California commission cites rising hate-crime trends, hears public calls to address antisemitism in K–12

The California Commission on the State of Hate met Aug. 28 in Sacramento and by videoconference to receive subcommittee updates on research, law-enforcement training and community forums and to hear a series of public comments urging the commission to address antisemitism in K–12 schools.

Chair Russell Roybal opened the meeting and noted the commission’s staff will provide links in chat to resources such as the California versus Hate reporting line and the Community Conflict Resolution Unit operated by the California Civil Rights Department. He also told commissioners the commission’s annual report has completed copy editing and design and is under final review by the governor’s office and the Department of Civil Rights.

Why it matters: Commissioners said data and outreach will shape any policy recommendations. Several speakers urged the commission to place K–12 antisemitism on a future agenda so the commission can gather testimony and recommend concrete steps for schools and state officials.

Commissioner Senar, chairing the subcommittee on data and research, outlined two near-term research efforts: a late-October convening with the UCLA Institute for the Study of Hate focused on online hate and on K–12 conflict-resolution approaches, and an informational presentation on restorative justice and its potential role in hate-incident responses. “I think there’s clear demand for more evidence-based research around hate prevention,” Senar said.

On law enforcement, Commissioner Damske summarized the subcommittee’s work with POST (the Peace Officer Standards and Training agency) on an AB449 training video and previewed outreach about Assemblymember Chris Ward’s Stop Hate Littering Act (AB3024). Damske criticized the video draft for downplaying the primary reporting requirement: “Whereas the primary mandate of AB449 is to fill out the form, in the video, this is treated more as an aside,” he said, and raised accessibility concerns about the video’s contrast and text overlays.

Public commenters described local experiences and urged action. Hector Ramirez of the Los Angeles County Commission on Disabilities told the commission disability-related bias is underreported and invited commissioners to present to county stakeholders. Rosalyn Shorenstein described a dispute in Pajaro Valley Unified School District and said, “The contractor then mobilized the Coalition of Liberated Ethnic Studies, which defamed us by name on their national website and petitions,” urging the commission to examine antisemitism in schools.

Educators and parents pressed the point: Laurie Myers, a K–8 assistant principal, summarized local tracking that showed a high rate of antisemitic incidents and urged the commission to add K–12 antisemitism to a future agenda: “We need education. We need oversight. We need enforcement,” she said.

Commissioner Levin presented multi-city survey figures that he said show year-over-year increases in reported bias incidents, citing several percentage increases in particular categories of reported incidents. He and other commissioners cautioned that the available data have significant reporting gaps and that results should be interpreted with those limits in mind.

What’s next: Commissioners discussed several possible follow-ups — scheduling hearings with school communities, completing the literature review on hate-crime law efficacy, reviewing the next draft of the POST training video, and moving forward with the October research convening. Multiple commissioners and members of the public asked staff to consider placing K–12 antisemitism on an upcoming agenda so the education subcommittee can hear extended testimony.

The meeting included routine business (approval of the July minutes) and ended with a motion to adjourn in honor of outgoing Commissioner Senar.