Ventura County Democratic Socialists of America

Governor Gavin Newsom
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Oppose AB 715: Protect Free Expression and Academic Freedom

Dear Governor Newsom,

On behalf of the Ventura County chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, we urge you to veto AB 715 unless it is substantially amended.

We recognize and condemn the rise in antisemitic incidents in California schools. All students deserve to learn in environments free from harassment and discrimination. However, AB 715, as currently written, does not protect students from bigotry. By codifying definitions that conflate antisemitism with legitimate criticism of the Israeli state or Zionism as a political ideology, the bill risks censoring speech, curriculum, and silencing communities, particularly Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and allied students and educators.

Key concerns include:

• Curriculum restrictions: By requiring that instructional materials about Jews or Israel/Palestine be “balanced” and “non-discriminatory,” AB 715 invites political interference and lobby-driven censorship of Ethnic Studies, social science, and history classes.
• Complaint abuse: Expanding the Uniform Complaint Process to cover school board members, teachers, and contractors opens the door for frivolous or politically motivated complaints targeting those who speak out against apartheid or advocate for Palestinian rights.
• Selective protection: Establishing a State Antisemitism Coordinator, without equal attention to anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian hate, elevates one set of protections while neglecting others, undermining the principle of equal protection under the law.
  

We support the fight against antisemitism. But real safety for Jewish students will not come at the expense of academic freedom, student speech, or the silencing of Palestinian voices. AB 715 risks weaponizing anti-discrimination policy to punish students and educators for speaking truth to power.

We therefore urge you to veto AB 715 unless it is amended to:

• Explicitly safeguard the right to critique governments, including Israel, without being labeled antisemitic.
• Include protections against anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian hate alongside protections against antisemitism.
• Bar the misuse of the Uniform Complaint Process as a tool for political intimidation of educators and students.
  

California schools must be places of honest dialogue, rigorous scholarship, and solidarity among all communities. AB 715, as written, threatens those values.

For these reasons, Ventura County DSA calls on you to veto this bill in its current form.

In solidarity,

Ventura County Democratic Socialists of America