Oakland (Special to ZennieReport.com) – Oakland resident and attorney Marleen L. Sacks has filed a formal “Uniform Complaint” against the Oakland Unified School District regarding rampant antisemitism. The complaint addresses four primary examples of recent antisemitism since the October 7 massacre in Israel:
1. On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, a substitute teacher at Fremont High School posted on Twitter (X) a photo of the Palestinian flag flying over Fremont High School. Based on information provided by the Oakland Unified School District, the flag had been flying over the school for weeks, meaning that the administration and teachers were complicit in the matter. State law requires that the US and California flag be flown in front of every public school, and the District was therefore in violation of this law for weeks.
2. On December 6, 2023, approximately 100 Oakland Unified School District teachers participated in an unauthorized “teach-in”, during which teachers indoctrinated students with blatantly antisemitic and anti-Zionist propaganda. The teachers claimed that OUSD wasn’t putting out information that presented “both view”, so they created their own. The actions of the teachers were in violation of a prior memo issued by the OUSD Superintendent, and were in violation of state law and board policy, which prohibits teachers from using their positions to indoctrinate students on controversial issues.
3. An Oakland Bret Harte Middle School Social Worker / Administrator Nida Khalil posted multiple antisemitic posts on Twitter (X.) The posts were blatantly antisemitic, profane, and in some cases, libelous. The posts resulted in a formal complaint by Senator Scott Wiener, who is the subject of some of the defamatory posts. The Jewish News of Northern California reported the following:
Jewish parents and a state senator are calling on the Oakland Unified School District to investigate a middle-school social worker after social media posts linked to her described Zionists as “monsters” and “hateful heartless beings” and suggested they have horns.
At least a dozen parents have filed complaints this week with the Oakland Unified School District, according to Stephanie Mamane, whose son transferred out of the district this year but has followed the issue closely. One parent wrote in their complaint, “I honestly think she should not be around our youth,” referring to the social worker.
The incident comes as a growing number of parents with Jewish children in the school district report feeling uncomfortable and worried, as the conflict abroad reverberates at home in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
4. At Montera Middle School, teacher Arvind Reddy engaged in deliberately provocative/antisemitic/anti-Zionist actions with students in his English class, such as putting up a “From the River to the Sea” poster in his classroom, giving out assignments that were designed to indoctrinate students into anti-Israel beliefs (outside of the teach-in), and displaying documents inside and outside his classroom with anti-Zionist propaganda. He has since been removed from the classroom. Another long-term substitute also gave assignments designed to indoctrinate students in antisemitic/anti-Zionist beliefs.
Oakland Unified School District Lawyers Up
The original complaint was filed on November 18, 2023. After significant delay, the Oakland Unified School District retained the law firm of Van Dermyden Makus to conduct a formal investigation into the complaints.
Van Dermyden Makus has confirmed that it is investigating other formal complaints that have been filed, in addition to Sacks’ complaint. The investigation comes amid revelations that over 30 families have left the District due to concerns about rampant antisemitism.