SFUSD Antisemitism Training Sparks Controversy as Some Educators Opt for Alternative

San Francisco Unified School District held mandatory antisemitism training for staff at four high schools on Wednesday, but some educators chose to attend an alternative workshop due to concerns of bias from the district’s contractor.

The training sessions led by the American Jewish Committee, initially scheduled for last month, were canceled because parents and community groups expressed concern about the organization’s pro-Israel position. However, on Wednesday, the rescheduled sessions took place at George Washington High School, Galileo Academy of Science & Technology, Abraham Lincoln High School and Balboa High School.

SFUSD maintains that the training does not focus or take a position on the Israel-Hamas war, but organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace say that AJC’s materials are inherently political because the group advocates for the right of Israel to exist and defend itself.

“They’re very biased in favor of Israel. They claim that legitimate criticism of Israel is antisemitism, and that is basically weaponizing the concept of antisemitism,” said Seth Morrison, a spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace.

JVP supported an alternative training option led by PARCEO, a social justice education institute that advocates say is unbiased.

“The curriculum is devoted to understanding antisemitism, both historically and currently, as well as understanding what antisemitism is, not and how false charges of antisemitism have been used to serve an anti-liberatory agenda,” Donna Nevel, PARCEO’s co-director, said in a statement.

The PARCEO virtual training was held at the same time as the AJC workshop, forcing educators to choose.

The teachers’ union, United Educators of San Francisco, said it would support any educator who decided to forgo the mandatory training in favor of PARCEO’s, according to a union email sent to educators at George Washington High School.

Julia David, a teacher at George Washington, said she would want any bias training to come from the group that experiences that bias. She added that JVP, an anti-Zionist organization, represents a “fringe group” that doesn’t advocate for the majority of Jewish Americans.

“The emphasis on AJC’s political positions over its capacity to provide education on antisemitism discourages important learning opportunities for all educators,” David said.

Both AJC and PARCEO declined to share their training materials. However, both organizations have curriculum summaries available online.

The main point of contention appears to be the definition of antisemitism in the first place — and whether anti-Zionism falls under that umbrella.

AJC stands by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which includes “the denial of Israel’s right to exist.” Meanwhile, the curriculum on PARCEO’s website states that it explores how “criticism of Israel has been falsely equated with antisemitism.”

“It is absolutely authentic for an individual to be able to say for themselves that they define their Judaism or antisemitism in a certain way,” AJC Northern California regional director Seth Brysk said. “But it’s not authentic for someone to say that they speak on behalf of an entire community.”

Both groups agree that it should be possible to conduct a training program on antisemitism without discussing the escalating conflict in Israel and Palestine in the wake of Oct. 7, 2023.

SFUSD has seen an uptick in antisemitic and Islamaphobic incidents at its schools since Hamas attacked Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. David said the district also plans to host an anti-Islamophobia training in the future.

SFUSD did not respond to multiple requests for comment.