Last year, California passed AB 715 under the banner of addressing antisemitism in K–12 schools, but in practice, it created serious risks for educators and students and faced widespread opposition from teachers, students, labor unions, and civil rights organizations.
Now, Assemblymember Jesse Zbur has introduced AB 2615 as a “clean-up” bill. But as currently written, AB 2615 fails to address the core concerns raised by educators and civil rights advocates, and instead risks doubling down on the same harmful framework.
At the same time, meaningful solutions have been pushed aside. AB 2159 (Garcia), which directly responds to stakeholder concerns and protects both students and educators, has been stalled, leaving impacted communities out of the legislative process once again.
Advocates across California are calling for real fixes. AB 2615 must be amended to:
- Remove reliance on definitions and frameworks that conflate protected political speech with discrimination.
- Ensure oversight roles are filled through a fair, merit-based civil service process.
- Eliminate vague and subjective language that exposes educators to politically motivated complaints.
