While my fellow Democrats and I proudly rally in support of marginalized communities, I am deeply alarmed to see many of our lawmakers in Sacramento backing legislation that betrays our most fundamental values. Assembly Bill 715, sponsored by Assemblywoman Dawn Addis and co-sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel, Rick Chavez-Zbur, and others, directly threatens democratic discourse, academic freedom, and inclusive education in California.
Rushed through the Assembly Education Committee on May 14 with little to no opportunity for public scrutiny, AB 715 is being advanced under the guise of combating antisemitism. But in reality, it is a sweeping and dangerous bill that targets discussions of Palestine and silences Arab-American students, educators, and their allies. The bill’s language raises red flags about its true intent and impact. Its final language remains obscured from public view at this stage. When legislation is crafted and pushed forward without transparency, we must ask: What are its authors trying to hide?
At the core of AB 715 is the weaponization of California’s Uniform Complaint Procedures, which allows students and families to report incidents of discrimination in schools. Under AB 715, educators and school staff could face punishment simply for discussing the history and current events surrounding Israel and Palestine, particularly when those discussions include critical perspectives on the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza. This bill opens the door for political censorship in our classrooms, where nuance and truth should prevail, not fear.
Even more troubling is the bill’s plan to establish a state antisemitism coordinator. Critics suspect that lawmakers will continue to amend AB 715 to rely on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition and examples of antisemitism in leveling accusations against teachers. Seven of the 11 IHRA examples center on Israel, with one example of so-called antisemitism reading, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, such as by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor.” The IHRA definition conflates legitimate criticism of Israel with antisemitism, chilling open inquiry, and suppressing the voices of those, particularly Palestinians and their advocates, who speak out against state violence and injustice. It’s essential to recognize that many Jewish organizations, scholars, and human rights groups have explicitly rejected the IHRA definition for this very reason. Yet AB 715 could embed it into our education system as a litmus test for permissible speech.
The consequences of this cannot be overstated. In a time when students are increasingly engaged in social justice, global politics, and solidarity movements, AB 715 sends a chilling message: Some truths are too dangerous to teach. Some histories are too controversial to acknowledge. Some communities—namely, Palestinian and Arab-American students—are too inconvenient to be heard.
Let me be clear: Antisemitism is real, and it must be confronted wherever it arises. Jewish students and communities deserve to feel safe, respected, and affirmed in our schools and society. But fighting antisemitism should never come at the cost of silencing others. It should not mean erasing Palestinian narratives or equating criticism of a government with hatred toward an entire people. True solidarity requires us to reject all forms of racism and bigotry, not to pit communities against each other or use policy to shield governments from accountability.
Our classrooms must be spaces where students learn to think critically, engage compassionately, and confront the complexities of our world, not spaces where educators are policed and punished for facilitating honest dialogue. If passed, AB 715 would encourage schools to surveil and silence discussions on Palestine, apartheid, military occupation, and the lived experiences of millions of people. It would make teachers second-guess their curriculum, fearing that even mentioning Gaza or displacement could invite accusations of antisemitism and open them to disciplinary action.
This is especially dangerous given the broader political context. Across the country, we are witnessing an alarming crackdown on dissent, particularly dissent that centers on Palestinian rights. Peaceful student protests are being criminalized. Faculty members are being doxxed or fired. University administrators are yielding to political pressure to shut down pro-Palestinian speech. Now, with AB 715, California risks joining this wave of repression under the pretense of combating hate.
The supporters of AB 715 are organizing swiftly, using political influence and coordinated messaging to push this bill forward. Those of us who believe in democratic education, freedom of expression, and justice for all must respond with equal urgency. Californians from every background must speak out against this bill, not only to defend Palestinian voices but also to defend the principle that no community should be erased from our classrooms.
To lawmakers: If you truly stand for equity, inclusion, and democratic values, you must oppose AB 715. Do not allow fear, political pressure, or misinformation to override your conscience. This bill is not a shield against hate—it is a tool of repression.
To Californians: You must act now. Call your representatives. Testify. Write letters. Protest. Share this message. Do not allow this bill to become law.
In this moment of moral clarity, we cannot afford to equivocate. AB 715 betrays everything we claim to stand for as a progressive, inclusive state. It threatens to institutionalize a dangerous precedent: that some voices are too controversial to be heard and some truths too inconvenient to be told. If we allow this to happen, we are complicit in the erasure of history and the silencing of entire communities.
