A hearing last month challenging California’s Assembly Bill 715, which addresses the alarming rise in instances of antisemitism in the K-12 school environment, failed to convince the judge that the new law violates First Amendment rights of teachers in the classroom.
As of Jan. 1, AB 715 stands as California law.
AB 715, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 7, requires schools to use historically factual curricular materials, respond swiftly to antisemitic incidents, and build safe, inclusive environments.
The law creates the nation’s first statewide Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator who will develop antisemitism training for educators, track incidents, guide accountability and recommend future reforms.
In addition, AB 715 also establishes an Office of Civil Rights to help California school districts identify and prevent discrimination of all sorts, not only antisemitism.
Authored by assembly members Rick Chavez Zbur and Dawn Addis, AB 715 was sponsored by JPAC, the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, and passed with bipartisan support, with the Assembly voting 71-0 and the Senate voting 35-0.
Within a month after passage, a complaint seeking to halt the Jan. 1 implementation of the bill was filed against Newsom, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
The complaint claimed the law restricts teachers’ free speech rights, is vague and ambiguous, and denies students full learning opportunities.
The plaintiffs included four California public school teachers, three public school students, LA Educators for Justice in Palestine, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The lead plaintiff, Andrea Prichett, is a middle school history teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District who, the complaint says, has been under investigation for months for “linking Israeli settlements in the West Bank to colonialism,” according to a Dec. 16 EdSource article.
At the preliminary hearing on Dec. 17, plaintiff’s attorney Jenin Younes, the national legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, stated that AB 715’s failure “to define antisemitism would chill discussion of the [Israel-Gaza] conflict, creating unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and violating teachers’ First Amendment rights,” according to EdSource.
Younes argued, according to the article, that teachers “must have leeway to do their jobs to encourage open discourse that is important for creating a learning environment.”
Presiding over the hearing was U.S. District Court Judge Nöel Wise who said the fundamental question is whether the First Amendment gives public school teachers a right to free speech when they are teaching.
Defending the law
Because teachers are government employees, “There is no First Amendment right in the classroom,” stated California’s Deputy Atty, Gen. Andrew Edelstein, dismissing Younes’ claims.
JPAC stated that the plaintiffs are arguing “that teachers should be permitted to use classrooms to spread personal political views even if they are antisemitic. These claims are fundamentally flawed.”
In defending the law, Bonta stated in his brief that AB 715 is “consistent with other state laws that bar discrimination based on race, religion and sexual orientation,” and that AB 715 clarifies that instructional, professional development and curriculum material are prohibited if students would be subjected to discriminatory material that is factually inaccurate.
“[T]he government has the constitutional right to ensure that what is taught in schools is factually accurate and is free from bias and doesn’t create a hostile learning environment for its Jewish students,” said Bonta in his brief, according to EdSource.
Bonta argued that an injunction would be premature because the Office of Civil Rights hasn’t been established yet, and the harms the teachers are citing are theoretical.
The L.A.-based law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, as attorneys for JPAC, filed an Amicus Brief which stated, “Public schools must safeguard the right of every student to an education free from discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or nationality [Cal. Educ. Code 220]. Yet for Jewish students, that promise has fallen short in the face of escalating antisemitic discrimination, harassment and bullying across the state and in California’s K-12 schools.”
Calling AB 715 “landmark legislation,” the brief states, “When students are subjected to hostility, bias and exclusion, their ability to participate meaningfully in educational programs is impaired in concrete ways.”
The Willkie document argues that teachers in the classroom have limited free speech rights, that the law is not vague, and that plaintiffs cannot claim irreparable harm on a law that has not yet been enacted.
Citing court cases, the brief argues that there is “clear precedent” that plaintiffs do not possess the right to “dictate curriculum in the classroom.”
Because “teachers’ rights to free speech in the classroom is not unlimited,” they have no right “to use class time to pursue personal advocacy,” according to the brief.
The Willkie brief also rejects the plaintiffs’ claim that the law is vague, stating “both its substance and scope are firmly defined” using the widely recognized IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism which has been accepted by 46 countries to date.
“There is nothing vague about preventing discrimination,” states the brief.
Further, the brief denies there can be irreparable harm “that is contingent on future administrative decisions and speculative interpretations of a law that has not yet been enforced …”
The ruling
Two weeks later, on Dec. 31, Wise issued a judgment that supported JPAC’s position, finding:
1. Plaintiffs do not have First Amendment rights while teaching, so they cannot bring a claim alleging the infringement of those rights.
The decision states, “As public-school education belongs to the government, the government may regulate teacher plaintiffs’ speech …”
Citing precedent-setting court cases, Wise concludes that “Teacher plaintiffs cannot assert the violation of a constitutional right to which they have no legitimate claim of entitlement” — and “because teacher plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that their classroom speech is protected by the First Amendment, they have failed to allege an adequate First Amendment violation.”
2. AB 715 is not vague.
In bringing the claim that AB 715 is vague because it “fails to provide a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice of what is prohibited,” teacher plaintiffs make inconsistent arguments.
According to the judgment, “On one hand, they insist AB 715 is vague because it fails to define antisemitism; on the other hand, teacher plaintiffs decry the injustice of the IHRA definition to which they claim they will now be held.
“The court does not find the word antisemitism in AB 715 to be vague.”
3. Student Plaintiffs do not have standing to bring suit.
The judgment states that “Student plaintiffs have not demonstrated an adequate and imminent injury. Student plaintiffs’ claim involves a different aspect of the First Amendment, the freedom to receive information … that right has not yet been infringed and it perhaps may never be infringed.”
Conclusion: “[T]he court DENIES plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction.”
The judge directed plaintiffs and defendants to meet and confer regarding next steps. A case management conference is set for Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Said Newsom in a statement, “California is taking action to confront hate in all forms. At a time when antisemitism and bigotry are rising nationwide and globally, these laws make clear: our schools must be places of learning, not hate.”
Plaintiffs have vowed to appeal. But for now, classrooms must be free of antisemitism in all its forms.
Marsha Sutton is an education writer and investigative opinion columnist and can be reached at suttonmarsha@gmail.com.
Hence then, the article about opinion ruling on ab 715 keeps antisemitism out of california schools was published today ( ) and is available on Times of San Diego ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Opinion: Ruling on AB 715 keeps antisemitism out of California schools )
Also on site :