Investigation claims anti-Israel, anti-American bias in Philly schools curriculum

Beth Ann Rosica’s writings are a blend of news, opinion, and analysis.

In the birthplace of America, public school students are taught to resent their country, according to a new report, published by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA). Titled, “Shaping Minds, Spreading Hate — How Antisemitism Took Root in the School District of Philadelphia,” the investigation documents significant changes to the social studies curriculum that not only fosters animosity against Jews, but also against the United States.

The report’s author analyzed specific lesson plans and resource guides used by the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), revealing troubling aspects of a curriculum that serves nearly 200,000 students each year.

According to its website, CAMERA is a non-partisan “media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East.” It does not take positions on political situations, but instead, focuses on providing factual, non-biased information about the Middle East.

Rebecca Schgallis, Director of CAMERA Education’s K-12 Program and primary author, describes the report “as a warning to communities nationwide: effectively combating antisemitism in K-12 schools requires confronting the underlying ideology that promotes anti-American and anti-Israel sentiment under the banner of social justice.”

SDP disputes the findings, according to Communications Director Monique Braxton when asked for the district’s reaction to the report.

“The School District of Philadelphia wants to unequivocally reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that every student, family, and staff member feels safe, respected, and welcomed in our schools,” said Braxton. “That commitment extends to students and families of every race, ethnicity, immigration status, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, familial status, religion, and ability.  Antisemitism — like all forms of hatred or discrimination — has no place in our schools.”

The comprehensive report reviewed PSD curricula, lesson plans, and texts; numerous social media posts of PSD teachers;  and correspondence showing the relationship between PSD staff and politically-motivated advocacy agencies. The analysis resulted in concerning conclusions regarding the district and its curriculum.

“SDP has institutionalized an ideological framework that legitimizes radical narratives aimed at undermining and delegitimizing not only Israel — and fostering hostility toward Jewish students and teachers — but also the United States itself,” the report concludes. “In doing so, SDP has reframed the study of history as an exercise in grievance, cultivating a generation of students trained to view the past through the lens of activism rather than scholarship.”

The analysis details the curriculum changes through multiple factors, including Marxist and critical race theory ideological influences; attacks on Israel and western civilization; and activist teachers and administrators.

Ideological Influences

According to the report, the shift started several years ago when the social studies department created an anti-racist curriculum, presenting subjective theories such as decolonization and settler colonialism as undisputed facts, rather than focusing on major events and movements in American and World History. The district adopted the binary critical race theory practice of labeling people either as oppressors or oppressed.

The author analyzed the district’s Social Studies Instructional Guide which provides examples of the assertions about the curricula. For instance, in a section labeled, “Decolonizing Civics Education,” teachers are instructed to address questions such as, “in what ways have we utilized systems of democracy to enforce white supremacy?”

The author alleges the curriculum is rooted in Marxist teachings, including Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed; Frantz Fanon, author of The Wretched of the Earth; and Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States. These books are included in a six-page list of “Further Reading” in the district’s Social Studies guide — the majority of which lean in this ideological direction. Excerpts from the books follow:

Friere: “Never in history has violence been initiated by the oppressed.”

Fanon: “Capitalism and colonial exploitation are inseparable; the colonial system’s economic structures are designed to benefit the colonizer at the expense of the colonized.”

Zinn: “The American system is the most ingenious system of control in world history.”

These Marxist ideologies are the basis for the anti-racist curriculum now in place in Philadelphia schools. Below is one example of a sourcebook utilized by the district that states, “Marx’s theory of ‘primitive accumulation’ helps shine light on settler colonialism and places it in the context of capitalism.”

Attacks on Israel and Western Civilization

“Examining the lesson plans within each unit reveals an almost singular obsession on studying what could be labeled the three sins of Western Civilization: capitalism, racism, and settler colonialism (although these are not exclusive to Western Civilization),” according to the report. “The curriculum is not about the study of history, but the study of grievance.” 

Furthermore, the analysis suggests the district is not teaching social studies in an historically sequential way, rather it is taught thematically with a focus on what’s wrong with western civilization. ”The key features of a social studies curriculum, chronology, causation, and historical methods, are almost entirely absent from the SDP high school social studies curriculum.”

The investigation claims the district is promoting a “radical social justice ideology” that “creates an environment hostile to Jews who are viewed as settler colonists and White oppressors. For example, the report states that the World History curriculum largely avoids nation-state history but emphasizes the United States and Israel, portraying both as oppressive settler-colonial states while omitting terror-sponsoring regimes like Iran.

Activist Teachers and Administrators

CAMERA asserts the curriculum is delivered by activist teachers involved with radical anti-American and anti-Israel curricula organizations.

“Multiple teachers, including the Director of Social Studies Curriculum, serve as writers and editors for radical anti-American and anti-Israel curricula organizations, including the Zinn Education Project and Rethinking Schools, where they produce articles promoting the oppressor oppressed binary, decolonization, and anti-Zionism,” the report says. “These teachers are also active members of Philly Educators’ for Palestine, which has staged protests and petitioned SDP to condemn Israel.”

Rethinking Schools currently has an anti-ICE message on its home page.

A sample lesson plan downloaded from the SDP Social Studies Instructional Guide references the Zinn Education Project and Rethinking Schools as resources.

The investigation also shows twenty pages of social media posts from teachers and administrators in support of anti-American and anti-Israel views. Ismael Jimenez is the Social Studies department chair and Keziah Ridgeway, known as “teachkizzyteach” is a teacher in the district, according to the report.

The report’s author concludes, “SDP staff, emboldened by district policy and curriculum, use their classrooms to create radical student activists and have created an environment that is outright hostile and threatening to Jewish students and families.”

The district is currently under federal investigation from both the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce for allegations of antisemitism.

SDP spokesperson Monique Braxton commented that the district is actively working with the federal departments.

“The District has been actively implementing the terms of the voluntary resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education and is cooperating with the House Committee’s inquiry.”

The SDP Jewish Families Association, a grassroots organization, affirmed the findings of the analysis.

“The recent CAMERA report confirms what advocates and families have long feared: SDP’s social studies curriculum has abandoned chronological historical literacy in favor of an ideologically driven framework that sidelines major world events — including World Wars I and II — while promoting narratives that disproportionately single out the United States and Israel for demonization,” wrote a spokesperson for the group. “These curricular choices prioritize grievance over fact and activism over scholarship. The result is not only a distorted education, but a school environment in which Jewish students feel unsafe.”

Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at barosica@broadandliberty.com.