Department of Education Chancellor David Banks condemned a citywide pro-Palestinian student walkout planned for Friday.
In his strongest comments yet about the ongoing protests against the war in Gaza, Banks — who was recently grilled by Congress over antisemitism in city schools — discouraged students from walking out.
“I’m a big believer in student voice and kids standing up for the things that they believe in… I don’t think you need to have continued walkouts to do that,” said Banks at a press briefing on Thursday.
While he didn’t say explicitly what penalties students who leave school during the day to protest Israel would face — DOE officials said at the same press conference that they would be watching the walkouts closely.
“Our plan is to have all boots on the ground throughout the city and to keep our ears open around schools that may in fact participate,” Security Director at the DOE Mark Rampersant said.
An 8-page toolkit circulated online to students and educators from Big Apple schools has encouraged protestors to leave classrooms at about 11:30am before meeting outside DOE HQ in lower Manhattan at about 3pm.
Education officials were unable to confirm which schools, if any, would be participating in the walkout but said they’d be providing support throughout the day.
“If students are going to a particular location, we’re going to work with our our agency partners in the police department to ensure that things are happening peacefully and young people are not getting hurt,” Rampersant added.
The toolkit — distributed by six groups including NYC Educators for Palestine and Teacher’s Unite — encourages students to know their rights and to “ask for leniency” if schools prohibit them leaving the building without permission.
“Just because the school is authorized to punish you does not mean they must do so,” it explains.
It goes on to say, “imposing harsher punishment on students who skip school to engage in political activities than on those who cut for any other reason violates the First Amendment.”
As per the Chancellor’s regulations — which dictate rules for all New York City Public schools — staff may not participate in walkout, protest, demonstrations during scheduled work hours.
“However, staff can absolutely participate in political activities on their own time and not on DOE property,” the toolkit advises.
Educators have also been encouraged to show their support for walkouts by cancelling tests or major paper deadlines or “making the lessons for flexible to accommodate students who walkout.”
It comes after Banks was grilled by Congress in Washington D.C. on his approach to antisemitism as the city faced allegations of antisemitism at a Brooklyn High School, a rampage at a Queen’s High School that saw a Jewish teacher hide in a locked office for hours and another citywide student walkout calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip earlier this year.
“Once your voice becomes a voice of anti semitism, or Islamophobia, or homophobia, or any of the other ills that we see, I don’t intend to sit idly by and watch that continue to play out,” Banks stated on Thursday noting the visit to the nation’s Capitol.
“We are we are very serious about these issues.”
