Students, rabbis and ADL urge Vermont to require Holocaust and antisemitism education
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Summary
At a Feb. 19 Senate Education listening session, students, clergy and advocacy groups described repeated antisemitic incidents in Vermont schools and urged the committee to introduce statewide Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism education, stronger teacher training and clear response protocols.
Montpelier — Students, rabbis and statewide advocates urged the Senate Committee on Education on Feb. 19 to require Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism education in Vermont public schools and to give teachers clearer training and protocols for responding to bias.
"Students have had pennies thrown at them, echoing stereotypes about Jews and money," Rabbi David Piggensolver said, recounting incidents in multiple districts that included swastikas in bathrooms and online harassment that led some students to hide their Jewish identity. Piggensolver, rabbi of the Jewish community of Greater Stowe, told the committee that the problem spans towns from Lamoille to Chittenden and stretches "across multiple schools and districts."
The hearing was a listening session rather than a bill debate, the chair said at the start. Still, testimony from young people and community groups repeatedly urged legislative action. "I urge this committee to introduce legislation mandating comprehensive Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism education across Vermont's K–12 schools," Samantha Joseph, regional director for ADL New England, told the panel, citing ADL research that links Holocaust education to reduced antisemitic beliefs.
Students described classroom and schoolyard incidents they said school staff too often minimized. "I was told, 'shut the f up, you stupid Jew,' several times," said Alex Jones Springer, a ninth grader who formerly served as a legislative page. Another student, Vera Windisch, said she reported a bus incident in which pennies were dropped at her feet followed by the words "pick them up stupid Jew," and that initial school responses failed to address the harm.
Several witnesses described episodes that ultimately drew outside scrutiny. Max Leighton said he filed a federal civil rights complaint after repeated classroom and bathroom incidents; he said outside involvement — including the Attorney General's office in one case — led to a stronger determination that conduct constituted a hate crime and prompted more serious administrative action.
Speakers and advocates recommended several policy responses: a statewide mandate to ensure consistent Holocaust and antisemitism instruction; sustained teacher training and time for instruction rather than one-off assemblies; explicit protocols for naming and responding to antisemitic incidents; and resources so small nonprofit groups are not the sole providers of survivor testimony and materials.
Heidi Fishman, who represents the Vermont Holocaust Memorial, cited a 2020 Claims Conference survey she said showed major gaps in public knowledge — figures she gave included that 42% of respondents in Vermont could not name a single concentration camp and that 65% did not know the number of Jewish victims commonly cited for the Holocaust — and warned that survivor testimony is increasingly rare as the WWII generation ages.
Witnesses stressed that education must connect history with contemporary antisemitism and civic literacy. "Teaching the history of slavery, Jim Crow, the genocide of Native Americans, and other chapters of American history strengthens civic understanding for all students," Rabbi Piggensolver said, arguing curriculum should help students "recognize how propaganda works and how language can be humanized."
Panel members asked questions about causation and timing. Several witnesses pointed to national political rhetoric and the October 7 attacks in Gaza as events that have intensified hostility and online amplification, but most testimony focused on local patterns and schools' inconsistent responses.
No formal motion or vote took place during the session. Committee members thanked the witnesses and indicated they would take the testimony under consideration; the chair called for a short break and signaled follow-up rather than immediate action.
What happens next: witnesses urged the committee to draft and introduce legislation that would set statewide learning requirements, fund teacher training, and require clear reporting and response protocols so that districts respond consistently to antisemitic incidents.
(Reporting includes direct testimony from Rabbi David Piggensolver; students Alex Jones Springer, Max Leighton and Vera Windisch; Heidi Fishman of the Vermont Holocaust Memorial; and Samantha Joseph of ADL New England.)
