I Asked My Son’s FCPS Principal to Add Hebrew to a School Mural. Here’s What Happened Next.

As previously reported by Washington Jewish Week, in late November, Rep. Tim Walberg announced that Congress would investigate alleged antisemitism in three school districts across the country, including Fairfax County Public Schools. As a Jewish parent in FCPS, I was surprised. Antisemitism is a problem everywhere, and of course Jewish families want our children to be safe and supported in school. But this investigation doesn’t reflect my experience thus far as a FCPS parent.

Last spring, my son’s elementary school shared a new welcome mural in the front office: a huge world map with the word “Welcome” written in many languages: Spanish. Vietnamese. Arabic. Tagalog. Amharic. Russian. Kurdish. Chinese. French. It was beautiful.

But then I quickly noticed Hebrew wasn’t there.

It brought back a familiar feeling. I grew up as one of just a few Jewish students in my public schools in my northern Virginia suburb. My son is having a similar experience today. Seeing that Hebrew wasn’t included gave me that old, quiet pang: that moment of wanting to see yourself reflected and your cultural identity included.

But the mural wasn’t finished yet, so I decided to ask. I emailed the principal and gently inquired whether “shalom” could be added if the painters were still working at the school.

What I received back was one of the warmest, most inclusive responses I could have imagined. The principal explained that the languages for the mural had been pulled directly from the Student Information System of the spoken languages of the student body. In other words, it wasn’t that Hebrew had been excluded. It was that the school had chosen the spoken home languages of the children walking those hallways every day.

And then he told me the painters were still there and that Hebrew had already been added, sending a photo of the updated mural, now including “shalom.”

Here is what makes that so remarkable: Hebrew isn’t a home language for any student in this building, including my own family. The mural captures the spoken languages of the school community, and Hebrew doesn’t fit that category. But the principal immediately understood why I hoped to see it included: because Hebrew is the language of the Jewish people, and its presence would help my child see his culture reflected too. In a moment when so many stories circulate about hostility toward Israel and blatant antisemitism, here was an FCPS principal saying “yes” without hesitation.

This is a snapshot of my experience so far as a Jewish parent in Fairfax County. I don’t share this to negate the very real instances of antisemitism others have experienced in FCPS. But I do share it because those instances cannot be the only story told about our schools, and they should not be weaponized to paint a distorted picture of a system where so much real inclusion is happening every day.

Which is why the congressional investigation into FCPS feels so disconnected from reality. Antisemitism exists in every community. It is not a unique or defining problem of the three school districts Congress has chosen to single out. What is happening is part of a larger pattern: MAGA Republicans increasingly using antisemitism as a political weapon to go after public education and higher education.

If Congress wants to support Jewish kids — or any kids — there is no shortage of meaningful work to do. They could stop threatening Title I funding for schools that rely on it to hire reading specialists, counselors and intervention staff. They could protect and strengthen SNAP and WIC so that children come to school nourished and ready to learn. They could invest in early childhood programs, school-based mental health support and special education services, all of which families depend on every day.

But instead of focusing on what actually keeps students safe, housed, fed, educated and supported, we are watching elected officials turn Jewish students into props in a larger effort to undermine public education itself.

Jewish leaders also have a role to play here. We have every reason to take antisemitism seriously, but we should be extremely wary of aligning with political efforts that aren’t actually about protecting Jewish students.

Our job is to fight antisemitism in a way that strengthens our communities, not to champion a congressional witch hunt that does nothing to make our kids safer.

We need Jewish leadership that is willing to say clearly: The safety of Jewish children in our schools will not come from congressional hearings and punitive investigations. It will come from strong, well-resourced public schools; trained educators who know how to teach across lines of difference; a multicultural curriculum that meaningfully includes Judaism and antisemitism; curriculum that teaches empathy, history and civic responsibility; and intentional opportunities for students to build connections across backgrounds and beliefs.

As a Jewish parent in FCPS, I say: we don’t need leaders using our schools for political theater. We need leaders committed to ensuring that every child — no matter their background — has what they need to thrive.

Shira Zemel is the director of the abortion access campaign at National Council of Jewish Women, where she mobilizes the Jewish community nationwide to advance reproductive health, rights and justice. Born and raised in the D.C. area, she is a proud graduate of Arlington Public Schools and a member of Temple Micah in Washington, D.C.