The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched a civil rights investigation into the New York City Department of Education over a group of activist teachers accused of pushing anti-Israel indoctrination onto students as young as 6.
The probe follows complaints against NYC Educators for Palestine, a progressive teacher collective that has promoted seminars on “Palestine, Zionism and Resistance” inside city schools and encouraged educators to carve time out of the school day to discuss the conflict, regardless of whether the subject fits the curriculum.
“No child should be taught by his or her teachers to hate their peers,” said Kimberly Richey, the Trump administration’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. “Neither should Jewish children be taught that being Jewish somehow makes them inherently guilty or proponents of hate and violence.”
The complaints allege that the group trains teachers to bash Zionism while touting Palestinian resistance, creating a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students. Federal education officials confirmed they received multiple formal complaints outlining the concerns.
Among the incidents cited: NYC Educators for Palestine organized a “Teach-In for Palestine” on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, drawing in students as young as first grade. The NYC DOE tried to distance itself from the event at the time, calling it not a school-sanctioned program. Critics noted the event was openly advertised to city teachers.
A May 2025 social media post from the group urged educators to “find ways to integrate teaching of Palestinian history and culture in some form this week” and called on teachers to “uplift the beautiful culture and history of a people who have remained steadfast in their fight for dignity and survival.” The post directed teachers to make time during advisory or elective periods.
Antisemitic incidents inside New York City schools have surged since Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. Jewish and Israeli students and teachers have reported repeated harassment in the aftermath.
