Educational equity: discrimination: antisemitism prevention.

The bill's scope broadened from a narrowly focused antisemitism-prevention measure to a general civil rights and anti-discrimination framework. The new Office of Civil Rights addresses all forms of discrimination and bias in education, with antisemitism prevention as one component rather than the sole focus.

A new Office of Civil Rights is established under the Government Operations Agency (not the State Board of Education). Its Director is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The office provides education and resources to identify and prevent antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, shares relevant laws with educational agencies, and submits annual reports on the state of discrimination and bias in all local educational agencies.

The expanded definition of 'nationality' (adding country of birth, ancestral ties, and social organization) and the expanded definition of 'religion' (explicitly including antisemitism and Islamophobia) were removed from this bill. These may have been moved to companion legislation.

Article 6.5 (Sections 238-239), which defined 'antisemitic learning environment' with specific enumerated criteria (antisemitic tropes, dual loyalty assertions, equating Jews with Nazis, collective blame, Holocaust denial, etc.), was removed entirely.

The Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator is no longer a standalone office under the State Board but is now employed by the Office of Civil Rights. The Coordinator is still appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and still develops antisemitism education for school personnel and makes legislative recommendations.

The amendments to Section 44225 requiring the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to adopt training for educators addressing hate or unlawful discrimination against the 6 most targeted groups in the state were removed from this bill.

A new Office of Civil Rights is established under the Government Operations Agency, with a Director appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator is now employed by this office rather than operating solely under the State Board of Education.

Article 11 (commencing with Section 280) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, and Sections 48980 and 51501 are amended or added, expanding the bill's reach into additional areas of the Education Code.

The bill's operation is made contingent upon the enactment of SB 48 of the 2025-26 Regular Session, meaning AB 715 will not take effect unless that companion bill is also enacted.

Discriminatory bias in instruction and school-sponsored activities no longer requires a showing of direct harm to members of a protected group, and does not require members of a protected group to be present while the discriminatory bias is occurring for it to be considered discriminatory.

Instructional materials found to have resulted in unlawful discrimination are prohibited from being used in any current or subsequent course offerings (previously only prohibited for future pupils in subsequent academic years), broadening the ban's temporal scope.

The department must issue a management bulletin to all local educational agencies by October 1 of each year describing protections, requirements, and responsibilities under the relevant laws.

The Superintendent must develop and maintain a distinct internet web page containing resources and information specific to antisemitism, in consultation with the State Board executive director and the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator.

The governing board must take corrective action if it finds that instruction or school-sponsored activities are discriminatory, adding an affirmative duty beyond the existing prohibition.

A new section of legislative findings (Section 1) documents the prevalence of antisemitism in California schools, references the Golden State Plan to Counter Antisemitism and the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, and states that antisemitism must not be tolerated regardless of whether Jewish pupils are present.

The definition of 'nationality' was simplified, removing language about 'actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity' while retaining the broader social organization language.

The State Department of Education is now authorized to require local educational agencies to obtain technical assistance from the Office of Civil Rights, engage in regular reporting to that office, and use alternative instructional materials as corrective actions.

Section 262.3 now allows a party to appeal directly to the Superintendent based on a local educational agency's failure to issue an investigation report within the required timeline, with a requirement that the department first attempt to work with the agency before direct intervention.

The civil remedy moratorium in Section 262.3(d) now specifically references violations of Sections 220, 243, 244, 51500, 51501, or 60044 rather than using the general term 'victim of discrimination.'

Professional development materials are added to the list of materials for which a violating organization must reimburse all funds received from the local educational agency.

The entire Business and Professions Code Section 6106.4 was removed. This section had defined an 'excluded event' to protect attorneys from discipline for actions based on another state's law that interfered with a person's right to receive, provide, recommend, enable, or advocate for 'sensitive services.'

New Article 6.5 (Sections 238-239) defines 'antisemitic learning environment' with specific criteria including: antisemitic tropes or conspiracies, assertions of dual loyalty, equating Jews or Israelis with Nazis, collective blame of Jewish people for Israeli government actions, denial or distortion of Jewish history, Holocaust denial, slurs targeting Jewish people, and language denying Israel's right to exist.

