California’s landmark school antisemitism law passed without a single “no” vote, survived its first court challenge and took effect at the start of the year. On May 17, five candidates for state superintendent of public instruction said they would enforce the law. But not all of them said they would fight to keep it alive.
At a virtual forum hosted by advocacy group Jewish California, five candidates staked out positions on AB 715, the safety of Jewish students in public schools and a proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom that would strip the very office they’re running for of its independence.
“The next superintendent will set the tone for how California schools respond to antisemitism on campus,” Jewish California CEO David Bocarsly said in his opening remarks, “and will decide whether AB 715 is enforced as a real protection for Jewish and all students.”
The forum was open only to candidates who had raised at least $100,000 in direct contributions by late March. All who were invited accepted.
The field includes San Diego school board President Richard Barrera, state Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (Southwest L.A. County), former state Sen. Josh Newman (North Orange County), former Assembly speaker Anthony Rendon (Southeast L.A. County) and Chino Valley school board President Sonja Shaw, one of two Republicans in the race.
According to an April survey from the Public Policy Institute of California, no candidate in the broader 10-person field is polling above 10% with likely voters, with 32% of voters still undecided. Barrera holds arguably the race’s most valuable endorsement: the California Teachers Association. According to EdSource, no candidate for state superintendent has won in the past 44 years without the CTA’s backing.
At the center of the forum was AB 715, which established an Office of Civil Rights and requires the state to appoint an antisemitism prevention coordinator for K-12 public schools to monitor and address the anti-Jewish hate that has escalated since Oct. 7, 2023. It also strengthens tools for reporting “discriminatory content” in classrooms. Newsom has yet to fill the coordinator role.
All five candidates expressed commitment to enforcing the law, but their commitments varied enough to matter.
Newman, who is Jewish, was unequivocal. He said he would “absolutely” defend and enforce AB 715 and dismissed objections that have been raised against it. A federal court, he noted, has already rejected the argument that it harms free speech.
“It shouldn’t be so hard to be a Jewish kid in school in California and unfortunately, it is,” Newman said. “As superintendent, I will happily defend the law, and I will happily work with the attorney general to make sure that any court case that comes forward is fully adjudicated.”
Muratsuchi took a more cautious stance. He said he had raised concerns during the bill’s debate about the potential for a “chilling effect” on classroom discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Muratsuchi, the only one of the five candidates in the state Legislature last year, acknowledged that he abstained from voting on AB 715.
He pledged nonetheless to enforce the law.
“AB 715 is the law,” Muratsuchi said. “I will enforce the law, and I will make sure that I do everything in my power to protect Jewish children in the classroom.”
Barrera, who said that he had similar reservations about the law’s potential effects, declined to commit to defending AB 715 against all legal challenges.
“If I believe that the legal challenges make it more difficult to protect our students, then yeah, I’ll get on the side of protecting AB 715,” Barrera said. “But if I believe that the legal challenges are actually addressing issues that create real problems in our classrooms and for our educators … I can’t commit to opposing those efforts.”
Rendon emphasized governance and implementation, having watched bills go unenforced during his years in the Assembly.
Shaw called out Muratsuchi for abstaining from the final assembly vote on AB 715 and accused Barrera of watering down an antisemitism resolution in San Diego.
“I’m tired of people doing this to our children,” she said. “We need someone who’s going to get in there, fight for our kids.”
The forum also surfaced a possible threat to AB 715’s enforcement that has nothing to do with the courts.
In January, Newsom proposed shifting leadership of the California Department of Education to the State Board of Education, an 11-member body appointed by the governor. Under the plan — moving through the Legislature as AB 2117 after passing in the Assembly on May 11 — the superintendent would no longer be elected and, starting in 2027, would be appointed by the governor instead.
Newman raised a procedural concern: AB 715 specifically names the superintendent as the officer responsible for handling antisemitism complaints, issuing annual bulletins to districts and maintaining an antisemitism resources webpage. If the superintendent’s statutory authority is stripped, Newman said, “all of these things will become really complicated.”
All five candidates opposed Newsom’s proposal and AB 2117 without qualification.
“I hate the proposed changes … in every way imaginable,” Rendon said. “To further concentrate power in the executive branch is a hideous idea. It’s a power grab.”
The June 2 primary will send the top two finishers to the November general election.
The candidates covered many topics during the two-hour event. Watch the full forum here: