We love ourselves too often and need reach out much more often. It is a social responsibility and it effects the environment also.
A view of the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, File) A view of the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, File) A controversial California bill designed to create content standards for mandatory high school ethnic studies courses and prevent antisemitism in classrooms was pulled by its authors Wednesday. The move marks the second time an attempt to restrict what can be taught in ethnic studies courses has failed to gain traction, despite support from more than two dozen Democrats in the state Assembly and Senate. Have $1M+? Try Our Calculator Ad Have $1M+? Try Our Calculator Fisher Investments Learn more call to action icon Ethnic studies has been a contentious topic in California classrooms for several years, but tensions have skyrocketed amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and sparked student protests, district lawsuits and community rifts. A state mandate passed in 2021 requires public high schools to offer a course in ethnic studies by the 2025-26 school year. By 2030, students won’t be able to graduate without it. But California teachers and school districts are mostly free to design their own courses, with a hard-fought state model curriculum established in 2021 as the only set of guidelines for educators. Several Bay Area schools have been caught in the crossfire amid claims their course content is antisemitic, igniting lawsuits, campaigns to recall school board members and retaliation against teachers. AB 1468, introduced by Democratic Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur of Los Angeles and Dawn Addis of San Luis Obispo, would have required the state Board of Education to adopt content standards for ethnic studies by January 2028, restrict course topics to “domestic” experiences and conflicts and require the state Board of Education to monitor and post online the course materials being taught in classrooms throughout the state. Giving Makes a Difference Ad Giving Makes a Difference ifcj.org Learn more call to action icon Zbur and Addis had introduced a similar bill last year, but it faced heavy opposition from the California Teachers’ Association and the California Faculty Association and was pulled by the authors. This week, Zbur and Addis pulled AB 1468 and introduced a new bill aimed at targeting antisemitism in California schools – AB 715. The bill is a joint effort between the chairs of California legislative diversity caucuses, including the Black, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander and Jewish caucuses. AB 715 would broaden existing anti-discrimination protections to include antisemitism and Islamophobia. The bill would also strengthen and reform the California Department of Education’s complaint process regarding discrimination and establish a state antisemitism coordinator. Zbur – a member of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus – said the decision to pull AB 1468 stemmed from collaboration between the diversity caucuses in creating AB 715 and an interest in focusing on expanding anti-discrimination protections for all students, especially Jewish students. The Truth About Annuities Ad The Truth About Annuities fisherinvestments.com Learn more call to action icon “We all arrived at a decision that the better way of handling this was to basically do something that is broader and applies broadly in schools,” Zbur said. Zbur said AB 715 would apply to all California school curriculum, not just ethnic studies, as well as discrimination outside of the classroom. “We are focused on all the ways in which Jewish students are being subjected to discrimination, ostracism and isolation in schools,” Zbur said. Tyler Gregory, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, praised the bill’s broader focus on discrimination and the creation of a state antisemitism coordinator. “Antisemitism is increasing in K-12 classrooms in California,” Gregory said in a statement Thursday. “We need a strategy that goes beyond just problems in some ethnic studies coursework.” In California, anti-Jewish bias events increased 24.3% from 152 in 2021 to 189 in 2022, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s audit of antisemitic incidents. But opponents of AB 715 – including the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center Action and Jewish Voice for Peace Action – have said the bill represents an “assault on academic freedom” and serves as an attempt to “silence voices advocating for Palestinian rights.” “This bill cloaks censorship in the language of combating antisemitism when, in reality, it is an attempt to erase Palestinian narratives and weaponize identity to chill protected speech,” said Hussam Ayloush, CEO of the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a statement. “Our classrooms should be places of truth, not tools of repression.” Theresa Montaña, a professor of ethnic studies at California State University Northridge and the chair of the California Faculty Association Teacher Education Caucus, criticized AB 715 for singling out antisemitism above all other forms of discrimination. “AB 715 risks turning every classroom disagreement into a political minefield, and every educator into a target,” Montaña said in a statement Wednesday. The bill comes as the Trump administration has targeted antisemitism at schools and universities across the country. The administration has opened investigations into 60 universities over allegations of antisemitic discrimination and harassment, including at California State University at Sacramento, Stanford University, UC Davis, UC San Diego and UC Berkeley. The University of California also faces a U.S. Justice Department investigation over claims the system allowed an “antisemitic hostile work environment.” And a federal task force charged with combating antisemitism is set to visit UC Berkeley to investigate allegations the university failed to protect Jewish students and faculty from harassment and discrimination. “Extremists and hate groups have made similar accusations for years claiming Jewish exceptionalism or even Jewish supremacy. And those notions really are very problematic,” Zbur said. “This is a bill about addressing a significant rise in antisemitism in the classroom. And actually having a bill that focuses on that is not only important, but is something that I think we as legislators are required to respond to.”
