AURN News with Ebony McMorris

Focus on Antisemitism: Unpacking the Surge in K-12 Schools

Ebony McMorris
May 9, 2024

From left, David Banks, chancellor of New York Public schools, speaks next to Karla Silvestre, President of the Montgomery Count (Md.) Board of Education, Emerson Sykes, Staff Attorney with the ACLU, and Enikia Ford Morthel, Superintendent of the Berkeley United School District, during a hearing on antisemitism in K-12 public schools, at the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Congress addressed the rise of antisemitism in K-12 schools with a hearing yesterday morning. It marked the first congressional inquiry into antisemitism incidents in educational settings since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked a nationwide increase of such cases.

The session specifically examined situations in New York City, Berkeley, California, and Montgomery County, Maryland. Officials, including David Banks of New York City Public Schools, Enikia Ford Morthel of Berkeley Unified School District, and Karla Silvestre of Montgomery County Board of Education, will testify.

The hearing was conducted by the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, with representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union also participating.

The hearing followed the cancellation of a separate hearing on antisemitism at George Washington University after recent police actions cleared a related encampment.

The session yesterday aimed to directly confront and understand the growing incidents in these communities.

Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.