A national advocacy group for Jewish educators and families has, after a 21-month-long investigation, concluded that antisemitism is being “tolerated by our schools and even seeded by our schools” and is urging the Ontario government to overhaul the education system.
Released Aug. 11, the End the Crisis in Education: A Plan for Equal Rights and Real Learning report from the Jewish Educators and Families Association of Canada (JEFA) sets out more than 25 recommendations aimed at the ministry of education, school boards, faculties of education, the Ontario College of Teachers and teachers’ unions
“This is systemic failure. This is not just a Jewish concern,” said JEFA co-founder Tamara Gottlieb at a Toronto press conference. “It’s the canary in the coal mine. It’s a system that’s lost both its moral and academic purpose.”
Gottlieb said the investigation began with “one urgent question: Why is antisemitism in our schools skyrocketing?” The answer, she told reporters, “shocked even us.”
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.
The report argues that identity-based frameworks—most notably Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its Ontario adaptation, Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy (CRRP)—are woven into curricula, lesson plans and staff training. These approaches, JEFA contends, “decide who gets empathy, who gets resources and who is branded as an oppressor,” erasing Jewish indigeneity and minimizing antisemitism.
One example cited involves a Grade 6 classroom where, “starting right after October 7,” the teacher wore a keffiyeh, showed Al Jazeera videos about the Nakba during mandatory Holocaust education, and displayed a “Free Palestine” poster with a QR code to a Middle East charity—with “no consequences for that teacher.”
Professional development, the report adds, also plays a role. JEFA points to the University of Toronto’s “Decolonizing Conference,” 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 “justified resistance.” According to JEFA, the 2025 theme is “counterinsurgency,” a term it says is often linked to military and armed conflict. The group argues that such content, when counted toward teachers’ professional development hours, can influence classroom perspectives and should be subject to political neutrality requirements.
The report links these trends to broader declines in both achievement and safety. It cites Ontario’s lowest-ever Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores—an estimated 495 in math and 512 in reading in 2022, down from historical highs of above 530—and the Ontario auditor general’s finding of a 67-percent increase in violent incidents at the TDSB, coupled with “open hostility towards Jewish students and staff with no real accountability for offenders.”
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—from YouTube videos to downloadable worksheets—that the group describes as “replete with toxic political narratives.”
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’ 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.
“Our message is simple,” Gottlieb said at the press conference. “Let schools be schools. Let’s teach the basics. No one left out. No one singled out. Equal rights for all students.”
In a letter sent the same day to Education Minister Paul Calandra, Gottlieb wrote: “What began as an investigation into rising antisemitism in Ontario schools quickly revealed a deeper, system-wide crisis… 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.”
She warned that “the consequences are not abstract. All children are being failed—academically, 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’s identity as a free and democratic society.”
In an emailed statement to The CJN, Calandra’s spokesperson, Justine Teplycky, confirmed they received JEFA’s correspondence and will review the report.
“Discrimination and racism in all its forms have no place in our classrooms,” she added in the email. “Parents 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.”
