Contact Trustees about TDSB’s Combating Hate and Racism – Student Learning Strategy Update Report

CIJA

|June 19, 2024

Below are some suggested points and contacts to reach out to regarding TDSB’s Combating Hate and Racism – Student Learning Strategy Update Report.

BACKGROUND

Last night, TDSB’s Program and School Services Committee met to vote on an update to the TDSB’s Combating Hate and Racism – Student Learning Strategy Update Report, 2024 (CHR). Committee members voted 5-3 to receive the Report, which will now be sent to the TDSB Board of Trustees for a vote on its adoption.

In addition to completely failing to address antisemitism, at a time when our community is experiencing a significant rise in antisemitic incidents, anti-Jewish racism, and anti-Israeli hostility both in our public schools and throughout the community, it also adopts the narrative of “anti-Palestinian racism,” which seeks to erase core aspects of Jewish identity and history and redefine what does and does not constitute antisemitism.

While representatives of the organized Jewish community were not provided an opportunity to address the committee, CIJA submitted a written delegation outlining the community’s concerns, urging committee members to vote “no” due to proposed updates outlined in the CHR, which failed to address antisemitism and disputed the identity of Jewish Canadians.

We are incredibly disappointed that Trustees chose to disregard the Director of Education’s expressed concern about the report’s missing focus on antisemitism and the recommendation that the report be sent back to staff for further consultation.

The report is now advancing for review and vote by the full Board today, and CIJA is urging all Trustees to reject adopting the CHR. Any strategy to combat hate and racism must create a safe and inclusive learning environment. It should prioritize addressing antisemitism and discrimination against Jews and Israeli Canadians, while avoiding the unnecessary politicization of our students, staff, and faculty due to imported international conflicts.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The CHR Report will be sent to the TDSB Board of Trustees for voting tonight, at a meeting that begins at 4:30 p.m.
Should the report be voted upon and adopted, it will be translated into TDSB practice for the 2024-2025 school year.
If there is a majority “no” vote, then the CHR Report will likely be sent back to TDSB staff for further consultation.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

TDSB Board of Trustees must be urged to vote NO. Any strategy to combat hate and racism must be centered on the Ontario Human Rights Code, creating an inclusive environment for all.
Call and email trustees using the emails and numbers, as well as key messages below.

SUGGESTED POINTS

The proposed TDSB Combating Hate and Racism Strategy is flawed in failing to address antisemitism in the TDSB system amidst an alarming increase in anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hate within the school board and Toronto at large.

It is concerning that, while the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism has been adopted by the TDSB as well as the Province of Ontario, the Board has failed to integrate the IHRA definition into its equity policy in a meaningful way.

With respect to the adoption of the term ‘anti-Palestinian racism,’ any definition that seeks to dispute the identity of Jews and Israeli-Canadians as another minority group undermines any attempt to create a safe and inclusive environment for all. The TDSB is effectively policing the identity of Jewish and Israeli students, educators, and staff in non-equitable ways.

I urge Trustee [INSERT NAME] to vote against the proposed strategy and seek to adopt a more inclusive approach for all identities within the TDSB. I encourage you to prioritize hearing the views of mainstream Jewish students, parents, and educators on this vitally important topic.

Thank you,

[Your name]

TRUSTEE CONTACTS

Michelle Aarts – WARD 16

[email protected]

416-395-8787

Sarah Ehrhardt – WARD 15

[email protected]

416-395-8787

Debbie King – WARD 7

[email protected]

416-395-8787