“We are pleased that AB 331 now includes firm guardrails that will prohibit the teaching of any curriculum that promotes bias, bigotry or discrimination, including against Jews or Israelis,” read the statement from state Sen. 31 celebrating the inclusion of the three new rules, which had to be greenlit by the bill’s author, Democratic Assembly member Jose Medina of Riverside, an associate member of the caucus and a former ethnic studies teacher himself. The Legislature’s 16-member Jewish caucus issued a press release Aug.
FREECIV JEWISH BIAS CODE
Section 220 of the state’s education code protects individuals from discrimination based on, among other characteristics, nationality, race or ethnicity, and religion.
They state that any ethnic studies instruction under state auspices must “be appropriate for use with pupils of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds,” must “not teach or promote religious doctrine” and must not “reflect or promote, directly or indirectly, any bias, bigotry, or discrimination against any person or group of persons on the basis of any category protected by Section 220.”
Supporters say the extra language, borrowed from existing provisions of the California Education Code, will help head off potential anti-Jewish or anti-Israel bias from creeping back into the model curriculum, a document of more than 400 pages currently in its final public comment phase. Members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus - having dealt with anxiety and outrage in the Jewish community about the first draft of an ethnic studies model curriculum that many say contained anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias - are now breathing easier thanks to “guardrail” language they helped insert into AB 331 less than a week before the state Senate voted it through.
FREECIV JEWISH BIAS FULL
Gavin Newsom’s desk with the full expectation he will sign it. On Monday, California took a major step toward becoming the first state in the country to mandate completion of an ethnic studies course as a requirement for high school graduation.Īssembly Bill 331, which will require all public high schools (including charter schools) to offer the course by 2025 and will make ethnic studies a prerequisite to graduate by 2029, passed the Legislature and now heads to Gov.