Guidance for K-12 Schools on Teaching About Elections

American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, is offering guidance to K-12 school administrators on best practices for supporting teaching about elections in schools. This includes ensuring teachers do not insert their own political beliefs in the classroom, fostering dialogue about critical issues raised by candidates, and addressing questions about individual candidate stances and statements that are, or are perceived to be antisemitic, divisive, or inflammatory.

BACKGROUND

From local municipal elections to state and national elections, civic involvement is foundational to thriving republics and democracies. Schools play a vital role in building civic awareness, modeling democratic values, and fostering productive conversations about the critical issues that face our country. However, election cycles can also be challenging for schools. Political discourse intensifies as election day approaches, and students sometimes bring misinformation and/or divisive, inflammatory rhetoric from home and social media into their schools. Contentious elections are fertile ground for conspiratorial, binary, and polarized thinking—the same kind of thinking that fosters and normalizes antisemitism. This guidance helps schools prepare to address these issues while maintaining educational environments rooted in critical thinking, viewpoint diversity, and fact-based inquiry. 

American Jewish Committee is a 501c3 non-partisan organization that does not endorse or oppose any candidate. However, we are compelled to speak out when public figures, including candidates for office, use rhetoric or endorse policies that harm Jews.

WHY TEACH ABOUT ELECTIONS

Democracy Requires Educated Citizens 

• Students need to understand how elections work, why they matter, and how to evaluate candidates and policies, preparing them as future voters to participate responsibly in democratic processes.
• Critical thinking about political issues strengthens civic engagement and democratic institutions. 

Elections Provide Real-World Learning Opportunities 

• Current events make abstract civics concepts concrete and relevant.
• Elections offer opportunities for skill-building through analyzing primary sources, evaluating arguments, and practicing civil discourse.
• Election cycles offer teachable moments about media literacy, rhetoric, and persuasion.

AWARENESS: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ANTISEMITIC DISCOURSE IN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

Elections, like other moments of transition or stress in a society, have historically been, and continue to be, triggers for increased antisemitism. Antisemitic rhetoric in election discourse can include:

• Conspiracy myths about Jewish influence, control of media, banks, or government (for example, in California, Faculty union targets Jewish political money).
• “Dual loyalty" accusations suggesting Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their own country (for example, statements questioning whether Jews can be "loyal Americans" or pressuring Jews to vote a certain way based on assumptions about their identity).
• Scapegoating Jews for social, economic, or political problems or blaming for a candidate’s victory or loss (pre-emptively or post-election).
• Using language ostensibly rooted in political criticism of the State of Israel that has resulted in discrimination, harassment, or violence against Jews.
• Coded antisemitic language or imagery that may not be immediately recognizable but perpetuates harmful stereotypes.

ACTION STEPS

Establish Clear Guidelines for Faculty and Staff

• Ensure that the school’s faculty code of conduct clearly delineates policies that prohibit faculty from displaying partisan political symbols, slogans, or candidate endorsements in classrooms or on school grounds.
• Require neutral facilitation of political discussions - teachers should present multiple perspectives without revealing personal preferences.
• Remind faculty that they should never engage with students on social media, and that their rhetoric online affects school culture and can undermine students' sense of belonging.
• Address violations consistently and promptly.

Prepare Teachers to Facilitate Election Discussions

• Frame election education as essential civic preparation, not partisan activity.
• Provide professional development on facilitating politically sensitive discussions using fact-based inquiry and primary sources that will help students develop the analytical skills that they will need as future voters.
• Ensure teachers know how to create space for multiple viewpoints while maintaining respectful dialogue. Students retain the right to express their political views within the bounds of respectful discourse and school policy; faculty, however, should remain politically neutral in their professional roles.
• Provide teachers with education enabling them to recognize and address antisemitic tropes and other forms of bias in political rhetoric.
  • Do not ignore or minimize antisemitic statements, even when they come from a major candidate or political figure.

Ensure Robust Digital Citizenship Education

• Provide education for students on how to identify misinformation, conspiracy theories, and biased sources.
• Help students understand how social media algorithms promote extreme content and hate speech. This can include professional development for faculty on how to teach responsible digital citizenship.
• Encourage students to seek multiple sources and evaluate claims critically.

 Support Student and Faculty Well-being

• Check in with Jewish students, faculty, and affinity groups about their well-being during election seasons in which antisemitic rhetoric has appeared.
• Provide opportunities for all students to discuss concerns in structured, facilitated settings.
• Ensure counseling and mental health resources are available.
• Make clear that antisemitism and all forms of hate will not be tolerated in your school.

Communicate with Parents and Families

• Send clear messages about how the school approaches election-related education.
• Emphasize that teaching about elections is essential preparation for citizenship and democratic participation, not political indoctrination.
• Explain policies regarding faculty political neutrality and student expression.
• Address how the school responds to inflammatory or antisemitic political rhetoric.
• Invite families to share concerns and ask questions.
• Remind the school community that political diversity exists within all communities, including the Jewish community.

Review Student Codes of Conduct

• Clarify rules about political expression, protests, and walkouts, including how the school handles divisive or inflammatory political speech by students, in school or online.
• Ensure policies apply equally to all students, regardless of political viewpoint.
• Make protocols transparent and enforce them consistently.

Guidance to Share with Teachers When Addressing Candidate Statements

• Focus on analyzing rhetoric, not endorsing or condemning candidates.
• Emphasize critical thinking skills that students can apply to any political discourse.
• Use specific examples to teach students how to identify problematic language (e.g., slogans like "From the river to the sea" or "Globalize the Intifada," conspiracy myths about Jewish control, dual loyalty accusations).
• If a candidate's statement is antisemitic, name it clearly while maintaining educational focus.
• Connect antisemitic statements to broader patterns (antisemitic tropes, scapegoating, conspiratorial thinking).

TIMELINE FOR ACTION 

At the start of the school year: Communicate the content of faculty and student codes of conduct, offer professional development for faculty. 

As the election season begins: Communicate with families about how elections will be taught in school and about school policies on political speech on school grounds; check in with affinity groups. 

During election season: Monitor discourse, provide opportunities for students to process rhetoric and challenges, and enforce codes of conduct. 

After elections: Debrief with students, address any incidents, evaluate what worked and what needs adjustment for future cycles.

RESOURCES

Trusted curriculum providers, such as Facing History & Ourselves, provide lesson plans to support the teaching of civics and US elections. 

In addition, AJC resources offer the perspective of the mainstream Jewish community to help schools navigate these challenges: 

• In the rush to vilify Israel, genocide scholars ignored the truth by Dr. Sara E. Brown
• AJC Translate Hate glossary: Explains antisemitic terms and tropes
• IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism: Framework for identifying antisemitism
• AJC’s State of Antisemitism in America 2024 Report: Current data and trends
• AJC's Guide to Jewish Religion, Culture, and Holiday Observances: For scheduling considerations during election season

We're here to help. Contact us!

AJC recognizes that every school community is different and has distinctive needs. We are here to help assist you in addressing them. AJC’s Center for Education Advocacy is your partner in fostering a deeper understanding of the Jewish people, combating antisemitism, and helping build a school environment resilient against all forms of hate. For consultation, educational programming, or to discuss specific challenges your school is facing, we’re here to help. Contact us!

Email: [email protected]
Visit: AJC.org/CEA