During last year’s legislative session, the Education Committee approved HB 7012 which would have created a working group on antisemitism in K-12 schools. Thankfully that bill never left the House. However, it has been included in the omnibus education bill which is scheduled for a vote later this month.
Given that this bill is both unnecessary and dangerous, this section should be removed.
On its face, the creation of an antisemitism working group for K-12 reads as fairly innocuous. Shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to address antisemitism in Connecticut schools? As a Trinity professor who has spent the last five years studying Trump’s attack on education, I fear that this bill falls into a much larger national trend of putting pressure on K-12 schools as well as colleges and universities by conflating criticism of the state of Israel, and critiques of Zionism, as antisemitic.
For example, Trump’s executive order on antisemitism redefines criticism of Israel as antisemetic. Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther lays out the MAGA strategy of using accusations of antisemitism to shut down not only pro-Palestinian protestors but all considered enemies of the Trump agenda. A similar commission created in Massachusetts, also initiated by a government led by Democrats, has actually “done more to fuel rising authoritarianism and antisemitism than to create the conditions that promote Jewish safety,” according to scholars who have examined the commission’s work.
On the one hand, such a working group is not necessary. Teachers in Connecticut have experience discussing complicated issues in their classrooms, and do so every day. We have trusted them with that job, and should respect that trust. Likewise, schools already have policies in place to make sure that the classroom is not a place of discrimination
On the other hand, despite having no clear need, several aspects of this proposed legislation are deeply concerning. First, the proposed working group would focus exclusively on antisemitism, and not investigate Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in schools. Secondly, the composition of the working group mandates only one K-12 educator and does not include representation from the diversity of the Jewish community, including from groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace.
Thirdly, there are no guardrails against the taskforce adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s definition of antisemitism. In fact, the commission in Massachusetts adopted the IHRA definition, which silences speech in the classroom. The IHRA definition has been widely criticized–including by its author–for treating criticisms of Zionism (a political movement and ideology) as antisemitic. Furthermore, the bill language is so vague that it gives the taskforce sweeping powers that could chill classroom discussion and limit speech
It should also concern Connecticut voters that, procedurally, HB 7012 was slipped into this year’s omnibus bill in a way that prevents a public hearing. Given the complicated nature of this issue, public comment and discussion is critical. If there is no time during the 2026 short legislative session to have proper deliberations on this issue, it seems reasonable to wait and have the public conversation next year, allowing the wider public to fully communicate their concerns
And, finally, given the national context, including the Trump administration’s efforts to use allegations of antisemitism to discipline, defund, and attack academic institutions, we should assume that the work of the proposed task force could only serve as a welcome mat to MAGA politicians to use work group findings to justify targeting Connecticut schools
This taskforce is unnecessary and dangerous. And, therefore, it would be prudent for the Education Committee to remove the antisemitism working group from the 2026 omnibus education bill.
Isaac Kamola lives in West Hartford.