Montgomery County Board of Education President Karla Silvestre testified at a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Workforce hearing on May 8 regarding the recent antisemitic behaviors across the county arising from the Israel-Hamas war.
Throughout the 2022-23 school year, incidents reported across the country ranged from graffiti of Nazi symbols, like swastikas, to harassment of Jewish students. As one of the three public school districts testifying to the house panel, Silvestre was questioned as to what MCPS plans to do in order to stop these acts of hate against the Jewish community.
Aaron Bean, Florida representative, began by questioning Silvestre about student walkouts that entertained calls to ‘kill the Jews and bring Hitler back.’ At Clarksburg earlier in this school year, a walkout took place, supported by former Principal Edward Owusu and featuring signs displaying antisemitic language like, ‘Resistance till Liberation.’ These incidents have plagued the county, with hate symbols even appearing on the school desks.
This year a swastika was reported on Sept. 7, 2023, at the school. Principal Douglas Nelson addressed the swastika with a school-led investigation into the incident. Four separate investigations occurred in the last school year as well.
Bean questioned Silvestre at the hearing, asking what measures had been taken after these incidents were reported. Silvestre broadly explained that MCPS does “not shy away from imposing consequences for hate based behavior including antisemitism.”
With student walkouts at Clarksburg and Northwood, “Jews not Welcome” being painted on the entry sign at Walt Whitman, anti-Jewish posts being made on social media by a teacher at Takoma Park Middle School and other hate crimes across MCPS, Bean dug into the disciplinary actions taken by the county. Silvestre said that the county has taken disciplinary action in “some cases,” but Bean probed further, asking if there had been expulsion of students or teachers and Silvestre explained there had not been.
Prior to the hearing, Christie Scott, the MCPS Board of Education communications coordinator said, “The Montgomery County Board of Education is committed to fostering a safe and welcoming learning environment that supports all students,” though the hearing went on to show the lack of consistent response to these reports, calling into question the MCPS initiative regarding policies to prevent these incidents. “There absolutely has been a chilling effect among teachers and principals and other administrators who are afraid of engaging with these issues at all out of the fear of being prestigious, quote ‘taking sides’,” Julia Franklin Siegel of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, who has been working closely with MCPS schools, said.
Congress members went on to ask Silvestre about what MCPS is planning to do with the curriculum. Silvestre responded that the county aims to have the social studies curriculums better reflect the student population. Additionally, Silvestre reported that for the first time MCPS will have hate-bias training starting in summer 2024 for all staff. New protocols for the district for any staff who support hate speech are being implemented.
Students say it is still not enough. Three high school students attending the hearing spoke to Silvestre afterward, stating that despite numerous reports, there is no action taken for a positive change. Across the county, schools like Bethesda Chevy Chase, Kennedy, Whitman and middle schools have experienced hate crimes against their Jewish community. A civil rights complaint was filed by the Zionist Organization of America against MCPS for repeated dismissal of incidents of Jewish hate crimes over the years and disregard of Title VI. “It is very upsetting seeing these hate crimes being done at our school as school is somewhere everyone should feel safe and comfortable,” sophomore Jilli Nalibotsky said.
