The head of New York City public schools was forced to apologize for linking a “Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit” in a newsletter this month — sparking outrage in the Jewish community.
The Office of Student Pathways Newsletter, which is blasted out monthly to select teachers and parents across the nation’s largest public school system, included a bullet point titled “Guidelines for teaching about genocide” — which linked to a Google doc titled “STOP GAZA GENOCIDE TOOLKIT.”
The 17-page document contains radicalized messaging that encourages readers to “Stop arming Israel and free Palestine!”
The ‘toolkit’ breaks down how to mobilize pro-Palestine campaigns on social media, how to boycott and encourage divestment from pro-Israel organizations and encourages readers to print out Palestine yard signs — among other calls to action.
Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos admitted to what she called a “troubling oversight” in a statement on Thursday night that condemned the toolkit as hateful and antisemitic.
“This language is hurtful to many in our Jewish community, and we deeply apologize,” Aviles-Ramos said in the statement posted to social media.
“Once leadership became aware of this link, we immediately ordered its removal and have already begun conducting a thorough investigation as to how this was added to @NYCschools communication,” the chancellor said.
A version of the “toolkit” appears to have also been linked to in the October-November 2024 newsletter. The document, which has since been updated, called on readers to participate in “rage week” and “resist genocide” by mobilizing on the Sat. Oct. 5 “day of action” ahead of the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
Some parents and teachers said it was a sign of deep-rooted antisemitism at the city Department of Education.
“It’s the systemic rot,” said Karen Feldman, an educator of over 26 years who resigned in November and co-founded the NYC Public School Alliance with teachers and parents to combat antisemitism and indoctrination at the DOE.
“Tons of teachers, parents and students are navigating these sites and coming across these very hateful problematic resources that are literally indoctrinating – filled with misleading information, propaganda and influencing our children’s minds. Maybe even their parents,” added Feldman, who said she has been investigating incidents like this since 2023.
Many applauded the chancellor’s quick response to the troubling toolkit — but most also echoed Feldman’s sentiment that this was part of an ongoing systemic issue in the school system.
“I commend the chancellor’s swift response, but this is not an isolated incident,” said parent Yael Denbo, co-founder of the group Parents Against Antisemitism.
“The antisemitism that continues to surface in classrooms, curricula, and official communications is a symptom of a deeper, systemic issue within the New York City Department of Education—one that demands urgent attention and meaningful reform,” Denbo said.
Another parent, who asked to remain anonymous, was more blunt, seething: “Bunch of f—king clowns.”
The City Council’s Jewish Caucus held a one-hour phone call with the chancellor on Friday afternoon, and called for consequences and guardrails to ensure such an incident doesn’t happen again, sources said.
“Sending this document out was unconscionable,” the caucus wrote in a letter to the schools’ leader.
Councilwoman Julie Menin, who reps parts of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island and is part of the Jewish Caucus, called for an immediate investigation on the matter, ripping the oversight as “abhorrent and shameful.”
“What should be sanctuaries of learning and tolerance become the exact opposite when the agency charged with educating our students sends out this truly offensive and hateful screed. DOE must launch an immediate investigation,” Menin said.
Bronx Councilman Eric Dinowitz, also part of the caucus, added: “It is unacceptable that the DOE sent out a link to such an egregious and harmful document.”
“The chancellor rightfully had it immediately taken down and apologized for the damage it has caused,” he said.
The advocacy group #EndJewHatred, which raised awareness about the newsletter link to the toolkit on social media, said it was thankful that the chancellor “heeded our concerns and appears to be taking this issue seriously.”
“This incident speaks to the need to root out the deep seeded, systemic Jew-hatred within the New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) system. For years, #EndJewHatred has raised this issue before, and while today’s announcement is a positive step, more must be done to protect the civil rights of Jewish students,” a rep for the group said in a statement.
“If NYCPS is truly committed to ensuring that Jewish students and families feel safe and supported, it will be completely transparent about how this happened, share who is responsible, and implement consequences – which must be meaningful, such as termination – that will be imposed on the perpetrator,” it added. “This can be a learning experience to move the city forward.”
When asked for comment on allegations of systemic antisemitism infiltrating the school system, the DOE referred The Post to Aviles-Ramos’ original statement.
“Today, a troubling oversight was brought to my attention, in which an offensive political toolkit was hyperlinked in one of our published newsletters,” she wrote.
The inclusion of this toolkit violates our policies on political neutrality and uses hateful, antisemitic language.”
