A Jewish student in Dallas was subjected to retaliation by a teacher over a U.S. Department of Education probe of the Dallas Independent School District for alleged Title VI violations, according to the nonprofit StandWithUS.
When the student, one of the co-complainants in what became the U.S. Department of Education probe, was in the classroom, a teacher “specifically mentioned the complaint, insinuated it had something to do with him and then launched into an off-color, one-sided discussion about Islam and Israel,” StandWithUs wrote to the district.
The Dallas Independent School District has been the subject of a federal investigation since at least mid-April for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students at Hillcrest High School.
“In light of both the original claims included in our Title VI complaint, and the subsequent reports of retaliation at Hillcrest, we request a meeting with your team to discuss best practices that DISD can put in place proactively to ensure that the upcoming 2024-2025 school year be successful and safe for all students,” the letter states.
“When students are repeatedly etching and spray-painting swastikas around a school, that is either a sign of pure ignorance or something more malicious,” it continues. “Either way, it should be a wake-up call to administrators and teachers to act, to educate, to engage the students in a discussion about hate speech and symbols of hate. Merely painting over swastikas will never address the underlying issues.”