During portions of an interview with CBS New York aired on Tuesday, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks discussed his forthcoming testimony before Congress and stated that some of the largest challenges the district faces in combating antisemitism and hatred is “bias that we find in our own adults, some of our teachers, some of our administrators, who are bringing in some of their own political opinions into the schools and into the classroom. You cannot tolerate that.”
CBS New York Chief Political Correspondent Marcia Kramer said, “[H]e is prepared to be forthright, admitting that the nation’s largest school system has work to do to eradicate antisemitism and hate from the classroom.”
She then played a clip of Banks stating, “We’ve got to continue to educate, and some of the biggest challenges we really face [is] the bias that we find in our own adults, some of our teachers, some of our administrators, who are bringing in some of their own political opinions into the schools and into the classroom. You cannot tolerate that. We have to provide a classroom setting which is fair and it’s balanced.”
Kramer then referenced a protest at Hillcrest High School over a teacher posting a “I stand with Israel” photo and then played a clip of Banks saying, “I think the biggest part of that story is that the teacher who was targeted, she didn’t run, she came back, and she said, ultimately, the way that we’re going to solve for this is through education, and we’re working very closely with her. … I want to do that in schools all across New York City.”
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