We can, and must, do better. The future of free, honest, and inclusive education in California depends on it. Δ
Jill Stegman writes to New Times from Grover Beach. Send comments for publication to the editor at letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2025.
Just woke up to this headline:
“Two Israeli Embassy Staff Members Gunned Down Outside Jewish Museum In D.C.”
This is America now. Street assassinations, just like in Vietnam. We’re gunning people down in the street now. This is an extension of the assassinations at the Pittsburgh synagogue. The irony is that the assassins will be lauded and the embassy staff villainized in today’s press. The 2nd Amendment, the 1st Amendment, it’s all the same, right, right?
Damn right we need to limit antisemitic speech, if not, Jewish shopkeepers will have their store windows broken at night, a series of laws will be promulgated limiting the activities of Jews, and yellow stars of David will be forced to be worn on the lapels of Jews. And the world wonders why the Jewish community and nation are mobilized? This isn’t new.
If anything, antisemitic speech and actions do nothing more than prove the imperative of defending the Jewish state and people, arming Isreal to the teeth.
Ideally, legislation specifically protecting Jews from antisemitic discrimination on campus shouldn’t be necessary, and school administrators would dutifully protect ALL of their students. Sadly, this has not always been the case, and many administrators have shown sympathy for the pro-Hamas demonstrators, and indulged them. We have seen pro-Hamas demonstrators seizing portions of college campuses and excluding Jews from their self-declared encampments, going so far as to check identification papers for Jewish-sounding names, as well as aggressively intimidating those who pass through.
Dressing in the characteristic garb, the keffiyeh, of those who kill, torture and kidnap innocents is a not very subtle endorsement of those atrocities. It reveals that, more than just denouncing the death and suffering in a conflict,, the wearer is choosing the side of those who murder children, the elderly, men and women.
How many people would support allowing Klansmen, Proud Boys or Nazis to parade around campus in their chosen garb in the name of promoting an “inclusive education”?
Thank you New Times for publishing this terrific OpEd on the danger of policing class content to shield a nation state, any nation state, from critical debate over war, occupation, apartheid and genocide. Dawn Addis and Rick Zbur, the co-authors of AB 715, seem intent on chilling speech in the classroom, first with their now abandoned ethnic studies bill that said teachers should focus only on domestic issues (as though slavery had nothing to do with a transatlantic slave trade) and now with this bill that will only saddle the state and local school districts with more costly litigation. They are taking a page out of Trump’s playbook to attack teachers and public education.
Excellent article and totally on point. Israel’s genocide in Gaza makes antisemitism worse. Out students deserve the facts not false charges of antisemitism
As a California educator, I applaud Ms. Stegman for this extremely well written, thorough discussion of an extremely important topic. We must defeat AB 715 so that we as educators can teach truth, and protect young people’s right to learn the full truth of what’s going on in the world now, and about the history of the world. We must end this effort to criminalize educators and students who question what they see in the world and speak out against injustices.
I am thankful to have Ms. Stegman’s wise words to add to my collection of resources, to help me fine tune my own thoughts on the matter.
Thank you for this great article!
I appreciate the opportunity that Stegmans commentary provides for more discussions in our community around the history and current events in Palestine and Israel. War costs us taxpayers so much and destroys the beings, air, water and soil we all love and need. Alternatives to killing and hatred can come from the minds of our youth and community members. All students need sufficient time and safe spaces to process with others how and why war and genocide have been so prevalent in recent memory, but also how peace and peaceful economies were, are and can be the story of the human race. Lets uplift (and not legislate and police away) uncomfortable conversations and critical thinking in our schools and communities. Given the chance, youth and communities may come up with pathways to peace and a safe and healthy life for all.
Thank You Jill Stegman for your excellent commentary and call to action. I completely agree.
Assembly members Addis and Zbur introduced a similar bill, AB 1468, in February, that I objected to for the same reasons, a copy which is below.
I will contact my representatives on this bill AB 715 as well.
Here is what I sent to Assembly Member Dawn Addis:
I wanted to email you about – AB 1468. I Do not Support this bill. And I ask You, Please Do not Support, and remove AB 1468 from consideration. It is too vague and will lead us down a slippery slope into Censorship.
