Teacher’s plea: Reject AB 715, defend academic freedom
Credit: iStock, FangXiaNuo
As a high school social science educator, I’ve spent decades helping my students develop skills to navigate an increasingly complex world. In my classroom, we wrestled with timely issues: global conflicts, human rights, democracy’s fragility and the ongoing struggles to build a more just society. It’s critical for educators to bring multifaceted viewpoints and create space for honest conversations in our classrooms.
As a Jewish educator, I am deeply committed to fighting antisemitism, which has no place in our schools or any other corner of our society. Everyone deserves to feel safe in school. As we strive to provide stable, nurturing spaces for all students, we know that it takes consistent and intentional work. We know that critical thinking and open dialogue are essential to education, and teachers should never be scapegoated for addressing controversial issues in the classroom. Antisemitism and all forms of hatred are pervasive, pernicious, and, unfortunately and often, learned behavior. Addressing and eradicating it will take all of us working together in consistent dialogue across our communities.
The Trump administration’s relentless attacks on public education threaten our belief that our schools should be safe places to teach and learn. From voucher schemes to cutting federal funds to attacking LGBTQ+ youth to the ongoing assault on academic freedom, these attacks underscore the importance of our shared commitment to protect our public education system. This is a moment for California Democrats to show their support for our schools, which is why it’s hard to understand why the authors of Assembly Bill 715 are trying to bring right-wing, Trump-style censorship to California schools while undermining legitimate efforts to fight antisemitism.
AB 715’s use of vague language to address “antisemitic learning environments” is so sweeping and imprecise that it will only serve to invite politically motivated attacks on teachers and students, while chilling open classroom discourse. Consider what it could mean in a real classroom: A student brings in an article from Haaretz (one of Israel’s most respected newspapers) criticizing government policies. Could a discussion on this be deemed antisemitic? Yes, it could.
That’s not protecting students from hate; it’s silencing them.
This is not some hypothetical concern. We’ve already seen how the Trump administration is pushing a definition of antisemitism that conflates criticism of the Israeli government with hatred of Jewish people, using it as a tool to police campuses and intimidate educators and students. The result is fewer opportunities for students to grapple with the issues that matter to them and more fear in classrooms. California Democrats should not be doing President Donald Trump’s work for him. State and federal laws already prohibit discrimination in schools and AB 715 creates more problems than it solves.
As teachers, we dedicate our lives to ensuring students can safely explore difficult subjects and develop the tools they need to thrive. This is already hard enough work that requires trust, nuance and open dialogue. Worse, it undermines a real fight against antisemitism by conflating legitimate political debate with hate speech. My safety as a Jewish person does not come from punishing political speech; it comes from a culture that values truth, empathy and solidarity against bigotry in all its forms.
This is why I am so proud of my union, the California Teachers Association, for opposing AB 715. In our union, we are committed to holding space for conversations with fellow union teachers across the state about addressing antisemitism. It’s worth noting that for the first time in our history, both our president and vice president are Jewish. We don’t shy away from difficult work, but this bill would make it harder for us to do our jobs.
AB 715 is the wrong response to a real problem. If lawmakers truly want to support educators, they should focus on providing training and resources to address antisemitism thoughtfully and effectively. Now is the time to support teachers as we do our jobs: guiding students through complexity with honesty and care. Let’s work together in California to defend academic freedom and democratic dialogue. This is how we combat Trump’s playbook of censorship and fear and create the schools every student deserves.
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Mara Harvey is a high school social studies teacher and California Teachers Association board member.
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