Over 60% of US Jewish Educators Report Antisemitism at Work

An overwhelming majority of Jewish educators in the United States say they have personally experienced or witnessed antisemitism in their workplace, according to a new survey released by the advocacy organization StandWithUs.

The survey, conducted in 2025 among 584 Jewish educators working in K–12 public schools and non-Jewish private schools, found that 61.6% of respondents reported encountering antisemitism in professional settings. Nearly half, 45.5%, said the antisemitism they faced came from teachers unions. Jewish advocacy groups have warned that classrooms and teachers’ lounges have increasingly become arenas for political hostility, often leaving Jewish educators isolated and unsupported.

StandWithUs said the survey was approved by an independent institutional review board and distributed nationally through educator networks and outreach efforts. 

“As a Jewish public school educator, these findings, while disturbing, do not come as a shock,” said Alyson Brauning, head of the National Education Association’s Jewish Affairs Caucus. Brauning said Jewish teachers are facing both open and subtle antisemitism, despite schools’ public commitments to diversity and inclusion.

Beyond unions, the survey pointed to systemic shortcomings in how antisemitism is addressed institutionally. While 65% of respondents said they were required to attend anti-bias or diversity training as part of their job, only 10% reported that the training included any content on antisemitism.

“We have seen an antisemitism crisis unfold since the October 7th Massacre,” said StandWithUs Executive Director David Smokler. “Far too many Jewish educators work in hostile environments, with far too little support from their administrators or unions.”

Several recent incidents have underscored the concerns raised in the survey. In April 2024, a Jewish teacher at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, was forced to barricade herself inside her classroom as students attempted to break in during a nearly two-hour riot after she attended a pro-Israel rally.

Last December, a Brooklyn middle school principal rejected a parent’s request to host a Holocaust survivor at the school, citing disagreement with the survivor’s views on Israel. More recently, parents at Brooklyn Technical High School objected after a teacher assigned an anti-Israel book and film without presenting any Israeli perspective.

In New York City, Jewish educators have also criticized the United Federation of Teachers for endorsing Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has made anti-Israel statements, and for what they describe as a failure to confront antisemitism within the city’s public school system.

StandWithUs said the survey’s findings highlight the need for antisemitism to be explicitly addressed in school policies, union conduct, and educator training programs, warning that without institutional change, conditions for Jewish educators are likely to worsen.