An Arab American civil rights group is mounting a legal challenge to California’s new law designed to combat antisemitism in public schools, filing a federal complaint against the state on behalf of teachers, parents and others who strongly oppose the measure.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) on Monday announced the civil rights complaint challenging Assembly Bill 715, signed by the governor last month on the two-year anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023.
Approved amid considerable controversy but without opposition in the Legislature, the law has been described by Jewish groups as a “landmark” piece of legislation designed to combat a swell of antisemitism in California K-12 schools. The ADC complaint characterizes AB 715 as “unconstitutionally vague,” “hastily written,” and a threat to teachers’ First Amendment rights.
The new legal effort seeks to stop the measure from going into effect on Jan. 1.
The federal complaint, which names plaintiffs as four public school educators, three parents and the independent Los Angeles Educators for Justice in Palestine, argues that antisemitism is not clearly defined in AB 715, leaving teachers and students unable to navigate its parameters.
The complaint was filed on Sunday in San Jose, and a motion for a preliminary injunction asking for “emergency relief” will be filed later this week, according to Jenin Younes, national legal director for the D.C.-based ADC.
The motion is “basically saying we don’t have time to go through the whole trial process, but this law is unconstitutional and needs to be blocked before it takes effect,” said Younes, who added that the law “needs serious revisions.”
A permanent injunction of AB 715 is the ultimate goal of the complaint, Younes said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond are all named as defendants in the complaint.
Before Newsom signed AB 715 into law in October, the bill went through several rounds of revisions in response to fierce opposition voiced by progressive and anti-Zionist groups, as well as California’s largest teachers union, removing some specificity when it comes to defining antisemitism.
The final version of the bill describes a “surge” in antisemitism facing Jewish and Israeli American students in California. It says such treatment has included the use of “antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories; discriminatory slurs, symbols, and expressions; physical and verbal assaults; discrimination by proxy and through the use of coded language; collective blame and generalizations about Jewish people; vilification of Jews and Israelis; and distortions of Jewish religion, ancestry, history, and identity.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, a co-author of the bill and co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, said the law is the product of compromise.
“The bill went through an extensive, broad-based, collaborative process that resulted in almost unanimous votes in both houses of the Legislature,” Wiener told J. on Tuesday. “Not a single legislator in either house voted ‘no’ on the bill, and we attained such broad support because we worked so intensively to produce a bill that addresses antisemitism in our schools.”
Some of the plaintiffs in the suit are teachers who have been accused of antisemitism. One is Kauser Adenwala, a former teacher at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara. Adenwala, who taught world history, was investigated by her school district after showing students an anti-Israel video produced by Turkish state-run media, a violation of the district’s requirement to present all sides of an issue impartially and with factual information.
The complaint defends Adenwala, stating that since AB 715 was introduced, teachers have felt the need to walk on eggshells for fear of being accused of antisemitism.
“Following the introduction of AB 715 at the beginning of 2025, there was increased anxiety about false allegations of antisemitism among public educators,” the complaint states. “Ms. Adenwala believes that has impacted how complaints against her have been handled and the district felt pressure to appease a parent group that was unhappy she had not been fired.” Adenwala now teaches high school civics and economics.
Another plaintiff is Andrea Prichett, a teacher at Willard Middle School in Berkeley and a vocal pro-Palestinian activist. Prichett was investigated twice by her school over complaints about anti-Israel bias in the classroom, and both investigations found those complaints to lack merit, according to the complaint.
“The mere mention of the conflict, it puts me in an awkward position. I don’t know what is going to get reported, I don’t know what’s going to cross the line if this legislation is enacted,” Prichett told J. on Tuesday.
The complaint contends that AB 715 “provides individuals and organizations who seek to silence negative discussion of Israel with more tools to misuse the public school system for their political purposes.” It names a complaint filed by StandWithUs, a pro-Israel antisemitism-fighting organization, as an example.
StandWithUs, an international, nonpartisan organization working to combat antisemitism in schools, has been active in filing lawsuits on behalf of Jewish K-12 and college students facing harassment and discrimination.
Oleg Ivanov, executive director of StandWithUs Northern California, decried the ADC legal action in a statement to J.
“This lawsuit is an attempt to stop urgently needed action against antisemitism in K-12 education. Hatred, bullying, and discrimination against Jews have risen to shocking levels in California schools. AB 715 is a response to this crisis, driven by the experiences of Jewish students and teachers across the state.”