{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2023/12/wicker-hyde-smith-urge-biden-admin-to-address-rising-rates-of-antisemitism", "Wicker, Hyde-Smith Urge Biden Admin. To Address Rising Rates of Antisemitism", "2023-12-01", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "MS", "Roger F. Wicker", "W000437", "www.wicker.senate.gov", "wicker", "https://www.wicker.senate.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., are among 32 Republican senators urging the Biden administration to address antisemitism toward Jewish children in K-12 schools amid rising rates in the aftermath of Hamas\u2019 deadly attacks against Israel.\n\nIn a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the senators asked that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act be enforced to ensure the protection of Jewish students from growing antisemitic harassment. The lawmakers also requested a briefing on the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights compliance reviews and investigations based on harassment or violence complaints in K-12 schools.\n\n\u201cWe are deeply concerned that the Department of Education is not ensuring American K-12 schools are fostering a safe learning environment for all students following the terrorist organization Hamas\u2019 violent attack on civilians, including Americans and Israeli citizens,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\n\u201cParents should feel confident that their children\u2019s school will be safe and the focus will be on education,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cInstead, parents are beginning to fear that not only is school not safe for their students, but school officials are actively working to undermine the safety of their children.\u201d\n\n\u201cSome schools seem unwilling or unable to uphold their legal obligations under Title VI,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cTherefore, the Department should use its full resources to enforce the law.\u201d\n\nUnder Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Department of Education has a responsibility to ensure schools that receive federal funds maintain a safe learning environment for students. While the administration has since announced new efforts to address antisemitism in schools, these actions do nothing to ensure schools are responsibly handling these events and working to prevent them in the first place.\n\nThe letter cites several antisemitic incidences at K-12 schools following the Hamas attack on Israel, including:\n\nShortly after the October 7 attacks, an 11-year-old in Manhattan Beach, Calif., told four Jewish girls at his school that \u201call Israelis and Jews should be killed.\u201d\n\nOn October 9, the Revere, Mass., Public Schools superintendent sent an email to school staff promoting resources that claimed, \u201cIsraeli terrorism has been significantly worse than that of the Palestinians.\u201d\n\nOn October 17, a New York City middle school teacher and United Federation of Teachers\u2019 (UFT) school representative sent an email to teachers\u2019 union members deriding the UFT\u2019s official statement denouncing the October 7 attack and calling on the unions\u2019 retirement system to \u201cdivest from weapons and other companies that are complicit in violations of Palestinians\u2019 civil and land rights.\u201d\n\nOn October 18, students in San Francisco marched through the hallways of their high school chanting anti-Semitic slogans.\n\n\u201cExamples are continuing to surface of K-12 teachers using materials that perpetuate antisemitism,\u201d the senators noted. \u201cThere is a trend of school districts establishing courses under the guise of \u2018ethnic studies\u2019 that are aimed to force a political agenda on students and that uniquely target Jews, alleging that all Jews are white or \u2018white adjacent\u2019 and illegally occupy Israel. The Zinn Education Project, whose history curriculum is used by 155,000 teachers, declared that the October 7th attack was \u2018the direct result of decades of Israeli occupation.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe letter was led by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D., R-La., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. In addition to Wicker and Hyde-Smith, it was also signed by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Mike Braun, R-Ind., Ted Budd, R-N.C., Katie Britt, R-Ala., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Susan Collins, R-Maine, John Cornyn, R-Texas, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., John Hoeven, R-N.D., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., James Lankford, R-Okla., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Roger Marshall, M.D., R-Kan., Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Rick Scott, R-Fla., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, John Thune, R-S.D., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2023/12/wicker-hyde-smith-urge-biden-admin-to-address-rising-rates-of-antisemitism"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9520561434328556, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}