The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has submitted a federal civil rights complaint against Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), accusing the district of allowing Jewish students to endure pervasive antisemitic harassment and discrimination without adequate intervention.
Filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, the complaint argues that BCPS violated Title VI by permitting a “hostile learning environment” in schools despite awareness of troubling incidents.
Jewish parents represented in the filing allege frequent harassment by peers and inaction by school officials when these behaviors were reported.
A district spokesperson said that the system is committed to rejecting hate and providing a safe environment for all students.
Among the incidents cited are a teacher at Bard High School Early College reportedly directing a Nazi salute at the only Jewish student in his class during a 2025 discussion on Shakespeare.
When questioned, the teacher said it caused no harm and was part of classroom instruction.
The behavior reportedly continued for more than two years without disciplinary action.
Other allegations include antisemitic text messages at Mt. Washington School featuring quizzes that asked “Zionist or Nazi?” and threats urging students to call Hamas, alongside daily Nazi salutes, repeated swastika graffiti, and a pro-Hamas poster at Baltimore City College reading “From the river to the sea.”
Jewish students described feeling forced into dropping courses, hiding their religious identity, and eating alone to avoid harassment.
Requests from families for formal responses, educational programming, or administrative accountability reportedly went unheeded or were dismissed as inadequate.
BCPS acknowledged that incidents occurred but stated that each had been addressed as they arose.
The ADL’s complaint highlights mounting anxiety about a broader rise in antisemitism.
The organization’s 2025 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents ranks Maryland fifth nationwide for per-capita incidents, and second among states for occurrences of antisemitism in K–12 schools.
Across the state, Jewish students reportedly faced 356 documented incidents in 2024, a 227% increase since 2022, The Jewish Times reports.
Although Baltimore County public schools have taken steps, including investigating audio allegations involving a principal and implementing character training, some materials used in professional development have drawn criticism.
In one case, systems leaders supported lessons framing Israel as an oppressor and Zionism as terrorism and omitted context about Palestinian extremism, which prompted concerns that political ideology was guiding curriculum.
The international context of an ongoing war by Israel in Palestinian territory further complicates the picture.
The NEA, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, recently voted to sever ties with ADL curricula and programming amid debate over Gaza war politics, with critics arguing that the organization’s definition of antisemitism conflates criticism of Israel with hate speech.
Experts maintain that schools must strike a balance between protecting free expression and ensuring that Jewish identity is not marginalized in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
They warn that ignoring antisemitism within DEI frameworks may embed prejudice rather than confront it.
