California Legislature Passes AB715 to Guard against Antisemitism in Public Schools

SACRAMENTO, California (Press Release) – The California State Assembly gave final approval late Friday to Assembly Bill 715, landmark legislation to combat antisemitism in California’s K-12 public schools, in a bipartisan 71-0, with 9 abstentions. The final vote count is still subject to change in the next few hours, but the outcome is final. This follows a strong bipartisan 35-0 vote, with 5 abstentions, in the Senate earlier in the evening.
Having now passed both chambers of the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support, the bill moves to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for signature.

“With today’s vote, California has taken a historic stand against antisemitism in our schools,” said JPAC Executive Director David Bocarsly. “For far too long, Jewish students have endured slurs, bullying, and open hostility in their classrooms with nowhere to turn. AB 715 is a promise to those students — and to all children in California — that they are not invisible, that their safety and dignity matter, and that our state will not stand idly by in the face of hate. This bill is about more than policy. It’s about protecting children, defending civil rights, and ensuring every student can walk into school proud of who they are. We urge Governor Newsom to sign AB 715 into law without delay, so California can lead the nation in saying loudly and clearly: hate has no place in our public schools.”

Authored by Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur and Dawn Addis, sponsored by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), supported by a coalition of more than 70 Jewish organizations, and principally co-authored by the Chairs of Jewish, Black, Latino, and AAPI Legislative Caucuses; the recently amended version of AB 715 will help prevent and combat antisemitism in California’s K-12 public schools and maintain an inclusive learning environment that protects all students’ abilities to learn and speak freely by:

–Giving schools the tools to identify, respond to, prevent, and counter antisemitism;

—Ensuring classroom content and materials are unbiased, respectful, and welcoming to everyone;

–Creating an Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to educate teachers and school leaders about antisemitism, track incidents, advise on accountability measures, and recommend future legislation; –

–Requiring an annual notification to all schools on the protections, requirements, and responsibilities in this bill.

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Preceding provided by Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California

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REACTION

California Teachers Association Resisted and Weakened the Legislation

StandWithUs thanks the California state legislature for passing Assembly Bill 715 (AB 715), a bill to fight antisemitism in K-12 public schools. The bill passed the State Senate 33-0 and the Assembly 71-0, in votes taking place on September 12 and in the early hours of September 13. It was authored by Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur and Dawn Addis, and supported by the leadership of the Jewish, Black, Latino, and Asian & Pacific Islander legislative caucuses. As an organization that is based in California and works with students, parents, and educators across the state, we believe AB715 is an important step in the right direction.
“Antisemitism in K-12 education is a major crisis. AB 715 creates new tools to address this proactively, protect Jewish students from discrimination, hold school districts accountable, and stop outside interests from weaponizing our schools to promote hate,” said Roz Rothstein, CEO and Co-Founder of StandWithUs. “We deeply appreciate the tireless work of legislators, some of whom endured outrageous attempts to smear and intimidate them. This bill was weakened, in part because interest groups who are complicit in K-12 antisemitism have so much influence over our education system. While we achieved progress, much remains to be done if California is going to earn back the trust of Jewish families.”
Antisemitic incidents have increased by 210% in the last decade, according to the California Department of Justice. Meanwhile, the ADL reports that in 2023 antisemitic incidents in K-12 schools across the United States increased by 135%. In a 2024 ADL study, 71% of Jewish parents reported that their children encountered antisemitism in the classroom. StandWithUs also does in-depth tracking of developments in schools and districts across the state, and provided legislators with key examples of how bigotry against Jews is becoming institutionalized in the education system.
“As an organization that works in high schools across California, we hear constant and heartbreaking stories about the ignorance, hate, bullying, and even violence that Jewish students face,” said Kate Chavez, Executive Director of High School Affairs at StandWithUs. “We are proud of our student leaders who helped get AB 715 passed, by telling their stories to key decisionmakers in the Senate and Assembly.”
During the process of negotiating AB 715, the California Teachers Association (CTA) emerged as a major obstacle and repeatedly acted in bad faith. This drew condemnation from Jewish organizations across the state, including StandWithUs. Numerous local chapters of CTA have promoted antisemitism, especially since the massacre on October 7. For example, the largest union within CTA – United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) – demanded that Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) cut all ties with Echoes and Reflections, one of the leading Holocaust education providers in the United States.
“As a former teachers union officer, it’s deeply disturbing that major CTA chapters have actively contributed to the hostile environment that Jewish students and teachers are facing in California schools,” said David Smokler, Executive Director of the K-12 Fairness Center. “This shows how systemic antisemitism has become, and it is unfortunately no surprise that CTA fought so hard to stop a bill aimed at addressing the problem. We know that many CTA members want their union to change course and start being part of the solution.”
We thank the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), Jewish Federation of LA, American Jewish Committee, ADL, Bay Area Jewish Coalition, and so many other partners, community leaders, and grassroots activists who came together to support AB 715. We are proud to be part of the largest coalition of Jewish organizations to ever support a bill in the California state legislature. Going forward, we will continue to use all tools at our disposal to fight antisemitism in K-12 public schools across the state.


Preceding provided by StandWithUs