Our Fight Against Antisemitism

Our community’s collective fight against antisemitism can feel overwhelming these days. From antisemitic tropes being spouted by national figures in music, sports and politics to incidents on our area college campuses and in our communities, it seems virtually impossible to escape antisemitism in 2022.

Holocaust and hate hosted by the John Carroll School.

• Organized our community’s commemoration of Kristallnacht and Yom HaShoah.

Our work to stand up against antisemitism and hate is a year-round priority for the Baltimore Jewish Council and The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore. Speaking out. Advocating. Educating. Partnering with allies in other communities against hate.

As we approach the holiday of Chanukah, we are taking an opportunity to continue to fight against antisemitism by participating in the second annual “Shine A Light” campaign. Through community programs, policy announcements, public communications and education, we will join with Jewish communities across the nation to come together to call out and combat antisemitism.

The Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit of antisemitism incidents found that antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in the United States in 2021, with 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism.

Within the category of hate crimes motivated by a religious bias, the FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics report found that nearly 60 percent of such crimes target Jews — even though Jews represent just two percent of the American population.

The statistics compiled by the Maryland State Police of incidents in our state show similar trends.

While we would prefer to spend the Chanukah holiday focused solely on the joys of family and the celebration of the Miracle of Lights, these statistics — and the stories we hear from across our community — make it more critical than ever that we talk about antisemitism and what we are doing to combat it. As part of our efforts, The Associated, through the Baltimore Jewish Council, has:

• Consulted on security concerns at synagogues and schools across Maryland. • Advocated for hate crimes legislation that passed in the Maryland General Assembly. • Served as a member of Maryland’s domestic terrorism task force, a group tasked by the

Maryland General Assembly to explore ways to combat extremism.

• Educated local community businesses on antisemitism in the workplace. Recently led a session with a prominent law firm and many of them volunteered on a Sunday morning for a clean-up at the Holocaust Memorial on

Lombard Street.

• Helped respond to antisemitism incidents on our college campuses and at our cemeteries. • Brought together more than 300 students from public and private high schools across the region for a day of learning about the • Continued to maintain an online system for members of our community to report incidents of antisemitism at associated.org/reporthate.

Creating and inspiring Jewish community in the Baltimore area has to be about more than fighting hate and antisemitism. We want to focus on the meaningful and joyful experiences of being Jewish — the family celebrations, the learning, the worshiping in community and more.

But we also know that living Jewishly can only happen if we feel safe and secure. We understand that the Baltimore Jewish Council and The Associated have a responsibility to our community to fight antisemitism and hate. Join us this December as we Shine a Light on Antisemitism — learn more at associated.org/shinealight.

Looking for books to explain antisemitism to your children? Reach out to the Jewish Library of Baltimore at associated.org/jewishlibrary.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

The teacher shortage did not happen overnight. COVID was just the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Plenty of schools were already struggling before. It was the perfect storm. Not only are people leaving the teaching profession, but there is a tremendous lack of people entering the field.1 Things have become so desperate that our schools have been forced to hire unqualified candidates or begin the school year without teachers.2

THE STRUGGLE

Short-term solutions are unsustainable and even damage schools in the long run. Schools need a solid foundation of actionable, sustainable steps to repair whatever is causing the shortage. There is a reason the teacher shortage is so tough to solve: there are problems coming at us from every direction.

MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Research has shown major contributing factors to the teacher exodus are:3

1. Inadequate preparation: Underprepared new teachers are 2 1⁄2 times more likely to leave after one year. 2. Lack of support for new teachers. New teachers are given the exact same responsibilities as 30-year veteran teachers. New teachers who do not receive mentoring once they have begun teaching are twice as likely to leave. 3. Lack of support from principals. This is one area where schools lose highly experienced and talented teachers. Many principals think they are supporting their teachers, but unless they have systematically analyzed the situation, it is probable that there is a blind spot. 4. Dissatisfaction with compensation. Additionally, there is little monetary incentive or recognition to encourage teachers to excel. 5. Better career opportunities: Only 10% of educators would strongly recommend the teaching profession to a young adult, and 30% of teachers were satisfied with their current position.4

6. Personal reasons. More than 1 in 3 teachers leave for personal reasons such as pregnancy and childcare.

WHAT NEXT?

Often, the biggest problem is that there is no discussion. Why did the teachers who left education school decide to make that choice? I could guarantee that there was something that could have been done to keep some of them if there had been better communication.

The communication needs to begin before teachers enter the classroom and continue the whole way through. I am not blaming anyone. I struggle with communication just as much as the next person. It’s tough! But the first step to solving the problem for your school is understanding the problem clearly.

This is easy to say, but it is hard to get truly open, candid answers from staff. This is one of the many ways I step in to help schools.

But what about the positions that need to be filled today? Attracting teachers is a discussion for another time. I have a lot of helpful tips for that, such as how to pitch your school properly to candidates and how to earn the luxury of choosing the right candidate. But for now, focus on what you have. Before we can start building, we have to solidify our foundation. Imagine if I told you that you would retain all your teachers for the next five years. Your problem got significantly smaller, didn’t it?

You need to know why the last ten teachers left. You need to know if there are any teachers who are ready to quit. You need to know which teachers need to be boosted. You need to know which angle of the problem affects which teachers.

This problem is solvable. It is possible to significantly mitigate the effects of the teacher shortage crisis in your school. This is what I do for a living. I know it’s possible. It’s possible for every school that is strongly committed and dedicated to solving this crisis.

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CONCLUSION

Many principals say they have an open-door policy. But that is not an invitation; it’s like saying someone can come for a meal any time. Teachers must know you have a system in place if they need to bring things up with the leaders.

If I leave you with one thing, it is this: the teacher shortage problem is only bigger than us if we do not know what we are dealing with. We will see major change once we systematically diagnose the specific issues our individual staff members are dealing with. But it’s easier said than done. That is why I provide help getting there.

ABOUT

Mrs. Naema Tenenbaum earned her Master’s in Education in Curriculum and Instruction and is pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education. She is an Executive Consultant as well as the Director of the Elementary and Middle School Division of The Machon: Torah-Based General Studies Curricula.

Mrs. Tenenbaum has developed a framework to help leaders tackle the teacher shortage crisis in their schools and effectively attract and retain teachers. She also developed an innovative and engaging framework for writing curricula and has created a successful behavior program used by many teachers worldwide. Mrs. Tenenbaum mentors dedicated and committed administrators who stop at nothing to provide excellence for their school.

CONTACT Naema Tenenbaum, M.Ed.

Institution to Inspiration | Educational & Leadership Consulting

Visit institutiontoinspiration.com institutiontoinspiration@gmail.com

ENDNOTES

1. Schwartzberg, R. (2022). The great teacher shortage. The Jewish Action. https://jewishaction.com/religion/education/the-great-teachershortage/

2. Goldberg, A & Schapira, R. (2008). Training students to become Jewish educators. Prizmah Center for Jewish Day Schools. https://prizmah. org/hayidion/teacher-retention-development/ training-students-become-jewish-educators

3. Podolsky, A., Kini, T., Bishop, J., & DarlingHammond, L. (2016). Solving the Teacher Shortage: How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators. Learning Policy Institute. https:// learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/solving-teacher-shortage

4. MDR Reports. (2022). Educator perspectives on the state of the teaching profession. MDR Education. https://mdreducation.com/reports/ educator-perspectives-2022/