Education Dept. investigates Virginia school districts response to anti-Semitic incidents

Amid increasing concerns over a rise in anti-Semitic incidents, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will investigate whether the largest school district in Virginia mishandled allegations of harassment against Jewish students.

The OCR informed the pro-Israel advocacy group the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) in a Nov. 3 letter that it would look into the organization’s January complaint that Fairfax County Public Schools in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., failed to respond to instances of anti-Semitic harassment.

Since the school district receives federal financial assistance from the Department of Education, the ORC has jurisdiction to investigate under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Specifically, the department will investigate “Whether the School Division discriminated on the basis of national origin by failing to appropriately respond to incidents that created a hostile environment at School Division schools for students and staff of Jewish descent.”

The department said that the investigation is only within the realm of their purview and does not mean ZOA’s claims have merit. The agency will not investigate the organization’s claims that an FCPS school board member posted false statements about Israel on her Facebook and Twitter pages, nor will it investigate if exams were scheduled on Jewish holidays. … (Excerpt from The Christian Post)