NEW YORK – New York City’s efforts since October 7 to combat hate in the country’s largest school system will be tested again as the new school year begins this week with more than one million students and staff returning to classrooms at a frighteningly more divisive moment between communities over Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas.
The city’s 1,870 public schools dispersed throughout the five boroughs line streets often filled with protesters and corner college campuses surrounded by police and news trucks.
As the public school’s leader, Chancellor David Banks, noted in his testimony before Congress earlier this year, New York City’s classrooms are not insulated from the global stage.
Last school year, Banks faced scrutiny at every level from almost every community as Jewish teachers faced blatant and dangerous antisemitism and teachers who expressed support for Palestinians alleged silencing and discrimination.
Banks acted relatively quickly when antisemitism publicly surfaced in city schools after October 7 to develop a comprehensive plan addressing rising antisemitism and Islamophobia, and holding school leadership accountable for discipline.
Part of the plan went into effect in the spring, though not without its share of controversy.
What remains to be seen at the start of this new school year is the feasibility, efficacy, and longevity of Banks’ intentions to educate the hate away and hold the hateful accountable.
‘More Work To Do’
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, told The Jerusalem Post he thinks New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) is more informed today than it was over a year ago, but there is more work to do to be fully prepared to deal with rising hate.
Treyger assumed the role with JCRC in March after serving as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for NYCPS, a position Mayor Adams appointed him to in 2022. Treyger also served as a city council member for seven years, a job he ran for as a social studies teacher.
Treyger worked alongside NYCPS Chancellor David Banks in responding to major incidents of antisemitism in schools in the months following October 7, which included an unruly protest at Hillcrest High School in Queens where in November students targeted a Jewish teacher who expressed support for Israel on social media.
A few weeks earlier, hundreds of high school students skipped classes in a massive pro-Palestinian student walkout in Bryant Park.
A Jewish teacher at a Brooklyn middle school filed a lawsuit accusing the school, the City of New York, the New York City Department of Education, as well as Banks and other administrators for failing to take appropriate action when her students called for violence against Jews and directly threatened her over the course of several months.
Jewish advocates organized quickly after October 7 calling for antisemitism training in schools, a task force to monitor efforts to fight antisemitism, and the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
Civil liberty organizations as well as the Council on American-Islamic Relations New York also organized, accusing NYCPS of suppressing speech in support of Palestinians and a lack of protections for Palestinian and Middle Eastern students and educators.
In November 2023, the federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights launched an investigation into NYCPS over Title VI violations for both Islamophobia and antisemitism.
The Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce called Banks and the leaders of two other major school districts in California and Maryland, to testify in May on their response to rising antisemitism within their districts.
The hearing was as contentious as the others the Committee conducted with university presidents; and exasperated school leaders answering questions that would later go viral on X.
Days after the hearing, Banks told the Post he’s looking to organize a national convening of school leaders to address combating antisemitism in schools, something he said Congress has the power to do if it were serious about solving the problem.
“That’s how you can solve this issue,” Banks said to the Post. “Not through sound bites.”
Meeting the Moment
While members of Congress relentlessly grilled the chancellor, Treyger acknowledged Banks for doing more than most major school district leaders to address hate and safety in the aftermath of October 7.
Banks didn’t have to create his Meet the Moment strategy plan, but he chose to, according to Treyger.
“He specifically wanted to lay out a response to what happened after October 7 and what happened after Hillcrest to create systemic change in the school system so this never happens again,” Treyger said. “I do applaud him for that.”Banks’ Meet the Moment plan released in January outlined three overarching priorities with specific action items to address the “recent and unacceptable incidents of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other safety concerns.”
The plan’s first component, “Education, Training, and Support for our Adults,” called for professional development in the spring for all middle and high school principals focused on navigating difficult conversations.
Banks also said NYCPS would expand its instructional resources and materials focused on Islamophobia and antisemitism as well as enhance its diversity training and resources for staff to include specific components on antisemitism and Islamophobia.
According to Treyger, who accompanied Banks on his visit to Hillcrest after the incident, the feedback from staff and students there hit the chancellor hard.
Students said if they weren’t taught in school about October 7, and what’s happening in the world, they’d learn it somewhere online. Teachers asked for tools, training, and guidance on how to facilitate these complex conversations.
In April, Mayor Eric Adams announced the implementation of a curriculum designed to teach students about hate crimes and bias incidents, though it’s unclear when teachers will undergo training for the program and introduce the materials in classrooms.
According to reporting from the New York Post, Banks brought in controversial educator Debbie Almontaser whose company led a series of “Facilitating Courageous Conversations” workshops, which Jewish educators claimed had an anti-Israel slant.
The spokesperson for the district defended the decision for Almontaser’s company to conduct the workshops.It’s unclear if Almontaser’s company will continue providing workshops in the coming school year.
‘Continuing Engagement’
The plan’s second component, “Safe, Welcoming Schools,” clarified the NYCPS discipline code and pathways for reporting allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia. The third component is called for continuing engagement.
According to Treyger, preparedness for this new school year is not just in terms of physical safety, but also in terms of making sure learning environments are “free of hate, harassment and bullying” and making sure there is “clear, consistent, conclusive policy and follow-up and enforcement of rules.”
Preparedness is also using education as the tool and resource that it is in helping schools meet the moment, he said.
“It’s not just simply reacting to the moment,” Treyger added, “But how do we look at this in a systemic, comprehensive way to make sure that these things don’t happen again.”
“Today we’re talking about October 7 and the response to the war against Hamas,” Treyger said, “but tomorrow it could be an entirely new issue that’s complicated and could potentially create tension in school communities.”Treyger said JCRC needs to make sure that schools have the resources and tools to build strong relationships and to build understanding, so they don’t get ripped apart.
“Schools that invest time and energy in building deepening connections, internally and externally, seem to weather these events much better than those schools that just don’t,” Treyger said.
Treyger said Banks showed his support and commitment to deepening his relationship with the Jewish community in June when he brought a group of school leaders to the Nova exhibit, in conjunction with JCRC and the Jewish Federation of New York.
“I stand with you as an ally and as someone who believes very much in the Jewish people, your history. My heart also breaks,” Banks told the crowd of educators and Jewish leaders before him at the exhibit.
Banks spoke of the two trips he went on to Israel at the invitation of JCRC, which he said gave him a deeper level of exposure to Israel.
Banks said he had a sensitivity around the issue and the tragedy that Hamas committed.
“We are not perfect, we are still trying to figure things out,” Banks said, overlooking the Nova exhibit. “There are some people who will be critical of the things we’ve done or not done enough. But know that I am doing my best.”
A spokesperson for Banks said he was unavailable to be interviewed for this article.