The Anti-Defamation League has asked the Trump administration to open a civil-rights investigation into the Baltimore City Public Schools, accusing the district of failing to address “egregious antisemitic harassment” against Jewish students.
The complaint filed with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said the students have been bullied by their classmates with Nazi salutes and comments like “all Jews must die,” “we should call Hamas and have them come here,” and “six million [Jews] wasn’t enough,” referring to the death toll from the Holocaust.
It wasn’t just students.
In January, an English teacher at Bard High School directed a Nazi salute three times at the class’s only Jewish student, but when the student complained, the teacher said the gesture “does not cause anybody harm” and that he refused to “sanitize his teachings.”
After a two-month investigation, the district concluded that the student’s complaint was “substantiated,” but took no action against the teacher. Meanwhile, the teacher told other students that he could no longer do the Nazi salute because the student had reported him.
The student ultimately dropped out of the class at the suggestion of the principal, while the teacher remains on the faculty and continues to serve as assistant dean, according to the July 22 complaint, which was released this week by the ADL.
“BCPS has knowingly permitted its schools to become hostile environments for Jewish students, who make up a small percentage of the student body,” the complaint said. “Jewish students face egregious and persistent discrimination and harassment by teachers in classrooms and by other students on campus and outside of school based on their shared Jewish ancestry and ethnicity.”
In a statement, the district said that “Bullying and harassment have no place in our schools, and we strongly reject and do not tolerate antisemitism and racism against any group.”
“We encourage anyone with concerns to report them,” said the district, according to Baltimore Fox affiliate WBFF, channel 45.
“When issues are brought to our attention, we take diligent student-centered action to investigate and resolve them. We are aware of some of the incidents referenced in the recent complaint involving antisemitism. We addressed the issues at the time and provided updates as appropriate to each impacted school community about our actions,” the district stated.
The ADL complaint painted a different picture, saying that the district repeatedly “hid behind findings that the allegations were ‘inconclusive’ instead of conducting a more thorough investigation, disciplining the bullies and harassers, or acknowledging the disturbing pattern that was emerging.”
In other incidents, Jewish students at the Mount Washington School, an elementary and middle school, said they received a “Zionist or Nazi?” text quiz, and that Nazi salutes were a daily occurrence on the playground.
At Baltimore City College high school, parents complained about a poster that says “from the river to the sea,” referring to the destruction of Israel, but the poster remains up.
At Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a Jewish student was surrounded by several classmates who repeated “Hamas” and made jokes involving “Jewish stereotypes.”
The student reported the incident, but asked that the students not be disciplined for fear of retaliation.
In addition, swastikas and other Nazi graffiti have become more common at multiple schools since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, the complaint said.
“All schools have a fundamental obligation to maintain a learning environment that protects students from discrimination,” said James Pasch, ADL vice president for litigation. “On this essential measure of keeping its Jewish students safe from harassment and intimidation, Baltimore City Public Schools have failed.”
Baltimore City Public Schools enrolled 76,841 students in the 2024-25 academic year. The district does not include a breakdown of how many students are Jewish, but the racial composition was 69.6% Black, 20.1% Hispanic, 7% White, and less than 5% Asian-American.
The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights has launched Title VI investigations into campus antisemitism at more than 60 universities, in some cases withholding federal research grants and contracts unless school officials sign onto a resolution agreement.
Columbia and Brown have entered into settlements with the administration that restored their federal contracts, while Harvard has accused the federal government of illegally freezing research funding in a lawsuit.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.