During a two-hour House hearing Wednesday on anti-Semitism in public schools, New York City Schools Superintendent David C. Banks made one thing clear.
Banks, a native New Yorker who leads the nation's largest school district in a Democratic stronghold, emerged as a prime target for House Republicans who convened the hearing. They called for a repeat of past congressional hearings that ousted two Ivy League university presidents and exacerbated a crisis for another.
But Mr. Banks turned that into his own time. In his unyielding, fiery tone, he pushed back on lawmakers, sometimes speaking unapologetically, denying his accusations that he had responded poorly to hateful incidents in his own district.
In one heated exchange, Rep. Brandon Williams, R-New York, told the principal of a New York City high school where students filled a hall in protest after a Jewish educator voiced support. questioned why Mr. Banks reassigned him instead of firing him. For Israel on social media.
Calling this “open season for Jewish high schools,” Williams asked, “How can Jewish students go to school knowing they're still getting paid?”
“I know whose paycheck that is, sir,” retorted Mr. Banks. “And it's not 'open season for Jewish schools,'” the Prime Minister continued. “It's called Hillcrest High School.”
Banks and two other school district officials, from Montgomery County, Maryland, and Berkeley, California, faced harsh criticism from parents, teachers and students as they testified before the House Education Committee and a subcommittee of the House Education Committee. He seemed to rely on his experience in dealing with questions. Labor force.
It's been a difficult few years for public education, with school districts roiled by pandemic school closures, racial education and debates over pronouns for transgender students. For many leaders, contentious meetings where parents and educators criticize school policies late into the night are just part of the job.
Public school district leaders have troubled the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania (who lost their jobs after giving measured and legal answers late last year), as well as the president of Columbia University, who faced a revolt at home. We largely avoided some of the pitfalls. After taking a conciliatory stance during a public hearing last month, the campus said:
By contrast, Banks, who wore a New York City public school pin on the lapel of his navy suit, appeared to be advocating for public education.
The Prime Minister said his attitude was partly influenced by the nature of his role leading a diverse district that is home to more than 900,000 children. In addition to his strong pushback against House Republicans, Mr. Banks brought up a personal story to explain his fight against bigotry.
University leaders were also coached in Congressional testimony by a team of white-collar lawyers and crisis communications gurus, but Banks was primarily a top lawmaker and Mayor Eric Adams. He said he prepared with his close friends.
“The complexity of New York City prepares us for moments like this,” Banks said at a news conference after the hearing.
Two other district leaders also seemed relatively confident. Berkeley Superintendent Enikia Ford Mortell, who was the San Francisco public school administrator during the pandemic, referred to her district's students as “babies” and dodged questions with a smile, echoing her unapologetic self. I took a stance.
Montgomery County School Board Chair Carla Silvestre said little and seemed to avoid any major blunders.
All three public school leaders acknowledged that anti-Semitism was occurring in their districts and pledged strong responses. Banks noted that New York state officials have disciplined about a dozen teachers and school leaders and suspended at least 30 students.
One Republican, Kevin Kiley of California, criticized Ms. Ford-Motel over her ties to the Berkeley school, a disputed network of academics, teachers and consultants who espouse precepts critical of Israel. Although Ms. Ford-Motell called the group a “thought partner,” she said Berkeley does not purchase curriculum from the group, instead using curriculum developed in-house.
Documents prepared by Berkeley teachers were also the subject of intense questioning from Mr. Kiley, who said early in the hearing that Ford Motel's controversial “River to Sea” It noted that it acknowledged that the expression could be considered anti-Semitic. He questioned why the phrase was included in Berkeley teachers' lesson plans and said it was no wonder students used it after it was taught in school.
Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Florida and the subcommittee chairman, said after the hearing that he considered it an “introductory conversation” on the issue of anti-Semitism in public schools. He brushed off questions about Banks' strong opposition to Republican efforts to pretend school leaders aren't addressing the issue.
“We said we were going to have an open discussion,” Bean said. “I think it was very effective. Our goal was to make it clear that this is actually happening. A lot of people say it doesn't happen.”
Still, by the end of the hearing, Republicans appeared unable to seize a moment of breakthrough.
New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who asked tough questions of university presidents, talked about the Hillcrest High School episode and her recommendation that the school's principal be fired and reassigned to a post at the Department of Education's headquarters rather than fired. Focused on decisions. he said firmly. “We are paying lip service, but there is a lack of enforcement and accountability,” she said.
However, it seems that even she was unable to completely break the prime minister's trust.
“You said you fired the principal,” Stefanik said, urging her to “verify your testimony.”
“I never said I fired the Hillcrest principal. you Check the record,” Banks countered.
(Both were technically correct, to an extent. Although Mr. Stefanik's colleague, Rep. Lisa C. McClain, R-Mich., asked, “So you fired people?” Mr. Banks answered, “Yes,” but quickly clarified: “We will remove people, absolutely.”
Mr. Banks also sought to use his background to quell Republican attacks. He said that as a black man who understands “America's history of racism,” he is keenly aware of the importance of combating all forms of hate, including anti-Semitism.
He also described how his children learned about anti-Semitism from their neighbors, who he said were Holocaust survivors from New Jersey, and visited Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. He recalled a visit that left him “deeply moved.”
As of Wednesday, it wasn't clear whether Banks and two other public school leaders would be able to fully escape domestic backlash. Some Jewish parents in the district say school administrators are doing too little to address anti-Semitism, putting the safety of their children at risk.
But in Washington, all three were helped by House Republican missteps. At one point, House Republicans asked whether students had been expelled or “fired.”
“We don't fire students,” Banks said, quickly realizing his mistake.
He then accused lawmakers of trying to seize a high-profile moment and said the real solution lies in the work New York City's public school system does every day: educating young people.
“At the end of the day, if we're really interested in solving anti-Semitism, which I deeply believe, it's not about having 'haha' moments,” he said. Ta. “It's about teaching.”
Dana Goldstein, heather knight and Annie Carni Reports contributed