The Assembly Education Committee met on Wednesday, holding a special hearing to consider AB 715, authored by both Assembly Members Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Santa Monica) and Dawn Addis (D-San Luis Obispo). The bill, which reflects a compromise between the Jewish, Asian Pacific Islander, Black, and Latino Caucuses, seeks to impose new tighter anti-discrimination requirements on school curriculum. While members of the committee expressed concerns over a potentially rushed process and admitted that the bill is not close to its final form, they still approved the measure by a unanimous 9-0 vote.

How did we get here?

You may recall that AB 1468, also authored by Assembly Member Zbur, was a bill that would have changed current law around the ethnic studies curriculum. While the bill sought several modifications – including new requirements for the State Board of Education to adopt statewide content standards for ethnic studies instruction in high school, as well as new reporting requirements for schools regarding their intended ethnic studies curriculum usage – it also put tighter restrictions on ethnic studies curriculum and instructional materials pertaining to perceived bigotry, discrimination, or other bias towards one person or groups of people. Specifically, language in the bill stated:

“Curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for any high school ethnic studies course, including ethnic studies courses meeting the requirements for graduation from high school pursuant to Section 51225.3, shall… Be appropriate for use with pupils of all races, religions, nationalities, genders, sexual orientations, and diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, pupils with disabilities, and English learners… 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.”

With global events as a backdrop, and amidst intense negotiations and scrutiny, Assembly leaders voted to suspend the rules to allow for more time in the hopes a deal could be reached, and were initially going to hear AB 1468 at the special hearing of the Assembly Education Committee referenced above. However, a compromise on AB 1468 failed to materialize, and amendments were hurriedly dropped into AB 715 on Monday to keep a vehicle moving and to facilitate continued discussion about, what the authors of the bill contend, are rising instances of antisemitism in California’s public schools.

Assembly Member Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) acknowledged the rushed process and the bill drew support and opposition from anti-discrimination groups, school agencies, and members of the public. Opponents of the bill noted it could open schools and teachers up to a “weaponization of the Uniform Complaint Procedures” regarding curriculum choices, while supporters stressed the need to work towards making all children in California’s schools feel safe and prevent them from feeling singled-out by instructional materials. After a robust and contentious discussion, the bill moved forward unanimously.

What’s next?

The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where its fiscal impact on the state will be considered.

While AB 1468 may have stalled for the year, members of the Legislature from both parties have continued to express support for providing funding for ethnic studies in this year’s budget, thereby triggering the requirement that exists in current law (but is contingent upon an appropriation). The Governor has not proposed funding the requirement. We suspect one of the bigger final negotiating points between the Legislature and Governor will be whether to provide funding for ethnic studies.

The budget negotiations notwithstanding, given this is a deal between multiple caucuses in the Legislature, we anticipate AB 715 will continue to move forward, regardless of cost estimates. However, the bill is not fully cooked and the authors will need to continue working with all parties to get the bill across the finish line.