Newsom signs law addressing claims of antisemitism and bias in public schools 

On the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 715 , establishing a state office of civil rights and an antisemitism prevention coordinator to address claims of bias in public schools. He also signed Senate Bill 48, which creates four additional coordinator roles focused on addressing and preventing religious, racial, ethnic, gender, and anti-LGBTQ discrimination. The bills, Newsom said, “make clear our schools must be places of learning, not hate.”

The pair of new state laws focused on the state’s public schools has been met with controversy — embraced by many California Jewish organizations and sharply criticized by free speech advocates. One of the laws, AB 715, authored by Democratic reps. Dawn Addis and Rick Chavez Zbur and ch