by Jason Moss

Recently, I asked 15 Jewish teens if they had experienced antisemitism in the last year. Twelve said yes, and that it had taken place at school. From someone extending their arm in a Hitler salute, having a swastika spray-painted on their locker, hearing someone say, “The world would be better if Nazis had finished the job,” or being asked if they had “killed any babies lately,” the hate Jewish youth are experiencing is real, and they are frightened. One told me: “Wherever I walk in school, I feel like I could be harassed again and made to feel unwelcome. I feel unsafe in my second home, my school.”

These are just a few examples of the hate Jewish students are being subjected to in school and society. They are afraid that if people find out they are Jewish, they will be mocked and blamed for events taking place in Israel.

According to 2023 FBI data, anti-Jewish hate crimes rose by 63% compared to 2022 — a record-breaking increase. Although Jews represent just 2% of the U.S. population, anti-Jewish hate accounts for 15% of all reported single-bias incidents.

According to the 2023 LA County Hate Crime Report, hate crimes in schools targeting several groups — primarily Black people, but also Jewish persons, Muslims, transgender and LGBTQ people, and Asians — increased by 46% between 2022 and 2023, accounting for 10% of all reported hate crimes in the county.

When students feel unsafe, it is the responsibility of schools to improve the situation. Unfortunately, due to a lack of sufficient clarity and guidance, school administrators are ill-equipped to address antisemitic incidents, leaving students to feel unsupported.

After a high school freshman experienced antisemitism for the first time, she told me, “With tears streaming down my face, I was stunned to find half of the class laughing at me and the situation. My teacher told me to ‘Settle down.’ Rather than making this a teachable moment or correcting the other student’s behavior, the teacher resumed class as if nothing had happened. I walked out feeling embarrassed and like my voice was silenced; but mostly, I felt alone.”

This is why AB 715, a bill to help respond to and prevent antisemitism in K-12 schools from continuing to be the cancer it has become, is so critical.

There is an urgent need and opportunity for California’s schools to strengthen protections and cultivate a climate of inclusion for Jewish students, aligning with their existing support for other targeted groups. It brings parity to how antisemitism is addressed within existing anti-discrimination frameworks and offers a systematic and overdue response to the rise in antisemitism.

AB 715 will help address this gap by ensuring schools are better equipped to respond appropriately and equitably. The bill strengthens protections against antisemitic learning environments by: ensuring teacher trainings around antisemitism and uplifting prevention, education, and restorative practices; improving K–12 compliance with laws preventing discrimination; requiring districts that engage in discrimination to comply with corrective action plans; increasing accountability for local educational agencies; creating a state-level antisemitism coordinator; establishing guidelines for discussing controversial subjects; and increasing compliance requirements for third party contractors.

I am not naive to think that AB 715 is the silver bullet to end antisemitism. However, by passing this bill, California will show the Jewish community that it recognizes the severity of the antisemitism crisis, and they stand with us by helping to mitigate and appropriately respond to the unprecedented levels of anti-Jewish hate our K-12 students have been subjected to over the last number of years by making the states’ classrooms and schools safer.

In the words of the targeted high school freshman, “What I have experienced is a clear example that this kind of hatred exists in schools today. Passing AB 715 will protect not only me, but also for the students who can’t and are, rightfully so, afraid to speak up.”

California’s legislature has a responsibility and a moral obligation to pass AB 715 to help protect all students and ensure the environments in which they learn are free from hate and targeted attacks.

Jason Moss is the executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys.