On the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 715, establishing a state office of civil rights and an antisemitism prevention coordinator to address claims of bias in public schools. He also signed Senate Bill 48, which creates four additional coordinator roles focused on addressing and preventing religious, racial, ethnic, gender, and anti-LGBTQ discrimination. The bills, Newsom said, “make clear our schools must be places of learning, not hate.”

The pair of new state laws focused on the state’s public schools has been met with controversy — embraced by many California Jewish organizations and sharply criticized by free speech advocates. One of the laws, AB 715, authored by Democratic reps. Dawn Addis and Rick Chavez Zbur and championed by the legislature’s Jewish Caucus, could also have profound implications for Oakland Unified School District, which is under federal investigation over a teach-in some educators led on the Gaza war. 

The Oakland Jewish Alliance, a group formed in the wake of Oct. 7 to advocate for Jewish and Israeli families as local city councils and school boards considered ceasefire resolutions, lobbied for the bill, which was sponsored by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee, or JPAC. 

“These bills are not perfect, but we advocated for them because they provide a meaningful step in the right direction to combat antisemitism as well as discrimination more generally in schools, including in OUSD,” the group said in a statement. “We look forward to a day when Jewish children can attend school alongside their peers and be treated no differently than them. Until then, OJA will continue to fight against antisemitism and all flavors of discrimination in our schools.”

The bills also require that incidents be investigated if someone claims a student was subjected to lessons or material that amount to discrimination. JPAC called the bill a “major legislative victory,” saying it “requires swift responses when bias occurs and promotes inclusive learning environments so that Jewish students — and all students — can learn without fear.”

What began as an effort to prohibit the use of certain phrases or the broaching of specific topics in classrooms, such as lessons that “directly or indirectly deny Israel’s right to exist,” became, through a contentious process, a bill with more general language regarding bias in instruction and professional development materials, as CalMatters reported.  

While AB 715, in its final form, passed both chambers of the legislature without any opposition (though some abstentions), the bill sparked criticism by players outside the Ccapitol — from teachers unions and civil liberties groups who fear the new laws could stifle discussion of contentious topics like Israel’s war on Gaza. 

“California schools should be places where students learn to think critically, engage with diverse perspectives, and build understanding across differences,” the California ACLU said in opposing the bill. “But AB 715 would do the opposite — censoring teachers, undermining academic freedom, chilling critical, constitutionally protected classroom discussion, and threatening freedom of speech in our public schools.” 

The California Faculty Association denounced the bill, saying “AB 715 will not address antisemitism—at least not in the way its authors may have intended. It will instead offer a legitimate means to surveil and censor educators in the very institutions founded on the principles of free speech and academic freedom.”

The California Teachers Association took a similar position. “AB 715 raises serious free speech concerns, leaving teachers uncertain about what they can lawfully say in the classroom on a wide range of issues,” said David Goldberg, the association’s president. “In the coming months, we will work to ensure that elements of the bill that threaten students’ access to high quality education and educators’ ability to do the critical work of teaching students are addressed.” 

When asked for comment, the Oakland Education Association, which represents OUSD teachers, pointed to Goldberg’s statement, as OEA is part of CTA. OEA came under fire in the weeks following the Oct. 7 attack for issuing a statement that called Israel a genocidal and apartheid state and advocated for Palestinian liberation. The union later withdrew the statement and said it was committed to listening to members, students, and families about the issue.

Controversy about addressing the war on Gaza

In November 2023, the OUSD school board considered a ceasefire resolution, but it was never brought forward for a discussion or vote. The city council passed its own ceasefire resolution that December.

That same month, a group of OUSD teachers held an informal teach-in, where they set out to teach Palestinian perspectives on the Gaza war. That event triggered an investigation by the federal Office of Civil Rights over claims that it tolerated discrimination against Jewish students.

Critics of the teach-in said they felt that it offered students a one-sided account of the conflict that demonized Israel and the Israeli and Jewish people. In January 2024, OUSD and then-superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell received a letter from the Office of Civil Rights saying it would investigate “whether the district failed to respond in a manner consistent with the requirements of Title VI to alleged harassment of students by District employees based on national origin (shared Jewish ancestry).” The letter asked for information regarding the teachers who participated, actions the district has taken to investigate them, and any discrimination complaints the district had received.

The investigation is listed as ongoing on the website for the Office of Civil Rights. John Sasaki, the district’s spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment.

Marleen Sacks, an Oakland attorney, had filed multiple complaints against OUSD on behalf of the Oakland Jewish Alliance, alleging dozens of incidents in schools over the last two years that have created hostile environments for Jewish and Israeli students, families, and staff. The complaints claimed that teachers hung up “Free Palestine” posters in classrooms, staff made anti-Zionist statements on social media, schools flew the Palestinian flag, and teachers offered what the group viewed as one-sided lessons about the conflict. Sacks also claimed that the district failed to respond to her complaints in a timely manner, as required by the state education code. 

While Sacks said she’s thrilled that the governor signed the bills and believes they’ll be helpful in fighting antisemitism in California, she said they’re not a “cure-all.” 

“There’s nothing that really gives remedies for victims of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination when the schools aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” she told The Oaklandside. “I wish there was more in the bill that was addressing that problem.”

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