StopHateInSchools: Ethnic studies in K-12

A big thank you to the PeerK12 team (Nicole Bernstein, Tamar Caspi and Eveie Schwartz) for sharing their research, insight and practical experience confronting the individuals, organizations and ideologies that are either contributing to or actively promoting systemic anti-Jewish hate in K-12 schools. We also want to thank everyone who attended the webinar and contributed great questions to the discussion. 

PeerK12 is a San Diego-based, grassroots, non-profit that works across public, charter and private schools to champion the rights of Jewish students and teachers. They've been at it for several years and have learned a lot along the way. Their approach, detailed in the video below, provides a pragmatic model for parents and community leaders to follow.

VIDEO CLIP ONE

The webinar also covered the long history of geopolitical events and cultural shifts from the advent of the Cold War through the end of the 20th century that laid the groundwork for the emergence and, later, the widespread adoption of ethnic studies. 

Ideological differences like capitalism v. communism and democracy v. totalitarianism have, over time, been intentionally transformed into promoting conflict, for example, between those labeled as oppressors and those identified as oppressed or colonizers v. indigenous. 

This lens through which events are interpreted and people are sorted, which has become embedded into our educational system, now also uses words like "apartheid" and "genocide" to assert (false) moral authority and pressure Jewish students and teachers to declare for one side or the other with Jews and Israelis identified as on the "bad" side. (For example, this incident from a Bellevue Washington elementary school.)

With this backdrop, PeerK12 drilled into the specifics of how ethnic studies entered the education system in California (video below). These slides also include a number of details regarding the emergence of ethnic studies in Washington State.

VIDEO CLIP TWO.

One of the webinar attendees asked the central question, "given the scale and embedded nature of this content on every level of our education system, what actions should we be taking and what has proven to be most effective?" PeerK12 detailed a number of critical steps including:

1. Thorough and ongoing research. Understand the perspectives, intentions and organizational relationships of the decision makers whether those are elected officials or professional educators (teachers and administrators).

2. Build trust based relationships with principals, superintendents and school board members. Whether you align with their political views or not, there are many well-meaning individuals who are simply less-well educated on this topic or may be navigating difficult waters with their staff and peers. And, because this topic is nuanced and hard, you're going to find yourself across the table from someone who has a different perspective and you need to be open minded enough to learn and understand why they hold their beliefs. Be a reliable resource for these people.

3. Pay attention and speak up. People behave differently when they know they're being watched carefully and when the tone of the dialogue is respectful, positive and solutions oriented.

4. Know and use the school or school district's rules and policies. Follow them with regard to who to contact, how to escalate, etc. Cite specific, documented policies and hold schools accountable to adhering to their own rules.

5. Show up when people do the right thing. Thank people when they take positive actions. Don't only attend school board meetings or send emails to complain. Acknowledge the good work and efforts that educators are doing along the way.

6. Be nimble and able to mobilize quickly when action is needed.

This short video offers a high-level roadmap for what you can do in your community and school district:

VIDEO CLIP THREE.

Please contact us if you are interested in watching a recording of the full webinar or would like to be notified of upcoming webinars. Thank you.