Senate education committee advances AB 715 to create Office of Civil Rights, antisemitism coordinator after hours of testimony

The California Senate Education Committee voted 6-0 to advance AB 715, authored by Assemblymember Zabir and joint author Assemblymember Don Addis, to the Senate Judiciary Committee after more than four hours of testimony from hundreds of witnesses. The bill would create a state Office of Civil Rights and an antisemitism prevention coordinator to provide recommendations, technical assistance and resources to school districts and educators.

Supporters and the bill’s authors said the measure is intended to address a documented rise in antisemitic incidents in California schools and to give educators more tools to prevent and respond to harassment. Assemblymember Zabir said, “Jewish students in California are facing hate at crisis proportions,” and called AB 715 “about values that we all share — safety, dignity, and equality and protecting all of our students.” Assemblymember Don Addis said the bill creates prevention and response pathways, a website of resources for school communities and a coordinator post inside the new Office of Civil Rights.

Student and congregational testimony put a human face on the bill’s aim. Lev Miller Ruderman, a high school student who testified, described being targeted by classmates and said, “By being bystanders, they were complicit in targeting me for being a Jew.” Rabbi Jacqueline Mates Munchen of Temple Isaiah in Oakland said antisemitism in Oakland schools “is not new, but it has been emboldened in the last 2 years,” and described students, parents and teachers who she said had been marginalized…