The definition of 'nationality' in Section 212 was changed. The Assembly version included 'a person's actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.' The Senate version replaces this with 'country of origin including by birth or ancestral ties' and adds 'a social organization where a collective identity has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, religion, culture, territory, or society.'

New Section 212.3 defines 'religion' to include agnosticism and atheism, and explicitly states that 'discrimination on the basis of religion' includes but is not limited to antisemitism and Islamophobia.

New Section 60049 requires that instructional materials about Jews, Israel, or the Israel-Palestine conflict must not introduce antisemitic content, including 'inaccurate historical narratives such as labeling Israel a settler colonial state,' must reflect factual accuracy and balanced treatment, and governing board members must certify in writing that adopted materials meet these requirements.

New Section 60050 establishes requirements for teaching controversial issues: instruction must be balanced without vilifying any pupil or group, teachers may offer personal opinions without advocating a position, pupils have the right to form and express opinions without grade penalties or retaliation, and adequate factual information must be provided for objective analysis.

New Section 44225(l) requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to adopt training for educators to address hate or unlawful discrimination against the six most targeted groups in the state, determined by the subcategory bias motivations with the highest number of events in the Attorney General's annual 'Hate Crime in California' publication.

New Article 4 (Sections 33060-33062) establishes the Office of the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator under the State Board of Education. The coordinator is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Legislature. The office must provide training, document and track antisemitism complaints, submit annual reports to the Legislature, and if a local educational agency fails to address antisemitic discrimination, issue a 30-day notice before escalating to the Superintendent.

Section 244 now requires school governing boards to investigate and remediate actions when they know or have reason to know materials were used that violated Section 220, and prohibits adoption of professional development materials that promote discriminatory content. Complaints may be filed directly with the Superintendent with evidence supporting why immediate action is necessary.

Section 262.3 adds a 60-day moratorium before a discrimination victim may seek civil remedies after filing an appeal to the State Department of Education, unless the local educational agency failed to timely inform the complainant of their right to file. The moratorium does not apply to injunctive relief.

Section 51500 is amended to explicitly prohibit instruction or school-sponsored activities that constitute an antisemitic learning environment as defined in Section 239, in addition to existing prohibitions on discriminatory bias.

The fiscal designation changed from 'Fiscal committee: no' and 'State-mandated local program: no' in the Assembly version to 'Fiscal committee: yes' and 'State-mandated local program: yes' in the Senate version, reflecting the new state-imposed duties on local educational agencies.

Header changed from enrolled bill format (showing Assembly and Senate passage dates, Governor receipt line) to chaptered format showing 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' and 'CHAPTER 428' with approval date of October 7, 2025.

Page numbering changed from bill number 95 with 'AB 715' page headers to chapter number 94 with 'Ch. 428' page headers throughout the document.

The bill now amends Education Code Sections 212, 212.3, and 244 in addition to the original Business and Professions Code addition, expanding its scope from attorney discipline to K-12 educational equity and anti-discrimination.

A new Section 1 states legislative intent to enact subsequent legislation to strengthen protections against discrimination including antisemitism in K-12 education, strengthen the State Department of Education's complaint process, increase accountability for discriminatory local educational agencies, create an Antisemitism Coordinator, and ensure educator compliance through contract procurement protections.

Education Code Section 212 is amended so that 'nationality' now includes a person's actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity. Discrimination against pupils identifying as Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Christian, Tao, Shinto, or Buddhist (when involving racial, ethnic, or ancestral slurs) is explicitly classified as nationality-based discrimination.

Education Code Section 212.3 is amended to state that 'discrimination on the basis of religion' includes, but is not limited to, antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Education Code Section 244 is expanded from prohibiting school boards from 'adopting or approving' discriminatory materials to also prohibiting them from 'allowing the use of' such materials, closing a gap where materials could be used without formal adoption.

Schools must include information about these requirements in their annual notification distributed to pupils, parents, employees, and other interested parties.

New complaint procedures are added: complaints may be filed with the local agency under Uniform Complaint Procedures or directly with the Superintendent (with evidence of why immediate action is necessary). The Superintendent may intervene directly without waiting for a local investigation. Anonymous complaints are permitted if they provide evidence or information leading to evidence.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program changed from 'no' to 'yes,' reflecting the new obligations imposed on local educational agencies. A state mandates reimbursement provision was added.