Share AB 715: Educational equity: discrimination: antisemitism prevention. Session Year: 2025-2026 House: Assembly Current Status: In Progress (2025-07-01: From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on ED.) Introduced First Committee Review First Chamber Second Committee Review Second Chamber Enacted Summary Bill Text Status Votes Supporters & Opponents Analysis Version: Amended Senate (7/1/2025) Existing (1)Existing law states the policy of the State of California is to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of their disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other specified characteristic, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state. Existing law prohibits the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, or the governing body of a charter school from adopting or approving the use of any textbook, instructional material, supplemental instructional material, or curriculum if its use would subject a pupil to unlawful discrimination, as specified. This bill would similarly prohibit, in addition to the existing prohibition on adopting or approving the use of these materials in these circumstances, allowing the use of these materials in these circumstances. By imposing additional duties on school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation to, among other things, strengthen protections against discrimination, including antisemitism, in K12 education, including protections against instruction and activity that promotes discrimination. This bill would similarly prohibit the adoption or approval of the use of professional development materials or services that promote, endorse, or otherwise support actions or the use of textbooks, instructional materials, supplemental instructional materials, or curriculum that would subject a pupil to unlawful discrimination, as specified. If the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, or the governing body of a charter school knows or has reason to know that materials were used in a classroom or an action occurred that resulted in unlawful discrimination, or knows or has reason to know that professional development materials or services were used that resulted in unlawful discrimination, the bill would require investigation and remediation of the action, as provided. The bill would provide that an antisemitic learning environment, as defined, created by a school district, county office of education, or charter school constitutes discrimination, as provided. The bill would specify that an antisemitic learning environment is created if any one of specified actions occur, as provided. This bill would establish the Office of the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator, under the administration of the State Board of Education. The bill would require the appointment of an Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator, as provided. The bill would require the office to, among other things, provide training, education, and educational resources to identify and prevent antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, and document and track all complaints made pursuant to the uniform complaint process involving antisemitism and take part in subsequent action, as provided. The bill would require the office, if it determines that a local educational agency has engaged in, allowed, or not taken the necessary action in response to a complaint of antisemitic discrimination, to notify the local educational agency that it has 30 days to address the offices concerns. Existing (2)Existing law, for purposes of certain related educational equity provisions, including the above-described prohibition on unlawful discrimination, defines nationality to include citizenship, county of origin, and national origin, and defines religion to include all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice, as provided. This bill would define nationality to also include a persons actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity, as provided. a persons country of birth or country of ancestral ties, and to include a social organization where a collective identity has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, as provided. The bill would define discrimination on the basis of religion to include, but not be limited to, antisemitism and Islamophobia. (3)Existing law authorizes a party to a written complaint of prohibited discrimination to appeal the action taken by the governing board of a school district to the State Department of Education. This bill would authorize a party to a written complaint of prohibited discrimination to appeal to the department based on the governing board of a school districts failure to issue an investigation report within a certain timeline. Existing law authorizes a person to file a complaint of an alleged violation with the local educational agency using the uniform complaint process or directly with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as provided. If the Superintendent determines that a local educational agency has violated that prohibition and has not taken corrective action within 60 days, existing law authorizes the department to use any means authorized to effect compliance. This bill would require corrective action to include, among other things, following a corrective action plan and increased department oversight. The bill would prohibit a course found to have resulted in unlawful discrimination, as provided, to be used to fulfill a graduation requirement for future pupils taking the course in subsequent academic years until corrective action is taken. If the unlawful discrimination involves antisemitism, the bill would require a corrective action plan to be created in consultation with the Office of the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator. If a determination is made that an organization has contracted to provide any textbook, instructional material, supplemental instructional material, or curriculum that violates specified laws that prohibit subjecting a pupil to unlawful discrimination, the bill would require a local educational agency or the Superintendent to notify the organization that it must take corrective action, as provided, and would require the organization found to be in violation to, among other things, reimburse all funds received for their services from the local educational agency. (4)Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. In setting standards, existing law requires the commission to seek to ensure that public school teachers, among other things, have an understanding of principles and laws related to educational equity and the equitable practice of the profession among all pupils regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, age, religious background, primary language, or disabling condition. This bill would require the commission to adopt training for educators to address hate or unlawful discrimination against the 6 most targeted groups in the state, as provided. The bill would also require the commission to ensure that all state-funded teacher training programs comply with the law, with enforcement by the department. (5)Existing law prohibits instruction or school-sponsored activities that promote a discriminatory bias on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, nationality, sexual orientation, or other characteristics, as provided. This bill would additionally prohibit instruction or school-sponsored activities that constitute an antisemitic learning environment, as provided. (6)Existing law prescribes substantive requirements and particular processes that local educational agencies are required to follow when adopting or evaluating instructional materials, as defined. This bill would require the governing board or body of a school district, county office of education, or charter school, when adopting instructional materials regarding Jews, Israel, or the Israel-Palestine conflict for use in schools, to meet specified requirements, including that the materials do not introduce or promote antisemitic content, as provided. This bill would require instruction that is provided in a public school that is related to a controversial issue to adhere to specified requirements, including that the instruction be presented in a balanced manner without vilifying or ostracizing any pupil or group of pupils, and without promoting any particular opinion or portraying opinion as a matter of fact. (7)By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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