The California Department of Education has sued the Oakland Unified School District over an alleged failure to address multiple complaints of antisemitism across its campuses.
The lawsuit follows a series of complaints filed by Jewish advocacy groups over Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian posters being hung on campuses, educators teaching pro-Palestinian curricula and other issues.
The lawsuit filed in early March alleges that Oakland Unified “unlawfully refused and failed to carry out the corrective actions set forth” in a Jan. 23 decision, in which the department instructed the district to issue communications to families and staff condemning antisemitism, to consult Jewish or Israeli advocacy organizations to develop mandatory professional training to prevent antisemitism and to hold educational assemblies on campuses where allegations of antisemitism were made.
The department is seeking a court order that would rule the district’s alleged noncompliance is illegal and compel the district to make the corrective changes. District officials previously said that they needed more time beyond the March 1 deadline to implement corrective changes.
In late February, California, the Department of Education and officials were sued by two Jewish advocacy groups that alleged the state allowed antisemitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students to go unchecked on campuses throughout California.
The suit by Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights and StandWithUs — nonprofits focused on Jewish civil rights — was filed on behalf of at least 12 Jewish parents and students who say they have faced “pervasive anti-Semitism in their California public schools,” court documents said.
The suit seeks a court order that would require California to monitor on-campus antisemitism, eliminate antisemitic curricula and impose limits on funding for schools that fail to enforce nondiscrimination policies.
Sanganeria writes for EdSource. Times staff writer Christopher Buchanan contributed to this report.
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