US Education Department investigating Baltimore schools on anti-Semitism allegations

By Brad Brooks

(Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Education said on Thursday that it is investigating Baltimore City Public Schools over allegations of tolerating anti-Semitic incidents.

The investigation was ignited by a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, against school leaders. The Department of Education said in a written statement that its investigation will look at numerous alleged incidents of anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment by teachers and non-Jewish students against Jewish students.

It's the latest investigation that the Trump administration has launched into schools and universities across the country in response to what the administration calls a wave of "radical left" policies that have led learning institutions astray. The investigations have mainly focused on issues of anti-Semitism, race and gender, and have targeted a wide array of institutions across the country, from elite Ivy League universities down to elementary schools.

Among the allegations in the Baltimore investigation are that school leaders didn't fire a teacher who allegedly gave Nazi salutes to Jewish students, nor did they reprimand non-Jewish students who allegedly performed Nazi salutes on the playground and drew Nazi graffiti on desks and textbooks.

The department statement says that "Jewish students have reported feeling afraid to walk down the hallways alone and are unable to focus on schoolwork."

Sherry Christian, a spokesperson for Baltimore City Public Schools, said in a written statement that she could not comment on the Department of Education's investigation, citing pending litigation. But she wrote that school leaders "unequivocally reject antisemitism and hate in any form."

Baltimore City Public Schools came under scrutiny when anti-Semitic messages and images were shown during a July 22 Board of School Commissioners hybrid online-in person meeting, which school officials denounced and blamed on an "unauthorized individual" who accessed the online portion of the meeting and displayed the offensive images.

"City Schools stands in solidarity with our Jewish community and with all who seek to create safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environments," Christian said. "We have condemned hateful behavior and taken action to hold students and staff accountable when our values and policies are violated."

(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Alistair Bell)

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