The US Department of Education has launched an investigation into Baltimore City Public Schools over allegations that the district failed to adequately address antisemitism, The New York Times reports.
The case originated from a complaint by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which cited multiple incidents, including a high school English teacher allegedly performing a Nazi salute toward a Jewish student during a Shakespeare lesson. According to the complaint, the district confirmed the student’s account but imposed no significant disciplinary action on the teacher, who remains employed. Other reported incidents include swastika graffiti, antisemitic harassment such as “6 million was not enough,” and the removal of Holocaust instruction from World War II lessons at one school.
The ADL also pointed to a sign at another school that read “from the river to the sea,” a phrase associated with Palestinian advocacy that some critics view as antisemitic. The federal investigation will determine whether the district violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. Schools found to be in violation risk losing federal funding unless they agree to corrective measures, a tactic the Trump administration has already employed against elite universities facing similar allegations. Baltimore City Public Schools responded in a statement, asserting that it “unequivocally reject[s] antisemitism and hate in any form” and has taken action on some of the incidents cited.
This action marks an expansion of the Trump administration’s focus on antisemitism from higher education into K–12 schools, reflecting a shift in the Department of Education’s civil rights enforcement priorities.
While Democratic administrations have historically emphasized protections for Black, Hispanic, Native American, and LGBTQ students, the Trump administration has concentrated on combating antisemitism and has also challenged diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, arguing that they discriminate against white students. Craig Trainor, the department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, characterized the allegations as part of a troubling national trend in which schools foster animosity toward fellow citizens and tolerate “a deeply destructive ancient hatred.”
The ADL has called for Baltimore to provide antisemitism education for students and staff and to adopt a broader, albeit controversial, definition of antisemitism that could classify certain criticism of Israel as anti-Jewish bias. Baltimore’s case joins other politically sensitive investigations launched by the Trump administration, including probes into Chicago Public Schools’ equity initiatives for Black students and California and Maine’s policies permitting transgender girls to compete on female sports teams. These cases underscore the administration’s willingness to challenge school policies in Democratic-leaning regions.
