StandWithUs condemns effort to gut legislation protecting against antisemitism in schools

LOS ANGELES (Press Release) — StandWithUs strongly condemns Assembly Bill 2159 (AB 2159), introduced by CA Assemblymember Robert Garcia. This bill would gut key provisions from AB 715, California’s landmark law aimed at fighting antisemitism in K-12 schools.

Assemblymember Garcia “worked closely” with the California Faculty Association (CFA), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) California, the Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC) Action, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), SEIU California, and the California Labor Federation to develop AB 2159. This is deeply disturbing, because four out of these six groups have records of promoting or enabling hatred and violent extremism.

“It is shameful that Assemblymember Garcia not only introduced a bill that would harm Jewish students, but ‘worked closely’ on it with organizations that have promoted or enabled antisemitism. All legislators should reject efforts by these groups to influence policy in the state of California,” said David Smokler, Executive Director of the StandWithUs K-12 Fairness Center. “The Assemblymember should apologize and withdraw AB 2159, which is a transparent ploy to prevent extremists from being held accountable for spreading hate in K-12 schools.”

AB 2159 would harm the Jewish community and public trust in California’s education system by:

Removing references to the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism from AB 715. This would make it easier for extremists who support the elimination of Israel, celebrated the October 7^th massacre, and promote other forms of antisemitism to spread their hateful agenda in schools.
Stripping out protections against bias, advocacy, partisanship, and one-sided political agendas in classrooms.
Decreasing the authority and influence of the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator role created by AB 715, and making it harder to hold the Coordinator accountable.

AB 715 passed after years of advocacy, negotiation, and coalition-building among Jewish families, educators, and community leaders. AB 2159 was introduced without any consultation with mainstream Jewish organizations or legislators. Instead, it was developed in close coordination with the following groups:

CFA, which smeared Jewish California (formerly JPAC) – a large coalition of California Jewish organizations – by falsely claiming they “harm working people.” The Chair of CFA’s political action committee has a record of repeatedly glorifying Louis Farrakhan, and supported a statement claiming that the October 7^th Massacre “must not be condemned.”
CAIR California, which opposed funding for the California Teachers Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education, actively participated in the illegal and antisemitic UCLA encampment, and framed “Zionist synagogues” and Hillel chapters as “enemies” of the Muslim community. On a national level, a court filing by a former CAIR board member alleged “numerous instances of antisemitism” within the organization, “including when two different CAIR chapter board chairs posted bigoted videos and articles to a CAIR nationwide forum.”
AROC, which celebrated the atrocities Hamas committed on October 7, 2023 and claimed Israel was “entirely responsible” for the violence. An investigation found that AROC violated San Francisco Unified School District policy by meeting with students on school grounds prior to an anti-Israel protest. AROC’s Executive Director is on record claiming that, “bringing down Israel really will benefit everyone in the world.”
JVP – a member of the Coalition for Liberated Ethnic Studies (CLES), which celebrated the October 7^th massacre as a “victory” and promotes antisemitic narratives in K-12 schools. JVP itself blamed Israelis for the genocidal atrocities committed by Hamas and has a broader record of promoting or enabling extremism and hate.

“What truly harms working people is unions aligning themselves with campaigns of hate. As a former union organizer, I urge SEIU California and California Labor Federation to withdraw their support of AB 2159,” Smokler concluded.

We thank Jewish California for their leadership and will continue to work with partners across the state to oppose AB 2159. We also urge Californians to join our campaign against the bill by clicking HERE.

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StandWithUs condemns effort to gut legislation protecting against antisemitism in schools

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