The school system that promises inclusion must answer serious allegations of antisemitism with action, consequences, and public accountability.
Forty-plus rabbis and cantors should not have to organize a letter-writing campaign to persuade a public school system that Jewish children deserve to feel safe. Yet that is where Montgomery County finds itself. The clergy’s September 28 appeal describes harassment, isolation, and threats, and accuses MCPS of allowing antisemitic behavior to become normalized. Those are serious allegations. Superintendent Thomas Taylor and the school board owe families a serious answer.[1] www.whctemple.org
Consider what FOX 5 reported: a swastika on a classroom desk at Walter Johnson High School, along with other recent discoveries of antisemitic symbols and graffiti in school spaces. Somewhere behind those reports is a child arriving for class and encountering a symbol of extermination. Imagine being that child’s parent and hearing another assurance that the district values inclusion.[2] www.fox5dc.com
Here is the question MCPS needs to confront: Would officials accept this response if another religious or ethnic community described years of intimidation? The short answer is NO. Would Black, Muslim, Hispanic, or Asian families be expected to keep explaining why their children should not encounter symbols of hatred at school?
I cannot prove MCPS would never fail another group. However, I refuse to accept a standard under which Jewish families must repeatedly plead for protections. The district promises everyone. Equal treatment means equal urgency. Administrators should explain what they have done, what failed, and what changes tomorrow morning.
The numbers demand attention, too. MCPS reported 600 hate-bias incidents in 2025–26, compared with 253 the previous year. Read that line again: 600 hate-bias incidents in MCPS. Those totals include multiple forms of bias, not just antisemitism. Taylor has suggested expanded staff training may explain the increase in reporting. That explanation deserves consideration. It cannot substitute for answering families whose children are frightened.[3] www.washingtonjewishweek.com
Better reporting would be welcome. Better protection is the obligation. A parent needs to know whether the harassment stopped, whether the school intervened, and whether the child can return without being targeted again. Parents shouldn’t have to worry when they drop their child off at an MCPS school that their child isn’t subjected to Jewish Hate coming from the teacher or administration.
The clergy’s requests are straightforward: substantive training specific to antisemitism, education about Jewish identity and the Holocaust, and enforceable rules addressing social media harassment that affects students at school. Their letter says only 2% of more than 1,000 educators receiving JCRC’s regional training last year came from MCPS. That does not mean only 2% of MCPS teachers received any training. It does raise an uncomfortable question about participation in that specialized program.[1] www.whctemple.org
Then consider the Baltimore case. The verified allegation concerns Baltimore City Public Schools, not Baltimore County.
According to ADL’s July 2025 federal complaint, a Bard High School teacher directed three Nazi salutes at the only Jewish student in a class during a January lesson. The complaint says the district’s investigation substantiated that the teacher made Nazi-associated gestures and singled out a student because of religious background. It also says the student dropped the teacher’s classes at the principal’s suggestion.[4] www.adl.org
Read that last detail again. The student changed classes.
A child reporting intimidation should not bear the educational cost of escaping it. If that account is accurate, the adults responsible for protecting the student have much to explain.
The Education Department opened a civil rights investigation in August 2025. That was an investigation, not a final federal finding. Baltimore City Public Schools told JNS that it rejects antisemitism and racism. Those distinctions matter. So does the gravity of the conduct alleged.[5][6] U.S. Department of Education
Debate about Israel does not make Jewish classmates and students representatives of a foreign government. Criticizing Israeli policy is not automatically antisemitic. Yet when the criticism comes with anti-Semitic undertones, it is a problem. Directing Nazi salutes at a Jewish child is something entirely different. School leaders should have no difficulty recognizing that distinction.
MCPS needs deadlines for investigating complaints, protection against retaliation, and meaningful consequences. Public progress reports that preserve student privacy. The board should ask whether victims are losing classes, activities, or confidence while adults argue about procedures. It is a shame that in a county with a large Jewish population, Jewish children have to face Jewish hate in the classroom coming from teachers.
Jewish families should not need another meeting to establish their children’s worth. They need schools where reporting hatred brings protection, where adults intervene promptly and where inclusion survives contact with an actual Jewish student.
That is the standard MCPS must meet. Parents are entitled to demand it.
Endnotes
- Washington Hebrew Congregation — “A Pastoral Call to Action,” September 28, 2026.
https://www.whctemple.org/2026/09/a-pastoral-call-to-action/ - FOX 5 DC — “Jewish leaders urge Montgomery County school officials to combat ‘skyrocketing’ antisemitism,” September 28, 2026.
https://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-jewish-leaders-urge-mcps-combat-skyrocketing-antisemitism - Washington Jewish Week — “MCPS Reports Spike in Hate-Bias Incidents in 2025-26,” September 23, 2026.
https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/mcps-reports-spike-in-hate-bias-incidents-in-2025-26/ - Anti-Defamation League and Covington & Burling LLP — “Civil Rights Violations at the Baltimore City Public Schools,” Title VI complaint, July 22, 2025, pages 3–6.
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/2025-07/BCPS-OCR-Title-VI-Complaint-07222025.pdf - U.S. Department of Education — “U.S. Department of Education Initiates Title VI Investigation into Baltimore City Public Schools for Alleged Anti-Semitic Harassment,” August 7, 2025.
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-initiates-title-vi-investigation-baltimore-city-public-schools-alleged-anti-semitic-harassment - JNS — “‘Egregious, persistent’ Jew-hatred at Baltimore public schools, federal complaint alleges,” July 30, 2025.
https://www.jns.org/u.s.-news/egregious-persistent-jew-hatred-at-baltimore-public-schools-federal-complaint-alleges
Carol Hughes writes on education, government accountability, and state policy for Direct Line News.
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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