In early October, California’s Assembly Bill 715 (AB715) was signed into law with the goal of protecting students from discrimination. Yet even Governor Gavin Newsom, in his own signing statement, admitted the bill could have “unintended consequences.” Despite these concerns, the bill moved forward. Under AB715 (and its partner bill SB48) the state will appoint a number of anti-discrimination coordinators with the sole power to override schools’ established bias reporting systems. AB715 places the power in the hands of parents to report their perceptions of ‘biased teaching’ including objections to ‘professional development materials’ that could be perceived as offending a student.

In a time of frequent attacks on education, this bill leaves books, curriculum and class discussion under renewed threat. By tying itself to a vague and controversial set of definitions, AB715 destroys the distinction between legitimate academic studies and hateful rhetoric. The bypass of Bias Incident reporting systems, in favor of a non-elected individual to investigate teachers over topics that make adults uncomfortable is yet another example of an assault on ethnic studies.

Earlier versions of this bill make these intentions obvious. The predecessor bill, AB1468, openly attempted to censor Ethnic Studies however it failed in committee. The next draft increased the authority of a state appointed coordinator while specifying what content could be flagged. The version that ultimately passed diluted the language but kept the core goal intact, classroom censorship.

Educators were quick to sound the alarm. David Goldberg, the president of the California Teachers Association, an organization that represents over 300,000 members, put it plainly: “AB715 raises serious free speech concerns, leaving teachers uncertain about what they can lawfully say in the classroom on a wide range of issues. … At a time when too many are seeking to attack academic freedom and weaponize public education, AB715 would unfortunately arm ill-intentioned people with the ability to do so.”

Teachers around the country face pressure from parents and political groups who seek to sanitize and discount uncomfortable discussions. These groups have just been handed a new tool to further their agenda.

In a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, they expressed their distaste of the bill: “AB 715 goes far beyond protecting students from harassment or violence. Instead, it polices what can be said in classrooms, subjects legitimate academic frameworks to overly broad censorship, and risks undermining conversations about history, identity, and human rights.”

The Policy Coordinator of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of the San Francisco Bay Area offered a similar warning: “Something like this could set the precedent for other issues being censored. So race issues, gender issues, we’re living in a time where currently, politicians in this current administration are attacking various issues of social justice right now in schools and education across the country.”

For students at Campo, we are yet to understand the full impact this bill will have. The Acalanes Union High School District Superintendent, John Nickerson, put it this way: “There’s always some concern when a law is signed, and many people who support the law say, well, it’s not perfect, but we’ll fix it in the first year. So that’s a little bit concerning. And I think some of the concern revolves around some ambiguity and some of the terms that are used and definitions of some of the terms.” The Claw reached out to our local assemblymember, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, for an interview on this subject; however, after initially agreeing, she withdrew from the interview once she received the list of questions.

In the coming year, lawmakers like Bauer-Kahan – who voted yes on the bill – will attempt to “fix” AB715. However, history shows that vague censorship laws infrequently become more specific. Unless communities push back, the same special-interest groups that pushed the bill forward will expand its power further and entrench its censorship in California classrooms.