Bill would preserve efforts to address antisemitism in schools while protecting free speech, academic integrity, and due process

 The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, welcomed the introduction of Assembly Bill (AB) 2159 by Assemblymember Robert Garcia, calling it a needed measure to help keep California public schools free of hate and discrimination while protecting free speech and classroom instruction from political interference.

 SEE: AB 2159 Factsheet

SEE ALSO: California Coalition to Defend Public Education Statement Welcoming AB 2159

AB 2159 would:

• Remove reference to a federal strategy document that incorporates a definition of antisemitism critics say can sweep in protected political speech about Israel and Palestine.
• Require the state’s Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to be hired through a merit-based civil service process.
• Strike vague language that has exposed schools and teachers to politically motivated discrimination complaints.

CAIR-CA, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the measure reflects concerns long raised by educators, labor groups, civil rights organizations, and community advocates who supported efforts to confront antisemitism in schools but warned that parts of AB 715 passed last year were overly broad and open to misuse.

In a statement, CAIR-CA Legislative and Government Affairs Director Oussama Mokeddem said:

“AB 2159 is a practical cleanup bill. It does not weaken protections for Jewish students, nor does it diminish the need to address antisemitism in schools. What it does is correct provisions that risk turning legitimate classroom discussion, protected political expression, or support for Palestinian rights into the basis for complaints and investigations. California can and must address antisemitism without creating a framework that chills speech, undermines educators, or invites abuse.”

Supporters say one of the bill’s most important changes is removing reliance on the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism as a basis for identifying antisemitism in California schools. While the federal strategy highlights real concerns about anti-Jewish hate, it also incorporates language that has been used nationally to blur the line between antisemitism and criticism of Israeli government policy.

CAIR-CA said AB 2159 also brings basic fairness to enforcement by requiring the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to be selected through a standard qualifications-based process, rather than political appointment. The organization said it hopes that the same standard will ultimately apply to all hate prevention coordinators created by AB 715 and SB 48 (Gonzalez) last year. The bill also removes subjective language that could be weaponized not only in disputes over Israel-Palestine, but in complaints involving other politically contested topics.

The organization also rejected claims from opponents that the bill was introduced without outreach or consultation.

 “Before and after AB 715 was signed, coalition partners made repeated good-faith efforts to engage the bill’s authors and the Legislative Jewish Caucus about these concerns,” Mokeddem said. “We were transparent and consistent in raising them, and we respected the decision by others to take a narrower approach. Assemblymember Garcia’s bill now addresses issues that many in the education and civil rights communities have said from the start still needed to be fixed. It does so without pressuring public educators or public schools to treat one set of political views as the measure of acceptable teaching.”

CAIR-CA said the measure should be understood as a clarification and free-speech safeguard, not a rollback. The organization said schools need tools to respond to antisemitism, anti-Muslim bias, and all forms of discrimination, but those tools must be clear, constitutional, and workable in real classrooms.

CAIR-CA thanked Assemblymember Garcia for introducing AB 2159 and for advancing legislation that protects students without inviting censorship in the classroom.

AB 2159 is co-sponsored by SEIU California, the California Faculty Association, and CAIR-CA.