Two Jewish advocacy organizations sued California and top state education officials this week, alleging they failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment in K-12 public schools across the Bay Area and statewide.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights and StandWithUs — nonprofits focused on Jewish civil rights — filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of five families whose children attended public schools in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, including in Campbell Union High School District and Berkeley Unified School District, ranging from elementary to high school campuses.
The complaint names the state of California, the State Board of Education, the California Department of Education and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond as defendants.
The lawsuit comes after the California Department of Education investigated more than a dozen antisemitism-related complaint cases since December 2023 and determined that districts from Santa Clara County to Marin County did not consistently follow required complaint procedures, failed to properly investigate allegations or did not take corrective action when warranted.
The lawsuit, which the Jewish rights groups describe as the first against a state over alleged antisemitism, alleges the students faced “pervasive antisemitism in their California public schools,” placing them at risk and impeding their ability to learn.
“Jews consistently are being targeted with hostility because of who they are, including in California and particularly in K-12 public schools,” said Roz Rothstein, CEO and co-founder of StandWithUs. “It is imperative that California K-12 schools not be co-opted by those seeking to indoctrinate students into antisemitic hate.”
A spokesperson for the California Department of Education declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation. The Governor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Antisemitism complaints at schools across the state rose during the Israel-Gaza conflict that erupted after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a counteroffensive. The increase reflects a broader rise in anti-Jewish incidents statewide.
According to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Hate Crime in California 2024 report, anti-Jewish hate crimes increased from 289 in 2023 to 310 in 2024 — a 7.3% increase — and rose more than 219% from 2015 to 2024.
In an effort to address antisemitism incidents in schools, state officials passed Assembly Bill 715. The bill creates a new Office of Civil Rights within the California Department of Education and establishes what supporters describe as a first-in-the-nation statewide antisemitism prevention coordinator. The coordinator — appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate — will track and report incidents of antisemitism in schools and advise districts on prevention and response strategies. The bill also restricts course materials and professional development curriculum considered discriminatory under education code.
Opponents of the bill, including many faculty and teacher groups, argued the legislation infringes on free speech and academic freedom.
The lawsuit alleges California violated antidiscrimination laws and cites recent incidents of alleged antisemitism in Berkeley Unified, Oakland Unified, San Francisco Unified, Fremont Unified and Campbell Union High School District.
One incident cited in the complaint at Campbell Union High School District sparked national outrage in December after six students at Branham High formed a human swastika on the school’s football field and posted it on social media with a quote from Adolf Hitler.
In response to the Branham incident, the education foundation connected to Campbell Union High School District contributed $13,000 toward addressing antisemitism on campuses. School officials did not specify how or where that money would be spent.
In another alleged incident, a teacher at a charter school in Santa Clara County reportedly barred a 12-year-old Jewish student from leaving the room to use the bathroom “until she read aloud to the class a passage that he liked about how peacefully Palestinians had previously interacted with Israelis.”
In another alleged incident, an East Bay high school art teacher shared an image of his recent artwork portraying a fist punching the Star of David.
The suit alleges that in schools across the state, teachers have promoted antisemitic rhetoric in classes. It claims Jewish students and families have been verbally or, in two cases, physically assaulted, faculty and administrators dismissed complaints and that districts approved biased course materials while state officials “have largely stood by while California public schools permit, and at times encourage, an ongoing hostile environment for Jewish students.”
The suit seeks a court order requiring California to monitor schools where antisemitism has occurred, eliminate antisemitic curriculum, mandate antisemitism training for school staff and impose limits on funding for schools that fail to enforce nondiscrimination policies.
“Jewish children and children perceived as Jewish are bullied and excluded by their peers and harassed by their teachers, who silence, mock and even segregate them if they speak out,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education. “School officials have done little or nothing at all to help these children. It is the state’s legal responsibility to defend and protect innocent children from discrimination and bigotry, not foster hate as California has been doing.”