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Ismael Jimenez has been the Director of Social Studies for the School District of Philadelphia for the past 4 years. But what happened to him? Is the school district silencing another leading Black antiracist educator?
The School District of Philadelphia elevated Ismael to district leadership after 12 years as a nationally honored African American History teacher. In February of 2024, the school district itself honored Ismael as “the first Director of Social Studies that the Office of Curriculum has had in nearly a decade” as part of their Black History month employee spotlight. As the Director of Social Studies, Ismael rejected corporate curricula and textbooks and instead brought together exemplary anti-racist and social justice educators from across the district, revitalizing and updating the curriculum into a national model. He also prioritized developing and nurturing educators, organizing the regular Africana Studies Lecture and Workshop Series, providing educators access to high quality professional development and dozens of nationally renowned antiracist scholars and educators. His vision for liberatory education that pushes students’ critical thinking and empowers them as change agents exemplifies education excellence.
We are concerned that the district has capitulated to the racist, rightwing, and pro-Israel forces that have been attacking Ismael and other antiracist teachers in the school district. Beginning in June of 2024 and continuing to this day, Ismael — and the antiracist social studies curriculum he spearheaded — has been targeted by a rightwing coalition of anti-public school billionaires, pro-Israel think tanks, conservative journalists, and rightwing politicians who have called for the district to terminate him (see partial list of attacks below). This is part of a larger attack on educators across the country for teaching the truth about racism and inequality at home and abroad.
Instead of defending Ismael against these attacks, it appears the district has silenced him and stopped many of the projects he spearheaded. The Africana Studies Lecture and Workshop Series has not taken place since May of 2025. Social studies teachers stopped receiving emails from Ismael around the same time, and messages to Ismael’s district email have gone unanswered since October 2025. Ismael spent two years organizing the Blackprint 20 conference, celebrating 20 years of the African American history requirement in Philadelphia public schools. The district chose not to endorse that conference, which took place on Feb. 7, and instead organized its own “Blackprint 20” summit for later in the month — without involvement from Ismael.
The district’s treatment of Ismael — despite rhetoric to the contrary — sends a clear message to every teacher in the district that they will not be supported, and could be disciplined, when discussing difficult subjects like Palestine, racism, or inequality. Will this district that serves a student population that is 86 percent students of color — 57 percent of which are Black — continue to participate in and encourage these attacks on our leading Black antiracist educators?
We demand that
- if Ismael Jimenez has been suspended, he be immediately reinstated; and
- the district reaffirms its commitment to teaching about all forms of racism, including anti-Palestinian racism, and develops a plan to protect and defend educators who come under attack for doing so.
A partial list of attacks Ismael Jimenez has faced since June 2024:
- On June 11, 2024, Accuracy in Media, a right-wing group that receives most of its funding from the richest person in Pennsylvania, billionaire Republican donor and school choice proponent Jeff Yass, paid for a mobile billboard with a big photo of Ismael, describing him as a “leader of hate” and arguing “This is why Pennsylvania families deserve school choice.” This mobile billboard spent the day outside the school district headquarters where Ismael worked. The truck later parked across the street from Jimenez’s row house blasting an audio track that repeated “shame” over and over.
- On July 10, 2024, several Pro-Israel Jewish organizations wrote an open letter attacking Ismael for appearing on a podcast in which he explained that teachers should provide context — citing the siege of Gaza and the nonviolent resistance Palestinians have engaged in for years — when discussing the Oct. 7, Hamas attack on Israel.
- On July 23, 2024, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has been criticized by many — including many Jews — for using Title VI investigations to curtail speech that is pro-Palestinian, brought a Title VI complaint against the School District of Philadelphia. The ADL complaint targeted Ismael because of a social media post he made four years prior criticizing Israel’s terrorist actions in Gaza and for stating in a podcast that he viewed part of his job as fighting for the rights of educators to “teach about the genocide in Palestine.” The ADL has been a leading organization attacking educators around the country for speaking out about the genocide in Gaza leading to the National Education Association voting to cut ties with the ADL in 2025.
- On May 15, 2025, the North American Values Institute, a think tank that is against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and equates anti-Israel speech with antisemitism, published multiple “backgrounders” on “rising antisemitism” in the Philadelphia School District in which they criticize Ismael and the social studies curriculum because it encourages students to investigate race, class, and inequality in the United States.
- On June 23, 2025, Canary Mission, a blacklisting and doxxing operation funded by wealthy pro-Israel supporters, including pro-Trump Islamophobic billionaire Sanford Diller, published a profile targeting Ismael.
- On November 24, 2025, citing numerous rightwing sources that have been attacking Ismael, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, whose hearings on antisemitism have been called “McCarthyism 2.0” by the former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, launched an investigation into the School District of Philadelphia, in which they criticize the School District for continuing to employ Ismael.
- On February 11, 2026, CAMERA, a pro-Israel media watchdog, published an 80 page report criticizing Ismael and the Philadelphia social studies curriculum for being antiracist and worrying that it might create an “erosion of national pride” amongst students.
While partnering with parent, student, and community groups, TAG is committed to fostering positive school transformation, environments where students and teachers can thrive, and community ownership and influence within education.
While partnering with parent, student, and community groups, TAG is committed to fostering positive school transformation, environments where students and teachers can thrive, and community ownership and influence within education.