Assembly committee advances bill to address antisemitism in K-12 schools

Assemblymember Zibur and Assemblymember Don Addis presented AB 715 to the California State Assembly Education Committee, saying the bill is intended to strengthen protections against antisemitism in K–12 schools and to make it easier for districts and the state to respond when students are targeted.

At the hearing, the committee heard more than two hours of testimony from supporters — including a student, parents and Jewish organizations — and from opponents who said the bill, as written, could suppress legitimate classroom discussion about Israel and Palestine and create unintended legal and administrative burdens for districts.

"At its core, this bill is a civil rights and social justice bill, pure and simple," Assemblymember Zibur said in opening remarks, citing data he said show a recent surge in antisemitic incidents. His joint author, Assemblymember Don Addis, summarized the measure as aimed at preventing and responding to antisemitism and said, "AB 715 does 1 thing. It fights antisemitism in our K‑12 schools." Both authors described the draft before the committee as intent language that they plan to refine with stakeholders.

Supporters described students' experiences in classrooms and campus settings. Ella, a middle‑school student from the Bay Area who testified in support, said: "From a happy middle schooler with many friends, I was reduced to loneliness and abuse. They called me the Jew. They yelled at me that I was a murderer and that Jews were terrorists." David Beaucarsley, executive director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), told the committee, "Students are being exposed to increasingly biased content and outright antisemitism in their schools," and urged passage so districts have stronger tools to act.

Opponents included teachers, ethnic‑studies faculty, civil‑liberties groups and parents who warned the bill's language is vague and could be used to challenge curricula and classroom discussion. Gabriel Khan, an Oakland humanities teacher, said the bill "as it is written, jeopardizes not only the study of Palestinian history or ethnic studies, but our existing English and history curriculum as well." Carlos Machado of the California School Boards Association told the committee the measure's proposed changes to Education Code section 244 and the expansion of the Uniform Complaint Procedure could put school boards in a position of micromanaging classroom materials and expose districts to new complaints. "The planned expansion of the UCP is also problematic. Board members are locally elected and accountable to their communities," Machado said.

David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, urged a cautious approach: "Teachers should never be scapegoated for addressing controversial issues in the classroom," he said, and added that CTA had not yet taken a formal position but had serious concerns about unintended consequences.

Committee members pressed the authors on implementation details. In response, Zibur and Addis said the bill is currently intent language and that they plan to work with teachers' unions, school boards and civil‑liberties groups to define operative language — including how the bill would interact with the Uniform Complaint Procedure (UCP) and Education Code sections referenced at the hearing (Ed. Code §244 and Ed. Code §220). The authors repeatedly said the goal is to protect students who are targeted for their religion or nationality while preserving legitimate classroom discussion.

After the presentations and public testimony, the committee voted to pass AB 715 to the Appropriations Committee. The secretary called the roll; Members Marisucci, Hoover, Addis, Alvarez, Bonta, Castillo, Garcia, Lowenthal and Patel recorded aye votes. The motion was recorded as "passed to appropriations." The motion and roll call were the committee's formal action; no additional amendments were adopted at the hearing.

The hearing included extended, sometimes emotional exchanges between supporters urging immediate protections for Jewish students and opponents who described the bill as vague and potentially censorial. Several committee members, including Assemblymember Bonta and Assemblymember Alvarez, encouraged continued, collaborative negotiations among authors, unions, school boards and civil‑liberties organizations as the bill moves forward. The authors committed to ongoing stakeholder discussions and to refining the bill's operative language before subsequent committee hearings.

Ending: AB 715 advanced out of the Education Committee and will be considered next by the Appropriations Committee. The authors and multiple stakeholders said they will continue negotiations to clarify definitions and implementation details, including the scope of the UCP and how the bill will treat classroom instruction about Israel and Palestine.