A Seat at the Table, Part 2: What’s Happening in Our Schools

“A Seat at the Table” returned for its second session with a sharper focus: what’s happening to Jewish students and staff in K–12 schools, and what parents and community members can do about it.

Rachel Feldman, a former journalist and policy official based in Vermont and Israel, was joined by Corinna Dodson. Dodson is an Israeli-American educator who has lived in Vermont for nearly 30 years. After returning to teaching in 2023, she says, she watched her district fail to respond to antisemitism, including a district equity coordinator sharing blood libel imagery after October 7. She left the job and now advocates full time.

Where the problem starts

Dodson traces much of what she sees to “liberated ethnic studies,” a curriculum model that began in California. In her view, its oppressor-versus-oppressed framework leaves Jews out of the groups that equity policies protect. Feldman pointed to Vermont, where advocates fought to keep Jews from being named explicitly when the state passed its ethnic studies law.

The signs can be easy to miss: a children’s book that erases Israel from the map, or a worksheet with no context or nuance. One attendee described a district that surveyed how every student group felt but never counted Jewish students at all. When Dodson asked a superintendent how many Jewish students and staff the district had, she was told it didn’t collect that data.

How to get in the room

Both speakers stressed that you don’t need to be a teacher or a parent to make a difference. You need to know who decides, and how to approach them.

1. Map who holds the power. Every state is different. Vermont, for example, has both a state agency of education and a state board of education. Below them are superintendents, school boards, principals, and librarians. Learn who’s who where you live.
2. Start with curiosity, not accusation. Many administrators simply don’t recognize antisemitism or know the issues. Ask questions and share a specific report about a book or lesson plan, rather than leading with blame.
3. Frame it as fixing, not tearing down. Feldman suggested presenting your concerns as a way to make equity work for everyone, Jewish students included, not as an attack on the whole system.
4. Bring something to leave behind. Ready-made materials from the groups below can be edited for your community, so you don’t have to find the right language yourself.
5. Look for open doors. Some superintendents are eager to learn. Dodson described a district where a community member is proactively helping the superintendent understand Jewish identity before any problem arises.
6. Use the channels you already have. Ask your kids what they read in the library. Talk to teachers you know. If you’re an educator, show up at your union’s assemblies, where resolutions affecting Jewish teachers get voted on.

Not everyone needs to lead. As Dodson put it, you can speak up, ask a question, or bake muffins for the people who are organizing.

You don’t have to start from scratch

Dodson’s main message: organizations have already built the research, guides, and ready-made materials you can bring to a meeting.

The full list, with links, is below.

K–12 education resources

These organizations offer online resources, connections, and reporting tools for addressing antisemitism and antizionism in K–12 schools.

Partners identifying the problem

• PEER K-12: one of the first grassroots organizations confronting the erosion of pluralism, the exclusion of Jews, and the lack of accountability in classrooms. It also offers education on these issues to anyone who asks.
• North American Values Institute (NAVI): collects real-time information about what’s happening in classrooms nationwide and reports it in its Extremist Tracker K-12.
• CAMERA K-12 Team: exposes extremism in classrooms, including resources, educators, and lesson plans.
• Stop Hate in Schools: a hub of information from organizations combating extremism in schools. It helps local groups create startup pages, and its incident reporting tool links directly with ADL for national reporting and data collection.
• Gevura Fund: legal advice and assistance for discrimination in schools, or community policies that exclude Jewish members.

Partners offering resources for parents

• Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
  • Center to Combat Antisemitism in Education
  • Together Against Hate: Advocacy Strategies for Families to Address Antisemitism in Schools
• American Jewish Committee (AJC)
  • Center for Education Advocacy
  • Confronting Antisemitism in Our Schools: A Toolkit for Parents
  • AJC’s 10-Step Guide for Parents Supporting Jewish K-12 Students
• Defending Education: Identify and Stop Antisemitism in Your Child’s School
• Stop Hate in Schools: A Parent’s Guide to Navigating Conversations About Antisemitism and Handling Bullying and Harassment
• Jewish United Fund: Step-by-Step Toolkit for Parents if Your Child’s School Is Part of the Problem
• Abby Brody: School Board Handbook

What’s next

The third and final session of “A Seat at the Table” is October 28th, and registration is open at naamat.org/events. Corinna Dodson and Rachel Feldman are working with NA’AMAT USA to help anyone with questions about these resources or seeking guidance on a local issue. To be put in touch, email [email protected].

As Feldman reminded everyone: we have always been outnumbered, but we have never been outmatched.