October 22, 2026
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
The School District of Philadelphia said it objects to a report from a U.S. House committee that alleges it is teaching students to 'hate Israel' and 'embrace radical political causes.'
The School District of Philadelphia on Thursday slammed a report by a Republican-led U.S. House committee that claims its lessons legitimize radical groups and incite antisemitism, saying the panel's assessment "distorts and mischaracterizes" its curricula.
"Antisemitism has no place in our schools and we take concerns about antisemitic harassment or discrimination very seriously, just as we do not condone or tolerate Islamophobia, racism or discrimination against any ethnic, racial or religious group," said Monique Braxton, a district spokesperson. "The School District of Philadelphia has cooperated extensively with the Committee's inquiry and objects to the blatantly partisan framing of the district, days before Election Day."
Braxton also noted that the district has taken steps to address discrimination such as implementing a new record management system, revising policies and enacting mandatory annual training for staff members.
A year ago, the committee announced that it was launching an investigation into school districts in Philadelphia; Berkeley, California; and Fairfax County, Virginia, after receiving reports of Jewish students being harassed.
The report released Wednesday was based on a review of over 500 pages of internal emails, lesson plans, instructional guides, educators’ social media posts and the transcript from committee members' interview with Superintendent Tony Watlington in Washington last month. The panel said the evidence in the report proves bias in the district's social studies curriculum.
"Parents send their children to school to learn reading, writing and math — not to be taught to hate Israel or embrace radical political causes," Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), chairman of the committee, said in a statement. "Yet that's exactly the kind of material our investigation uncovered."
The report cited a unit in a world history class during which students were asked to select one particular example of a "resistance movement" and design a memorial that "honors its contributions to social justice." The Great March of Return, a series of weekly Palestinian protests from 2018-2019 that called for the end of Israel's border blockade in Gaza, was listed as a potential example for the project. The inclusion of this demonstration justified "violent resistance" and incited antisemitism, the report said.
Elementary school lessons about environmental justice, climate activism, intersectionality and social justice were cited as ways that students were trained to become "far-left activists as early as second grade." The report also specified the district's partnership with the Council on American-Islamic Relations as an example of staff members "fomenting antisemitism."
Watlington defended the social studies curriculum during his testimony last month. Transcripts of the interview were released Wednesday.
"There's a lot of bad stuff in human history," he said. "... It's a matter of how we take all those complex, controversial issues — that have a place in the curriculum, all of them — and present it in a manner that's age appropriate and consistent with our belief that we teach students how to think and know what to think. We don't indoctrinate students with our own political or personal biases."
The district is also in the midst of reviewing and standardizing its social studies curriculum with the help of "national experts," rather than asking teachers or administrators to write it.
"I want to make sure all of our curriculum materials are appropriate as we get more information from a number of sources — from teachers, from parents, from community members, from outside entities," he said during his testimony. "I've instructed the team to take a look at all of the feedback we've got and make sure that we procure nationally created curriculum that takes all of that feedback into account and give our children in Philadelphia the very best social studies curriculum possible.”
Philadelphia's Board of Education President Reginald Streater also released a statement Thursday disputing the House committee's report.
"We are committed to fostering school climates where all students and staff feel supported and safe," Streater said. "... The School District of Philadelphia team have taken significant steps to fight antisemitism and other forms of hate. We thank Dr. Watlington for his leadership and will continue to support this important work."
