Local organizations, including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), and Jewish Voice for Peace – Bay Area (JVP-BA), welcome this development and hope SFUSD will work with stakeholders on next steps.
San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has postponed its professional development for SFUSD staff and has canceled today’s scheduled training by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), a controversial Pro-Israel lobbying group.
Teachers, parents, students and communities raised concerns to the Board of Education and SFUSD administration about the Islamophobic AJC and also about SFUSD’s tone deaf process and dismissive approach that insulted SFUSD families.
Although SFUSD claimed the AJC training would not “take a position” on the “Israel-Hamas war,” AJC describes its primary mission as “advocating for Israel” and has openly opposed a ceasefire in Gaza. The training was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Sep. 11, at Balboa, Washington, Galileo, and Lincoln High Schools, and was mandatory for educators at those schools.
In November 2023, community advocates brought together Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, and other San Francisco parents to meet with district administrators. Parents shared their stories and urgent concerns about their children’s experiences of anti-Palestinian racism and antisemitism in San Francisco schools, demanding an urgent and inclusive response during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The district took no action.