The focus on “monitoring” leads me to see how hate groups like Moms for Liberty, and the Trump Administration, will abuse this law and white wash and destroy true ethnic studies, so they can only teach their White Nationalist theocratic State propaganda.
AIPAC and the Trump Administration are spreading misinformation about anti- semitism and will gladly use a bill like AB 1468 to gum up the works of California Education with more red-herring and shiny distractions, to hide their own racism and corruption.
I believe I sent you my thoughts on how similar Trump and Netanyahu are, both narcissists and intent on destroying their own democracies, judicial systems and Rule of Law in both of their countries, to keep them out of prison for their continued corruption.
And as we all know, Netanyahu continues his Genocide, which Trump supports. Both are using “antisemitism” as a distraction and distortion of the word antisemitism’s actual meaning.
I sent those thoughts both to President Biden, VP Harris and PM Netanyahu over twenty times in 2023 and 2024. I did comment on a letter by Jose Nunez in the New Times, April 10, 2025, that airs my views, which are not political, just out of concern for Netanyahu’s ongoing genocide..
AB 1468 in my research and study of it is a bad bill. I Do not Support this bill. It is too vague and will lead us down a slippery slope into State Sponsored Censorship. I believe that it will aid and abet both AIPAC and the Trump Administration in censoring all education here in California and throughout America, along with helping to destroy Our American Democratic Republic.
Assembly Member Dawn Addis, Please remove this bill AB 1468 from consideration. It will not have a good outcome. Thank You.
*****
Thank You again Jill Stegman for your commentary and for all of your calls for actions!
Thank You Jill Stegman for your excellent commentary and call to action. I completely agree.
Assembly members Addis and Zbur introduced a similar bill, AB 1468, in February, that I objected to for the same reasons, a copy which is below.
I will contact my representatives on this bill AB 715 as well.
Here is what I sent to Assembly Member Dawn Addis:
I wanted to email you about – AB 1468. I Do not Support this bill. And I ask You, Please Do not Support, and remove AB 1468 from consideration. It is too vague and will lead us down a slippery slope into Censorship.
The focus on “monitoring” leads me to see how hate groups like Moms for Liberty, and the Trump Administration, will abuse this law and white wash and destroy true ethnic studies, so they can only teach their White Nationalist theocratic State propaganda.
AIPAC and the Trump Administration are spreading misinformation about anti- semitism and will gladly use a bill like AB 1468 to gum up the works of California Education with more red-herring and shiny distractions, to hide their own racism and corruption.
I believe I sent you my thoughts on how similar Trump and Netanyahu are, both narcissists and intent on destroying their own democracies, judicial systems and Rule of Law in both of their countries, to keep them out of prison for their continued corruption.
As we all know, Netanyahu continues his Genocide, which Trump supports. Both are using “antisemitism” as a distraction and distortion of the word antisemitism’s actual meaning.
I sent those thoughts both to President Biden, VP Harris and PM Netanyahu over twenty times in 2023 and 2024. And shared a comment on a letter by Jose Nunez in the New Times, April 10, 2025,about Netanyahu’s ongoing genocide.
AB 1468 is too vague and will lead us down a slippery slope into State Sponsored Censorship. I believe that it will aid and abet both AIPAC and the Trump Administration in censoring all education here in California and throughout America…
Please remove this bill AB 1468 from consideration. It will not have a good outcome. Thank You.
*****
Thank You again Jill Stegman for your commentary and for all of your calls for actions!
Thank you Ms. Stegman for calling our attention to AB715. I have red the bill and yes, it is vague. Title IV of the Civil Rights is and has been in place to protects students in the classroom. This bill’s intention seems to be another layer of protection, but specifically for Jewish students shielding them from history of Israel since before WWI. Consider how teachers with this bill would have to walk on egg shells or be reported for saying something like Israel is a Settler state. No one wants to say that of Israel, but read United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2334 passed December 2016 and consider a map to see how many settlements have been added since 2016.
Terrific analysis @Jill Stegman. AB715 passed in the Assembly today, 05/29. The bill turns antiracism upside down by discriminating in favor of one group and institutionalizing discrimination against another. The California Teachers Association’s inexplicable support for AB715 needs to be reversed, teacher’s unions need to raise the alarm, parents need to let State Senators know how opposed they are to this bill for sanity to prevail in the end so AB715 will get voted down or even withdrawn just like the very similarly sinister AB1468 was.