Montgomery County Board of Education President Karla Silvestre testified Wednesday morning before a U.S. House education subcommittee about Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) approach to “combatting antisemitism, hate speech and racism.”
Silvestre shared five steps that MCPS is taking to address antisemitism in schools during the hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. The steps include:
- Revising policies and procedures to strengthen the district’s response to antisemitism, hate and racism;
- Implementing a “clear reporting process and training for school leaders and staff” as well as “empowering students and families to report incidents of bullying and harassment”;
- Enhanced K-12 curriculum that expands on topics related to the Jewish experience in the social studies courses;
- Strengthening relationships and partnerships with the community such as participating in listening sessions in local synagogues. Silvestre said this year 12 community organizations joined to form the MCPS Hate-Bias Advisory Group to support efforts to address hate-bias speech and incidents; and
- Conducting mandatory hate-bias training for all MCPS staff this summer.
Silvestre was invited to testify as MCPS faces a federal Title VI investigation into how the district has handled antisemitism in schools, as reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in February. A second Title VI complaint also was filed against MCPS by the Zionist Organization of America in mid-April, which alleges that the district has failed to address “severe, persistent and pervasive antisemitism in schools.”
In recent years, MCPS has grappled with numerous antisemitic incidents in schools at all levels, including reports of students drawing swastikas on desks and school property and being seen giving an antisemitic “salute.”
In addition, four district teachers were reprimanded and placed on administrative leave for allegedly sharing pro-Palestinian views on social media and in email signatures that MCPS and some in the county’s Jewish and Israeli communities called antisemitic. The teachers were placed on leave in November and December 2023 and were reinstated earlier this year but at different schools.
Wednesday’s hearing followed other recent contentious hearings during which House members grilled the leaders of several Ivy League universities over their handling of antisemitism on campus.
During questioning at Wednesday’s hearing, Silvestre spoke of the commitment by the school board and MCPS to addressing antisemitism in the school system and acknowledged that there is more work to be done.
“I can’t tell you we’ve gotten it right every single time,” Silvestre said. “But as a board, we are committed to working with our administrators and our community to constantly improve our processes and outcomes.”
Silvestre testified at the subcommittee hearing on “Confronting Pervasive Antisemitism in K-12 Schools” along with New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel and Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“Three of the witnesses here today represent public school districts that have allowed vile antisemitism to spread unchecked,” Florida Rep. Aaron Bean (R), chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, announced at the start of the hearing. “Now thousands of Jewish students in their districts fear riding the bus in the morning, wearing their kippah to school, or just eating and breathing as a Jewish student.”
Bean called out incidents at MCPS including pro-Palestinian student walkouts that occurred in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli-Hamas war. He said participating students called out “Kill the Jews” and “Bring Hitler Back” and he criticized administrators’ decision to approve excused absences for students involved in the walkouts.
Silvestre was not asked to comment about the walkouts. However, and the others testifying were asked by Bean to affirm whether Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state, whether the phrase “From the River to the Sea” is considered antisemitic and whether the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas was a terrorist act. Along with the others, she answered “yes” to the questions. She also answered “no” when asked if terrorism is ever justified.
Mostly GOP committee members peppered those testifying about their districts’ approach to disciplining students and teachers who have engaged in antisemitic behavior and speech, asking if they had been expelled or fired.
Silvestre confirmed that the district has taken “disciplinary action” against teachers, but none have been fired. When asked about an MCPS teacher who Bean said “has suffered greatly” due to reporting instances of antisemitism on schools, she said she didn’t know the details of the case he was referring to, but that retaliation against teachers was unacceptable.
Bean was critical of the district’s decision not to fire teachers who he said are “teaching hatred” and asked Silvestre if those individuals should be fired.
“Absolutely,” she said. “And as part of our process, the teachers that have been disciplined know that if this happens ever again, there will be deeper consequences up to and including termination.”
North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx (R) questioned Silvestre on the district’s investigations process into complaints of antisemitism and asked about how long MCPS’ investigations into antisemitic incidents last. Silvestre said that she didn’t know the exact amount of time.
“I believe that we do a very thorough job, so we take as long as is need to investigate,” she said.
Foxx also asked about whether “victims” are notified about investigation results and whether Silvestre would pledge that they would notify.
In response, Silvestre said individuals are notified that action has been taken, but not the specific details of the consequences. She added that the school system is “working on improving communications so that victims have more information about what the outcome [is].”
In her testimony, Silvestre said she knew the committee was aware of press reports and public complaints around antisemitic incidents and that the school system does not “shy away from imposing consequences for hate-based behavior, including antisemitism.”
She added that if a district investigation determines a staff member “cannot uphold the employee code of conduct and support a safe learning environment for all students, they will not remain in [MCPS].”
Connecticut Rep. Jahana Hayes (D) asked Silvestre about the district’s curriculum on teaching about antisemitism and Jewish history.
MCPS has “been looking to have our social studies curriculum better reflect our student population,” Silvestre said. “And we have enhanced our Jewish experience education starting younger, going into elementary grades, training teachers so that they can implement Holocaust education in sixth grade.”
She added that MCPS would implement new hate-bias training for its more than 25,000 employees this summer, which would be the first time MCPS would do the training for all employees.
Hayes also asked Silvestre whether she thinks it is important for students to understand why the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” could be harmful to some of their peers.
“Absolutely, Congresswoman. Our role is to educate [students] with the history so they can understand why our Jewish students might find that antisemitic,” Silvestre said.
Silvestre also shared that partnerships with community organizations have helped bring cultural expertise to the district as it works to address antisemitism in schools.
The organizations “help us get it right,” she said. “We want to get it right and these community groups will help us do so.”