A United States House Committee is investigating allegations of antisemitism in the Philadelphia School District.
On Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) announced they were launching an investigation into the School District of Philadelphia, the Berkeley Unified School District in California and Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia over reports of antisemitism and Jewish students being harassed in their classrooms and hallways.
U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Republican who represents Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties as well as parts of Monroe County in Pennsylvania, wrote a letter to Philadelphia School District Superintendent Dr. Tony Watlington detailing the investigation.
In the letter, Mackenzie wrote the Committee was looking into whether or not the school district was fulfilling its obligation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to “end any harassment, eliminate any hostile environment and its effects, and prevent any harassment from recurring.”
Mackenzie wrote that since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, the Committee has received allegations that the Philadelphia School District is “rife with antisemitic incidents.” Mackenzie said the allegations include teachers at Philadelphia public schools spreading antisemitism in the classroom and the district approving “antisemitic walkouts that isolate Jewish students.”
The school district entered an agreement in December 2024 in which they would take steps to address the alleged antisemitism, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In the letter, Mackenzie claims that antisemitic incidents have continued in the school district since then, however, according to “press and whistleblower reports.”
“Jewish parents have likewise claimed that their complaints about antisemitism to the school district continued to go unanswered,” Mackenzie wrote.
Mackenzie said the school district currently employs numerous teachers who “allegedly promote antisemitic content in their classrooms” with at least one teacher accused of threatening Jewish parents and students online, according to a report from the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
The letter also cites curriculum focused on Palestine taught by teachers as well as the school district’s partnership with a local Islamic relations group that some Jewish organizations have deemed as antisemitic.
Mackenzie also wrote the school district employs a senior administrator and director of its social studies curriculum who Jewish advocacy groups have accused of repeatedly “denying the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, refusing to speak about peace or coexistence, and downplaying the lived experiences of Jewish people in the face of violence.”
“Entities that receive federal funds must maintain a safe learning environment and fulfill all obligations under Title VI and its accompanying regulations,” Mackenzie wrote. “This includes the obligation to promptly address discrimination, including harassment that creates a hostile environment, wherever such circumstances may be found to exist.”
The Committee is requesting documents from the school district to assess its compliance with Title VI and to determine if legislation is needed to specifically address antisemitism, Mackenzie wrote. Those documents – which Mackenzie requested the district provide by Dec. 8, 2025 – include all complaints of antisemitism, documented antidiscrimination training, and all curriculum, lectures and workshops related to Israel, Palestine, Zionism, and Judaism.
NBC10 reached out to the Philadelphia School District for a response to Mackenzie’s letter.
“It is the policy of the School District of Philadelphia to refrain from commenting on active investigations,” school district spokesperson Monique Braxton wrote.
The House Committee on Education and Workforce also investigated allegations of antisemitism against the University of Pennsylvania back in January 2024, a month after both the university’s president and chair of the Board of Trustees resigned amid criticism of the school’s handling of on-campus antisemitism incidents.
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