Jewish Educators and Families Association of Canada (JEFA)<\/a> sets out more than 25 recommendations aimed at the ministry of education, school boards, faculties of education, the Ontario College of Teachers and teachers\u2019 unions<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThis is systemic failure. This is not just a Jewish concern,\u201d said JEFA co-founder Tamara Gottlieb at a Toronto press conference. \u201cIt\u2019s the canary in the coal mine. It\u2019s a system that\u2019s lost both its moral and academic purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gottlieb said the investigation began with \u201cone urgent question: Why is antisemitism in our schools skyrocketing?\u201d The answer, she told reporters, \u201cshocked even us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JEFA says its research drew on freedom-of-information requests to boards such as the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), analysis of equity and human rights policies from all 72 publicly funded boards, prior academic studies and materials provided by teachers, parents, and students of multiple faiths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report argues that identity-based frameworks\u2014most notably Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its Ontario adaptation, Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy (CRRP)\u2014are woven into curricula, lesson plans and staff training. These approaches, JEFA contends, \u201cdecide who gets empathy, who gets resources and who is branded as an oppressor,\u201d erasing Jewish indigeneity and minimizing antisemitism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One example cited involves a Grade 6 classroom where, \u201cstarting right after October 7,\u201d the teacher wore a keffiyeh, showed Al Jazeera videos about the Nakba during mandatory Holocaust education, and displayed a \u201cFree Palestine\u201d poster with a QR code to a Middle East charity\u2014with \u201cno consequences for that teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professional development, the report adds, also plays a role. JEFA points to the University of Toronto\u2019s \u201cDecolonizing Conference,\u201d described as one of the largest professional development events for educators in North America. The 2023 conference, held five weeks after Oct. 7, included breakout sessions where participants were asked to discuss \u201cjustified resistance.\u201d According to JEFA, the 2025 theme is \u201ccounterinsurgency,\u201d a term it says is often linked to military and armed conflict. The group argues that such content, when counted toward teachers\u2019 professional development hours, can influence classroom perspectives and should be subject to political neutrality requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report links these trends to broader declines in both achievement and safety. It cites Ontario\u2019s lowest-ever Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores\u2014an estimated 495 in math and 512 in reading in 2022, down from historical highs of above 530\u2014and the Ontario auditor general\u2019s finding of a 67-percent increase in violent incidents at the TDSB, coupled with \u201copen hostility towards Jewish students and staff with no real accountability for offenders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JEFA also warns that, while the ministry of education maintains a list of approved textbooks, teachers are not required to use them. Many, it says, instead rely on unregulated online content\u2014from YouTube videos to downloadable worksheets\u2014that the group describes as \u201creplete with toxic political narratives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To address these concerns, JEFA recommends removing CRT and CRRP from classrooms, enforcing the exclusive use of ministry-approved learning resources and dismantling the provincial Education Equity and Governance Secretariat. It also proposes replacing elected trustees with qualified appointed boards that include some elected parent representatives, consolidating smaller boards while capping central office spending at one percent, and prohibiting teachers\u2019 unions from delivering accredited professional development. It also recommended removing teacher licensing and discipline from the Ontario College of Teachers and returning it directly to the ministry of education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur message is simple,\u201d Gottlieb said at the press conference. \u201cLet schools be schools. Let\u2019s teach the basics. No one left out. No one singled out. Equal rights for all students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a letter sent the same day to Education Minister Paul Calandra, Gottlieb wrote: \u201cWhat began as an investigation into rising antisemitism in Ontario schools quickly revealed a deeper, system-wide crisis\u2026 The problem is not isolated, nor is it incidental. A growing culture of politicization in classrooms, teacher training, and governance has compromised core educational priorities: safety, academic excellence, and the principle of equal treatment for every child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She warned that \u201cthe consequences are not abstract. All children are being failed\u2014academically, socially, and in some cases physically. And at stake is more than the future of public education. What we are seeing erodes the very foundations of Ontario\u2019s identity as a free and democratic society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an emailed statement to The CJN, Calandra\u2019s spokesperson, Justine Teplycky, confirmed they received JEFA\u2019s correspondence and will review the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDiscrimination and racism in all its forms have no place in our classrooms,\u201d she added in the email. \u201cParents expect schools to keep divisive politics out of the classroom and instead focus on what matters most: teaching students reading, writing, and math skills to prepare them for good-paying jobs and lifelong success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[It must be remembered that many Jewish academics and leaders pushed Critical Race Theory. That was just fine when the targets were Whites, especially Canadians and Americans, trashing our leaders and our history. Now, that the haters have turned on them, it’s a different story. Nevertheless, their critique of the wrecking crew let loose in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3094,1572,3093,3096,3097,3095],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4412"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4415,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions\/4415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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