Three Jewish advocacy organizations have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging routine bullying and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students in Fulton County Schools.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education and the National Jewish Advocacy Center filed the complaint last week. It accuses the school district of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin. The organizations announced Tuesday that they filed the complaint.
“Jewish and Israeli students have been routinely subjected to frequent incidents of bullying and harassment by their peers — in hallways, in classrooms, on buses, and in schoolyards — simply due to their Jewish identity or Israeli national origin, while their teachers and administration, well-aware of the incidents, have either tacitly condoned it, or refused to take any real action to protect them,” the complaint states.
Fulton County Schools denied the allegations in a written statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We will not comment on the validity — or lack thereof — of the allegations in the complaint and will allow the administrative process to proceed without interference,” the statement said. “This private group’s effort to depict Fulton County Schools as promoting or even tolerating anti-Semitism is false.”
The complaint alleges Jewish students have been targeted and harassed in Fulton since Hamas launched an attack against Israel on Oct. 7. The strike killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis and foreigners. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1.9 million people have been displaced from Gaza, according to some estimates.
The complaint alleges several incidents of antisemitism occurred in Fulton, including an altercation at a middle school where a student allegedly told an Israeli student, “Somebody needs to bomb your country, and hey, somebody already did.” The filing also states a student asked a fifth grade girl if she was Israeli, then told her she hates Jews and Israelis and thinks they should all be killed. The complaint says a second grade teacher, who had two Israeli students in her class, told her students the war in Gaza was Israel’s fault.
“It is not just that these acts of harassment and bullying were occurring in the district, but that the administrations and the district itself ... failed to take action and did not appear to understand the seriousness of the issue,” Marci Miller, director of legal initiatives at the Brandeis Center, said in an interview. “It really gave a green light to the kids — and the teachers in some cases — that were harassing the Jewish students ... realizing that there really would be no consequences for their behavior, it just continues to increase.”
The filing says that Jewish parents offered to arrange antisemitism training for teachers and administrators, but the district refused. The groups claim Fulton officials dismissed parents’ concerns, didn’t discipline students and teachers who engaged in antisemitism, and didn’t provide a safety plan for students.
Fulton’s statement refuted that depiction.
“Like most, if not all, schools across the country, world events have sometimes spilled onto our campuses. Whenever inappropriate behavior is brought to our attention, Fulton County Schools takes it seriously, investigates, and takes appropriate action,” the statement reads. “Fulton County Schools recognizes the strong feelings that were generated by the tragedy of October 7 and the continuing war in the Middle East. School leadership has continually communicated with parents and students with the goal of respecting one another and maintaining a focus on learning.”
The complaint doesn’t ask for monetary compensation. Instead, the organizations made some requests of Fulton, including: issuing a statement denouncing antisemitism, disciplining teachers and students who engage in antisemitic behaviors, creating a task force made up of Jewish students and faculty to advise the district on how to improve school culture for Jewish students. Feeling safe at school is the end goal, Miller said.
“We’re hoping that some changes are made at the beginning of the school year, so that we don’t experience another year like we did last year, and that (Fulton is) prepared to handle what’s coming,” she said.
