Supporters of a disciplined Northeast High teacher disrupt Philly school board meeting

Dozens of parents, teachers and community members disrupted a Philadelphia school board meeting Thursday, demanding answers about an award-winning Northeast High teacher who was removed from her job because of personal social media posts and activism around Palestinians and the war in Gaza.

Keziah Ridgeway, they said, was removed from her job teaching African American history, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes at Northeast High.

After a number of members of Philadelphia Educators for Palestine and Philadelphia Parents for Palestine addressed school district leaders at a board meeting Thursday night, they said they were tired of the school system’s inaction. Several dozen unfurled signs and marched to the front of the meeting room.

Board members quickly departed the room while Ridgeway’s supporters chanted.

“Let our students learn! Let our teachers teach!” the protesters shouted. “This body is not operating in good faith, and we are here, we are here tonight, demanding the reinstatement of Keziah Ridgeway to her classroom.”

About 30 minutes later, board president Reginald Streater said he had decided to recess the meeting, but called it back to order. The board voted on its agenda — including approving two Keystone Opportunity Zones — in private. Reporters and members of the public were not permitted to be in the room during the votes, but the proceedings were livestreamed on the district’s website.

Monique Braxton, a spokesperson for the school district, said the meeting recessed because of the disruption and the continuation did not violate the state Sunshine Act.

After the meeting concluded, protesters vowed to remain.

“We aren’t leaving,” they chanted as school security officers surrounded them. “This is illegitimate.”

More than an hour after they first shut the meeting down, Ridgeway’s supporters left the building.

At the beginning of the school year, Ridgeway, who in 2020 won a prestigious Lindback Award for distinguished teaching, was the subject of a complaint by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. The complaint accused Ridgeway of using her job to teach anti-Israel views and threaten some Jewish parents via her personal social media accounts, including one with a gun emoji.

Ridgeway, who has vociferously denied any wrongdoing, was removed from her classroom shortly after the complaint was filed. She was not present at Thursday’s meeting.

But her supporters were full-throated in their praise for an educator who they said has been subject to harassment and unfair treatment for months.

“For every district official who participated in the baseless censure of Ms. Ridgeway, this is the legacy you leave behind,” district teacher Hannah Gann said. “Regardless of what career steps you hope to climb by capitulating to white supremacy, you will be remembered for tarnishing the career of one of the best Black history teachers in this city.”

Among those who spoke out for Ridgeway were several of her students.

Sophia Thompson said Ridgeway has had a profound impact on Northeast students like her — not just academically, but because of what Ridgeway, who is Black and Muslim, represents to many. But she is a strong supporter of all young people, not just those who look like her and believe the things she does, Ridgeway’s students said.

Students, particularly those in Ridgeway’s AP and IB classes, are falling behind, Thompson said; some have dropped the advanced classes.

Sharmina Rahman, another Northeast student, said the district must protest student rights and safety.

“From my perspective as a Muslim, it seems that whenever any effort is taken when the topic of Palestine is brought to light within [Northeast], it gets shut down,” Rahman said. “It is rather upsetting to see how the topic of Palestine raises many objections from across the district and within school.”

Arun Kundnani’s daughter attends Penn Alexander in West Philadelphia, but he felt moved to advocate for Ridgeway because she’s the kind of teacher he thinks all Philadelphia students deserve, he said.

Kundnani and others said they believe the district is not following its own policy around allowing students to explore controversial issues.

“This seems to me to be a new form of McCarthyism,” Kundnani said. Ridgeway, he said, “has been targeted because she refuses to censor her students from expressing opinions that some people disagree with.”

Arielle Sternman, a Jewish Philadelphia parent who supports Ridgeway, said officials must apologize to Northeast students.

“You are allowing this group in the shadows to conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism,” Sternman told the board. “The kids who should be in her class are essentially being punished.”