Katy (Texas) News
Sens. Cruz, Cassidy, Colleagues Send Letter Urging the Biden Administration to Address Antisemitism in K-12 Schools
Katy News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Bill Cassidy (R-L.A.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter along with several of their Senate Republican colleagues to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, urging the Biden administration to address the growing rates of antisemitism in K-12 schools following Hamas’s war against Israel. The Senators urged the administration to use their Title VI enforcement power to ensure a safe learning environment for Jewish students.
In the letter, the Senators write, “We are deeply concerned that the Department of Education is not ensuring American K-12 schools are fostering a safe learning environment for all students following the terrorist organization Hamas’ violent attack on civilians, including Americans and Israeli citizens.”
Cosigners of the letter include U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
BACKGROUND:
- Since the Hamas-led massacre against Israel on October 7th, there has been a disturbing rise in antisemitic incidents, including targeted harassment, directed at Jewish children in K-12 schools.
- Shortly after the October 7th attacks, an 11-year-old in Manhattan Beach told four Jewish girls at his school that “all Israelis and Jews should be killed.”
- On October 9th, the Superintendent of Revere Public Schools in Massachusetts sent an email to school staff promoting resources that claimed, “Israeli terrorism has been significantly worse than that of the Palestinians.”
- On October 17th, a New York City middle school teacher and United Federation of Teachers’ (UFT) school representative sent an email to teachers’ union members deriding the UFT’s official statement denouncing the October 7th attack and calling on the unions’ retirement system to “divest from weapons and other companies that are complicit in violations of Palestinians’ civil and land rights.”
- On October 18th, students in San Francisco marched through the hallways of their high school chanting antisemitic slogans.
- According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Department of Education has a duty to ensure that schools receiving federal funds maintain a safe learning environment for all children.
Read the full text of the letter here.