September 10, 2025
Thank you, Chairman Kiley and Ranking Member Bonamici, for the opportunity to testify before you today. I am Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, which represents 2,300 rabbis and cantors who serve Jewish communities in 47 states. We work to advance democracy and human rights. I am also a graduate of public schools and the parent of two public school students.
Rabbis are on the front lines of fighting antisemitism in schools, both supporting families and bringing issues to school officials. They know the pain of Jewish children who have encountered swastikas graffitied on school property, seen classmates performing Nazi salutes, and heard their peers mocking the murders of Israeli Jews.
Most school professionals are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students. But antisemitism permeates our society today, just as it has in so many places for more than 2,000 years. Schools—as well as workplaces, political arenas, and professional associations—are not immune. The response must be education, not punishment.
My message is simple.
Antisemitism in schools is serious. We have a responsibility to ensure that Jewish students—and all students—are safe.
Unfortunately, Congress and the administration are taking a dangerous, wrongheaded approach that subordinates the needs of Jewish students to a political agenda.
Half a year into this administration, the evidence is clear that our government is more focused on defunding public education, weakening labor unions and philanthropies, and cracking down on immigrants than on keeping Jewish children or adults safe.
The Jewish community has spoken loud and clear: In April, a survey of U.S. Jews showed that the majority disapprove of the administration’s approach to antisemitism. Our community is pained that this administration is cynically using our fears as justification for dismantling the very democratic institutions and protections that have kept Jews safe.
Federal action this year mirrors Project Esther, a plan developed by the Heritage Foundation without participation by Jewish organizations or antisemitism experts, and which wrongly frames the core institutions of liberal democracy as a threat to Jews and to American civilization.
If we really want to put student safety first, we need to invest in the following:
- Education. We can’t just punish or sanction our way out of this problem. We need schools to be better equipped to teach about and respond to antisemitism. Vilifying our teachers, school systems, and teachers’ unions, or cutting public education funding, doesn’t do a thing to help Jewish children or teachers.
- Prevention. Congress should urge the administration to restore the hate crime prevention and response program it authorized. The administration has eliminated virtually every prevention tool, including $46 million in hate crime prevention grants. The Nonprofit Security Grants Program is important. But our children need a better plan for their security than bulletproof glass and barricades.
- Democracy. Jews are terrified about the erosion of our constitutional rights, including freedom of speech, worship, and association, and due process. These are the rights that have allowed us to flourish and to be safe in the United States.
- Inclusion and Equity. Jews need programs to promote inclusion and respect for all groups. The assault on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ultimately doesn’t increase Jewish safety, especially not for Jews who are also people of color, disabled, or transgender. These programs must better serve Jews, not be eliminated.
- Protection for all students. The administration’s singular focus on antisemitism—to the exclusion of other forms of bigotry—singles out Jewish students. Some Jewish students have expressed fear they will be scapegoated for harsh measures taken in their name.
Finally, I implore you to lead by example, and speak out against antisemitism. The administration and Members of Congress must take the same stand on antisemitism that they are asking of schools, universities, unions, and other entities.
An administration truly dedicated to Jewish protection would not be inhabited by Cabinet members and staff who openly espouse antisemitic and other bigoted beliefs, some of whom have direct ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations. Nor would an administration committed to fighting antisemitism have pardoned the January 6 insurrectionists, many of whom promote antisemitic conspiracies.
An administration committed to fighting antisemitism would not have dismantled the Office for Civil Rights, the only office with the expertise and mandate to investigate instances of antisemitism or other bias in schools and universities. Nor would such an administration be breaking down the separation of Church and State and encouraging the imposition of Christianity in schools.
We need solutions that protect Jewish students and the democratic institutions that make it possible for Jews and other minorities to flourish in our country. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to answering your questions.