With rising antisemitism in California schools, here’s how leaders can act | Opinion
With antisemitism surging nationwide, including in California’s K-12 schools, too many Jewish students face an impossible choice: hide their identity or risk becoming a target.
In Los Angeles County, a student told his Jewish classmates he wished he could kill all the Jews. Bay Area teachers promoted conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the media, even using puppeteer imagery. In San Lorenzo Valley, a student taped a Nazi flag to a Jewish classmate’s back as others stayed silent.
These are not isolated incidents: Across California, swastikas have been etched into desks and spraypainted on playgrounds, administrators are failing to act and Jewish students increasingly report feeling unsafe. Anti-Jewish hate crimes in California tripled in the last decade, according to the State Department of Justice, making Jews the second most targeted group despite comprising only 3% of the population.
But instead of protecting Jewish students, I am concerned that too many school districts aren’t taking seriously these emerging threats to their learning environments.
That’s why California needs Assembly Bill 715. The Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, the organization I lead, worked with Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur, D-West Hollywood, and Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, and the Legislative Jewish Caucus to craft this bill. It sets clear classroom standards, provides training for educators and creates accountability to finally confront antisemitism in schools.
AB 715 is co-authored by the chairs of the Black, Latino, Asian American Pacific Islander and Native American Caucuses, and is backed by the largest, most diverse coalition of Jewish organizations ever assembled in California.
Unsurprisingly, in today’s climate, critics are working to undermine these protections. Some claim AB 715 defines antisemitism in a way that chills debate about Israel or Gaza. That is false: The bill does not adopt a single definition of antisemitism, nor does it attempt to stifle criticism of Israel. Instead, it prevents environments that breed bullying, harassment and discrimination against Jewish students.
Students have a right to an education free from harassment, and schools have a legal obligation to provide it. Classrooms should encourage diverse viewpoints and critical thought, and AB 715 ensures students can engage with issues around Jews and Israel in thoughtful ways. That means prohibiting obvious antisemitism, such as Holocaust denial or myths of Jewish control, while requiring sufficient context on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so that bias and hostility are not directed at Jewish peers.
Conflating politics with prejudice has fueled recent antisemitic violence, and it is showing up in our schools.
Far from chilling discussion, AB 715 empowers educators with tools to distinguish healthy debate from harmful bias, giving them confidence to teach controversial topics responsibly, because there is a difference between discussing Gaza and allowing Jewish students to be targeted.
Others argue antisemitism shouldn’t be singled out, and that addressing it elevates one form of hate above others. We are stronger when we fight hate together, and sometimes targeted solutions are necessary. The Legislature has long addressed specific forms of hate, from supporting LGBTQ+ and immigrant students to combating anti-Asian violence. To say that antisemitism alone does not warrant such a response is not an argument for equality; it is an argument that Jews uniquely do not deserve protection.
Jewish families should not have to wonder whether their children will be harassed or bullied at school for being who they are. AB 715 ensures they won’t be left unprotected any longer.
California’s constitution promises every child a safe school and a high-quality public education. It is the Legislature’s responsibility to deliver on that promise. Passing AB 715 will help ensure our classrooms are places of learning — not hate.
David Bocarsly is the executive director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California.