Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton talks to reporters. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into antisemitism in the Plano Independent School District (PISD) in Collin County following a slew of complaints alleging anti-Jewish discrimination and harassment.

“The reports regarding antisemitic activity in Plano ISD schools are alarming and must be swiftly and aggressively addressed,” Paxton said in a statement announcing the action. “Any teacher or administrator that has facilitated or supported radical anti-Israel rhetoric in our schools should be fired immediately. I stand in solidarity with our Jewish community, and we will continue to do everything in our power to root out antisemitism in all its forms.”

Paxton notified PISD of the government’s concerns about antisemitism there in a letter last week to superintendent Theresa Williams which cited reports of anti-Zionist teaching materials being assigned to unsuspecting students, incentives for skipping class to participate in anti-Israel protests, and rogue teachers using their classrooms as platforms for airing antisemitic tropes.

“Those complaints have either been ignored or met with vague responses that do nothing to meaningfully address the problem,” Paxton wrote. “As we approach the two-year anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, it is crucial that PISD take all necessary steps to combat antisemitism and appropriately discipline teachers, staff, and students that act in contravention to state law and PISD policy.”

Paxton requested that the district provide a series of documents regarding its approach to anti-Israel walkouts, how it handled reports of antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric in the classroom, and efforts it took discipline those who broke school policy.

PISD pushed back on Paxton’s announcement. “Any suggestion that Plano ISD promotes or facilitates antisemitism is false and inconsistent with our values, policies, and ongoing actions,” the district said in a statement. “We are confident that these baseless allegations will not withstand scrutiny, and we expect elected officials to report their findings honestly when their review concludes.”

Antisemitism in K-12 schools has increased every year of this decade, according to data compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). In 2023, antisemitic incidents in US public schools increased 135 percent, a figure which included a rise in vandalism and assault.

The problem has led to civil rights complaints and lawsuits.

In September 2023, for example, some of America’s most prominent Jewish and civil rights groups sued the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) in California for concealing from the public its adoption of ethnic studies curricula containing antisemitic and anti-Zionist themes. Then in February, the school district paused implementation of the program to settle the lawsuit.

One month later, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, StandWithUs, and the ADL filed a civil rights complaint accusing the Etiwanda School District in San Bernardino County, California, of doing nothing after a 12-year-old Jewish girl was assaulted, having been beaten with stick, on school grounds and teased with jokes about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

The problem has taken hold in private schools as well, according to a recent ADL survey.

Among surveyed school parents, 25.2 percent said their children had experienced or witnessed antisemitic symbols in school since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, the data showed. Perhaps more striking, 45.3 percent of surveyed parents reported that their children had experienced or witnessed some form of antisemitism since the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, and 31.7 percent said their children had “experienced or witnessed problematic school curricula or classroom content related to Jews or Israel.”

Parents are displeased with schools’ handling of the issue, the ADL said. Focus groups told its experts that schools decline to denounce antisemitism or resort to denying altogether that it is fostering a negative learning environment which causes student discomfort and precipitous declines in academic performance. In a poll, over a third of parents have said their local school’s response “was either somewhat or very inadequate.”

Moreover, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, which were purportedly meant to improve race relations, abstain from recognizing antisemitism as a form of hatred meriting a focused response from administrators. The Algemeiner has previously reported that many of those programs also ignore antisemitism because they actively contribute to spreading it. Due to this, schools often lack authority figures who understand antisemitism, its subtle and overt variations, leaving Jewish students with no recourse when they become victims of hate.

“These independent schools are failing to support Jewish families. By tolerating — or in some cases, propagating — antisemitism in their classrooms, too many independent schools in cities across the country are sending a message that Jewish students are not welcome. It’s wrong. It’s hateful. And it must stop,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement at the time. “ADL is partnering with parents to demand change.”

ADL vice president of advocacy, Shira Goodman, added: “School administrators and faculty have a duty to ensure safe, inclusive environments for all. ADL will fully invest in bolstering the families who are demanding that their schools meet this obligation.”