The California State Capitol in Sacramento. Photo Credit: Wayne Hsieh / Flickr

A bill that would make California the first state in the nation to require that high school students take an ethnic studies course for graduation passed the state’s legislature on Wednesday, the latest turn in a contentious, years-long process over the proposal.

Assembly Bill 101 (AB 101), now awaiting the signature of Governor Gavin Newsom before becoming state law, was opposed by some Jewish groups, who argued that it would allow schools to adopt previously proposed curricula that included antisemitic and anti-Israel material.

In 2020, Newsom criticized the first draft of an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (EMSC) as “offensive in so many ways,” and later vetoed an earlier measure to require its adoption in California schools.

The version of the mandate passed on Wednesday was praised by the California Legislative Jewish Caucus for including “important clarifying amendments” they said addressed concerns raised by the Jewish community.

“These amendments — which expressly prohibit the use of curriculum that was rejected because of concerns about anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias — strengthen the firm guardrails included in AB 101 and leave no doubt that hate and bigotry against Jews, Israelis, or any other community is prohibited by law and cannot be taught in our classrooms,” the caucus said.

“In the coming months, the Jewish Caucus will continue to remain actively engaged to ensure that the teaching of ethnic studies is free from any anti-Jewish bias or discrimination and adheres to the highest educational standards.”

A leading critic of AB 101, AMCHA Initiative Director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, argued Thursday that the bill’s language would only recommend against, and not strictly prohibit, schools from teaching the rejected EMSC draft or other versions of the curriculum presented by some of the same authors.

“Despite the efforts of the Legislative Jewish Caucus and some Jewish organizations, the reality is that there is no way these amendments can prevent antisemitic curricula like the first draft or even the more overtly antisemitic Liberated curriculum from finding their way into California classrooms, especially given their support from the state’s major teachers’ unions and the ethnic studies higher education community,” she said.

The head of the antisemitism watchdog also criticized the bill’s public vetting procedure for using a curriculum other than the state-approved version, which she said “puts the onus” on parents to challenge alternatives weighed by individual school districts.

“The only way to ensure these antisemitic curricula will not make their way into classrooms on a wide scale is if the Governor vetoes this bill, which we urge him to do,” Rossman-Benjamin said.