NJ Education Report

Today the New York Times is breaking news about South Orange-Maplewood Public Schools. Back in October 2021, Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad heard that a second-grade teacher, Tamar Herman, had pulled off the hijab of one of her students. Muhammad broadcast the accusation on Instagram, where it went viral. Then Gov. Phil Murphy weighed in on Twitter.

A statewide Islamic organization called for the teacher’s “immediate firing” and got a spot on Good Morning America.

There was so much media attention that elementary school SOMA students couldn’t got outside for recess. Litigation moved forward. The teacher, Tamar Herman, hired a civil rights attorney and last March the second-grader’s family, the Wyatts, filed a civil lawsuit against district administrators, school board members, and Herman. (It was dismissed.) Residents came to school board meetings: one parent demanded the district apologize to Herman and reinstate her (she’s still suspended) after the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office concluded, “there is insufficient evidence to sustain a criminal prosecution in this case.”

Now, reports the Times, Tamar Herman has filed “a defamation suit that accuses the Olympian and the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Rights and its director of causing ‘irreparable harm.'”

In the lawsuit Herman says she “brushed back” a hoodie from the child’s face that was covering her eyes, “believing that the girl was wearing her typical ‘form-fitting’ hijab underneath. She said she immediately replaced the head covering and apologized to the girl once she realized her error.” Also, she says, in October 2021 when the incident occurred, all the children in her classroom were wearing COVID face masks, rendering it hard to see the hijab.

The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 5 in Union County Superior Court, also alleges that Ms. Herman is so afraid for her safety in the community where she taught for 20 years and also lived that she has had to permanently move out of her home. ‘She’s been ostracized by her community,’ said her lawyer, Erik Dykema. 

Dykema added that Herman’s  reputation has been so damaged she’ll “never be hired by another public school district.” In addition, the lawsuit says Herman, who is Jewish, has been subjected to “antisemitic vitriol and hatred.”