Five major Jewish organizations launched a “Jewish Students’ Bill of Rights” on Wednesday, calling on schools across North America to adopt new standards for combating antisemitism and protecting Jewish students.
The initiative was released by Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and StandWithUs as students return to school following years of elevated antisemitism.
It calls on schools and districts to take six steps, including training educators to recognize antisemitism, establishing clear systems for reporting incidents, and ensuring that teaching about Jews, the Holocaust, antisemitism, and Israel is accurate.
The document also calls on schools to protect students who express their Jewish identity or connection to Israel and to ensure that teachers present disputed political issues in a balanced manner rather than using classrooms to promote a particular political position.
The initiative comes as antisemitic incidents in US K-12 schools have remained stubbornly high even while the overall number of incidents declined.
The ADL’s 2025 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents recorded 825 incidents at non-Jewish K-12 schools, compared with 860 the previous year. Overall, the ADL recorded 6,274 antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2025, down 33% from 9,354 in 2024.
According to the ADL, many incidents in schools involved peer-to-peer behavior, including antisemitic harassment, bullying and students drawing or displaying swastikas.
‘No child should have to choose’
“No child should have to choose between their education and their identity,” Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric Fingerhut said.
“We are asking them to give Jewish students the same seriousness and the same protection that every other student in that building already receives,” he said. “The Jewish Students’ Bill of Rights is a crucial roadmap of how to do that.”
The six-point plan calls for administrators and staff to be trained to recognize contemporary forms of antisemitism and for schools to maintain transparent procedures for reporting and responding to incidents.
Schools should also ensure that material about Jewish culture, Jewish history, the Holocaust, antisemitism and Israel is accurate and representative, according to the document.
The groups called on schools to excuse absences for Jewish religious observances and avoid scheduling major school activities on widely observed Jewish holidays.
Another provision focuses on students’ ability to express their Jewish identity without being bullied or pressured to distance themselves from Israel.
The document also calls for educators to present contested subjects in a balanced manner.
“When a school does not know how to identify or respond to antisemitism, the lesson for every Jewish student in that building is that they do not belong,” ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said.
“These six standards will set the textbook for what to do,” he added.
Jewish students facing pressure
AJC CEO Ted Deutch said schools should provide an environment in which students can participate without fear of harassment or exclusion.
“This Bill of Rights outlines common-sense principles that will help ensure that Jewish students, like all students, are able to safely, fully, and proudly participate in school life,” Deutch said.
Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff said the beginning of the school year had become a source of anxiety for some Jewish students following incidents of harassment and bullying.
“For too many Jewish students, recent years have brought something very different: harassment, bullying, and anxiety in the classroom,” he said.
StandWithUs co-founder and CEO Roz Rothstein said Jewish children were too often placed in the position of having to explain Judaism, Israel, and antisemitism to their classmates and teachers.
“Far too many Jewish students carry the weight of educating others and defending their community against bias and bigotry in K-12 schools,” Rothstein said.
“It is time for the adults in the room, educators and administrators, to meet this moment with courage and moral clarity.”
