Wokeness, antisemitism forced us to pull our kids from their city school

New York City public schools are about to reopen, but my children won’t be there.

My husband and I decided to take our children out of the school system because of its falling academic standards, rising antisemitism and a culture of fearful silence.

My children are 6 and 9. They have no idea who Christopher Columbus is, but they know how to mix paint to match their skin color. 

They’ve never heard the inspirational words of Martin Luther King Jr. in school, but they know he was, in their words, “shot by a white guy.” 

My younger child was told to look at the color of his skin and determine if that means he is black or white (as Jews, we don’t identify as either).

He was taught that Black Lives Matter activism is similar to our nation’s historic and commendable Civil Rights movement. 

What wasn’t he taught everyday? Math. 

I had a front row-seat to the downfall of our children’s beloved elementary school — a place I once considered our home away from home: From 2020-2022, I was co-president of our PTA.

It was by far the most rewarding work I’ve ever been a part of.

It was also the ugliest.

I watched as disruptive politics and dangerous ideologies rapidly replaced academic integrity.

Like so many city schools, ours got caught up in the critical race theories of “anti-racism” and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which promise inclusivity but caused hyper-divisiveness.

It didn’t help that the push for schools to advance a so-called equity agenda was coming directly from our district’s Community Education Council.

Unfortunately, our school was happy to oblige.

(I’m reluctant to identify my district for fear of reprisal.)

A CEC is the city’s version of a school board. Although less powerful, it can be highly influential.

Our CEC is driven by an explicitly ideological agenda.

The monthly meetings opened with awkward icebreakers and closed with even more awkward “dance parties,” all on Zoom.

But the real problem was how parents were silenced.

We were told to “watch your jargon — use language as a tool for equity and inclusion,” to “be intentional about how you take up space, particularly where BIPOC folks may have lived experience” and that “people tend to take up space proportional to their privilege.”

It was hard to find the nerve to speak up, and at first I didn’t. 

At one meeting the leadership used a cartoon image of Hitler and a swastika on a presentation intended to discuss “Community Guidelines for Providing Safe Spaces During Racial Discourse.”

This was a blatant form of Holocaust distortion, and certainly not a way to make any Jew feel “safe.”

Stunned, I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. I regret that to this day.

When our school’s anti-racism committee wanted to host a workshop for our families to acknowledge their whiteness, I pushed back.

This was no way to build a collaborative and engaged community.

When they continued with this initiative through a writing workshop, only two parents showed up.

When our district equity group presented a map of our area broken out by racial demographics, I asked why we were looking at only race and not considering class and socioeconomic factors.

Wouldn’t our time be better spent determining what and where resources were lacking in order to meet the needs of our families?

Instead, we continued to discuss how racially divided we are based on identity checkboxes. 

To counter the city’s rise in antisemitism, I asked to speak at an upcoming CEC meeting about Yom HaShoah, the Jewish memorial day for the Holocaust.

My request was accepted but met with a shockingly tone-deaf “Happy Yom HaShoah day to all” message on the CEC’s Instagram.

Thankfully this was quickly removed. 

What hasn’t been removed are our CEC’s numerous ties to anti-Israel accounts and posts on social media.

Personal posts are none of my business. But when a city-funded CEC account that represents my family participates in discriminatory antisemitic material, it becomes my business — and impacts my ability to send my children to our public school. 

Then there was our school’s BLM week of action.

The CEC sent out a BLM curriculum to district schools encouraging, among other troubling ideas, anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions activism.

It also included over 30 other resources attacking Israel. 

Once again, I pushed back, sending a message to our administration that outlined my concerns. 

I was met with some understanding and agreement on BLM’s problematic stances.

But to my disappointment, I was told the curriculum would be available for any teacher to use at their discretion.  

My children have had some wonderful teachers, many of whom don’t want to teach these ideologies. But the pressure to incorporate these materials comes from the top down. 

And by the way, the verdict is in: When Critical Race Theory, BLM, DEI and “anti-racism” are priorities, school communities and results worsen.

Yet the Department of Education and others in charge continue to permit (if not encourage) efforts to enshrine these theories in our schools.

My two children are only two out of over 100,000 that have left the city school system in the last two years.

How many more will leave before we see a return to putting academics first and genuine inclusiveness that welcomes all families?

Lisa Liss is a former New York City public-school parent.