Passing the trash’: K-12 leaders fail to address growing antisemitism, keeping problematic teachers

Public school leaders told Congress on Wednesday that teachers and administrators who have either been responsible for antisemitic activity or ineffectual in the face of it often do not get fired from their jobs.

The leaders of three public school districts from across the country testified before a House Education and Workforce subcommittee in a hearing titled “Confronting Pervasive Antisemitism in K-12 Schools.” Despite several incidents in some of the schools, division leaders said that teachers and administrators involved had not been terminated.

“This is what passing the trash looks like in practice,” Erika Sanzi, director of outreach for Parents Defending Education, told the Washington Examiner. “Unions are the sole reason why none of these superintendents can get rid of employees who spew anti-Jewish rhetoric and lead student walkouts for Palestine. None of them were able to say they had fired anyone because their only option is move these employees who have no business working with children to another paid position in the system.”

“Passing the trash” is a common practice, particularly in unions, where teachers who are found to have engaged in even severe misconduct are simply moved to other schools or jobs in the district and are not fired.

David Banks, chancellor of New York City Public Schools, testified on Wednesday that the reason school staff had not been terminated was because of unions.

“We also have to follow a process of due process. Our teachers are represented by unions; they have rights,” Banks said.

Banks’s school system was used as a prime example of passing the trash. Members of Congress asked him repeatedly about an incident at Hillcrest High School, where a Jewish teacher was targeted by roughly 400 students who demanded her ouster. The teacher was forced to hide in a locked office in what city Mayor Eric Adams said was a “vile show of antisemitism.”

After being pressured separately by Reps. Brandon Williams (R-NY) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Banks said the school’s principal had been removed from his post but not fired from the district.

“How can Jewish students feel safe at New York City public schools when you can’t even terminate the principal of ‘open-season-on-Jews’ high school or even endorse suspension of student harassment? How can Jewish students go to school knowing that he is still on your payroll?” Williams said.

Banks once again made the argument that school employees have due process rights, but Williams chuckled at the mention of due process.

According to Stefanik, the principal is now the director of teacher development and evaluation for city schools.

Banks and Montgomery County Board of Education President Karla Silvestre said they have conducted investigations and disciplinary action against faculty who have been accused of “teaching hate” or leading walkouts and protests.

In Montgomery County, Maryland, students have reported teachers who have made allegedly antisemitic remarks, and at least four teachers were placed on administrative leave during investigations into online antisemitic speech. Students also reported swastikas drawn in classrooms.

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“Teachers that have been disciplined know that if this happens ever again, there will be deeper consequences up to and including termination,” Silvestre said. She also said her district does not “shy away from imposing consequences for hate-based behavior, including antisemitism.”

However, Silvestre admitted that no teacher had been fired as a result of any of the activity.