Saturday night, my family and I had a chance to catch Parade at Ahmanson Theater. It was a show I had wanted to see for a long time, particularly due to its subject matter and its timeliness. If you are not aware, the musical takes place in Georgia in the 1910’s and centers around a rape and murder of a 13-year old girl and the subsequent trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish transplant from New York, that found him guilty. The show is based on the real-life events and underscores the antisemitism that was prevalent at that time. As I sat and watched the show, I couldn’t help but compare what I was seeing to what we are witnessing today.

 

I know that in my weekly columns, I’ve written a lot about antisemitism and the impact it is having on our community. However, today, I thought I would discuss an effort, led by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee (JPAC) (which our Jewish Federation is a member of, along with 50+ other Jewish organizations) currently underway that is working to address the climate our Jewish elementary, middle, and high school students are facing in California’s schools.

 

Over the last couple of years, other efforts have led to the development of the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, as well as the Golden State Plan to Counter Antisemitism. Currently, a bill is working its way through Sacramento. The bill, AB 715, passed unanimously through the State Assembly, and tomorrow, the Senate Education Committee will be discussing it. However, significant opposition has arisen now that the bill is before the state Senate, with efforts led by organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and even the California Teachers Association (CTA). And yet, this bill was developed in partnership and supported by three of the ethnic caucuses at the State Capitol (i.e., Legislative Black Caucus, Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, and Latino Legislative Caucus)

 

Here are the key points of AB 715:

• AB 715 would add vital anti-discrimination protections for Jewish students, increase accountability for school districts, provide training for teachers to prevent and respond to antisemitism, stop outside contractors from injecting hate into the classroom, and appoint a statewide Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to lead prevention and response efforts. Every Jewish student deserves to feel safe and supported in school, and this bill brings us one step closer to that goal.

• AB 715 offers a meaningful and systemic solution. It strengthens anti-discrimination protections based on religion and nationality, ensures that instructional content and materials are free from antisemitism and bias, and expands the Uniform Complaint Procedure to include school board members and contractors – with stronger timelines for resolution. The bill also increases accountability for school districts and establishes a State Antisemitism Coordinator to lead statewide efforts in prevention, response, and education.

 

Last Tuesday, my colleagues and I from JPAC, the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federation LA, and the ADL met with State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez to discuss the bill and how it would help protect California’s Jewish students from the challenges they face at school. I was able to share with Senator Pérez a conversation I had with our 6th through 8th-grade campers last month when I led them in an anti-hate workshop. When I asked how many of them had experienced antisemitism in their school in the previous two years, 13 of the 17 campers raised their hands. They expressed frustration that, in their mind, their teachers and school administrators either did not understand how they felt or seemed not to know how to respond to what they had experienced.

 

What my colleagues and I tried to convey to Senator Pérez is that people don’t realize that it’s not just the incident itself, but the impact of being the target of hate has on the victim. For students, many are reporting that they don’t feel as comfortable at school as they did previously and are scared that they will be targeted or ridiculed for being Jewish.

 

As someone who continues to advocate for our local Jewish community, and respond to incidents of antisemitism, I am hopeful and frankly, counting on AB715 to help protect our K-12 students and provide teachers and school administrators the tools they need to respond to any form of teasing, bullying, ridiculing, etc. our community’s youth experience or are subjected to within the halls and classrooms of our California schools.

 

Help us in this fight by clicking this link and sharing your thoughts with our local elected officials. Explain how this bill and all other support are needed to protect our students from the rise of hate in society today.