A committee in the California Legislature will consider a bill on May 21 that seeks to strengthen and broaden existing discrimination protections in K–12 schools to target anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
Under Assembly Bill 715, sections of the Education Code would be amended to include nationality and religion under existing discrimination protections on race and ethnicity.
The bill, introduced by Democratic Assembly members Rick Chavez Zbur of Los Angeles and Dawn Addis of San Luis Obispo, would also establish a state anti-Semitism coordinator who would ensure schools and staff, including contractors, are in compliance with existing anti-discrimination laws.
To address specific forms of discrimination, the bill expands the definition of “nationality” to include a person’s actual or perceived shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics, or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity. It also explicitly defines religious discrimination to include anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, aiming to provide clearer protections against these forms of bias….