US EditionProtecting Jewish Students or Chilling Speech? Inside California’s ‘Hardest’ Fight over Antisemitism
Assembly Bill 715 aims to curb rising antisemitism in California schools amid concerns it may limit free speech on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with anti-Jewish bias reports doubling since 2021.
- This month, Gov. Gavin Newsom, California governor, signed Assembly Bill 715 into law after months of political tussling and multiple last-minute rewrites.
- Last year and beyond, rising anti-Jewish incidents pushed lawmakers to act, as reports of bias in schools doubled between 2021 and 2024, prompting California's Jewish lawmakers to prioritize this year.
- A broad coalition of teachers unions, school boards, civil-rights advocates and Muslim community organizations opposed an earlier July draft, fearing censorship of pro-Palestinian voices and threats to academic freedom.
- The law establishes a state Office of Civil Rights and an antisemitism prevention coordinator to track complaints and coordinate training, and supporters say it reinforces longstanding teaching norms by dropping Israeli-Palestinian conflict references.
- Legal fights are already surfacing in classrooms and courts, with AB 715 testing free-speech limits after a Los Angeles federal judge rebuked parents and Kansas law banned antisemitic curricula.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Times of San Diego
Protecting Jewish students or chilling speech? Inside California’s ‘hardest’ fight over antisemitism
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Tears welling in her eyes, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan paused mid-sentence to calm herself on the Assembly floor. Almost a century ago, the Nazis forced her grandmother to flee Austria, leaving behind her great-great-grandmother who died in the Holocaust, the Jewish Democrat from San Ramon told her fellow lawmakers. Last year, she said, her daughter told her…
abc10 Sacramento
My Mother LodeCalifornia law seeks to counter antisemitism in schools; critics say it has free speech implications
Tears welling in her eyes, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan paused mid-sentence to calm herself on the Assembly floor.
California’s Fierce Fight Over Antisemitism in Schools
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Tears welling in her eyes, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan paused mid-sentence to calm herself on the Assembly floor. Yue Stella Yu Mikhail Zinshteyn CalMatters Almost a century ago, the Nazis forced her grandmother to flee Austria, leaving behind her great-great-grandmother who died in the Holocaust, the Jewish Democrat from San Ramon told her fellow lawmakers…
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