiary.
Riley insists that City Schools, "reject antisemitism."
Trainor, however, said this on behalf of the federal government.
"The Trump-McMahon Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights will vigorously investigate this matter and ensure American Jewish students can learn and flourish in an environment free from unlawful discrimination."
