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2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hobbs vetoes antisemitism bill, says it's an attack on teachers
Image via Getty Images Arizona's Democratic governor has vetoed a GOP-backed bill that would ban the teaching of antisemitism in public schools and universities — and allow teachers to be personally sued for alleged violations. Critics claimed the proposal would put public school teachers, and comprehensive teaching about the Holocaust, at risk. House Bill 2867 sought to ban Arizona's public K-12 teachers and university professors from teaching antisemitism in their classrooms, and make it illegal for schools to provide antisemitic professional development. But combating antisemitism was just a smokescreen, Gov. Katie Hobbs wrote in her veto letter. 'Unfortunately, this bill is not about antisemitism; it's about attacking our teachers,' Hobbs wrote. 'It puts an unacceptable level of personal liability in place for our public school, community college, and university educators and staff, opening them up to threats of personally costly lawsuits.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sponsored by Rep. Michael Way, R-Queen Creek, the bill would have allowed students or their parents to bring civil lawsuits against teachers who they claim violated the law. It would have required teachers to be held personally liable for damages, exempting antisemitism from laws that generally shield teachers from being sued for what they teach in the classroom. A handful of Democratic legislators also voted to pass HB2867, including sisters Alma and Consuelo Hernandez, who are both Jewish and have a history of support for Israel and advocacy for expanding laws to combat antisemitism. The bill's creation was spurred by increased antisemitism that occurred across the country and in Arizona after Hamas's brutal Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 dead and 240 kidnapped, and Israel's violent and ongoing response to it. 'If you're pretending that this (antisemitism in schools) does not happen, shame on you, because it does and it's problematic,' Alma Hernandez said before the final vote in the House of Representatives on June 4. '…it is not your right to tell us what is offensive and what isn't antisemitism.' Lori Shepherd, the executive director of the Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center, asked Hobbs to veto the bill to ensure that teachers can continue with comprehensive lessons about the Holocaust and its aftermath. 'Teaching the Holocaust is not simple,' Shepherd wrote in a June 6 letter to Hobbs. 'It requires confronting moral ambiguity, exploring the roots of hatred, and examining how propaganda, nationalism, and apathy paved the way to genocide. It also invites students to ask tough questions about the legacy of the Holocaust today—questions that often touch on the history of Zionism, the founding of the State of Israel, and the persistence of global antisemitism.' During a Feb. 18 House Education Committee hearing, Republican Rep. Matt Gress, of Phoenix, said he didn't interpret HB2867 as possibly interfering with education about the Holocaust. 'Hate should not be existing inside of our schools,' Gress said. 'And I think this bill moves in that direction.' The definition of antisemitism used in the bill is a controversial one created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance that includes 'claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour' as an example of antisemitism. Even Ken Stern, who helped to draft the definition 20 years ago when he was the American Jewish Committee's antisemitism expert, now advocates against its use in legal matters, arguing that it has been used as 'a blunt instrument to label anyone an antisemite.' When Sen. Mitzi Epstein of Tempe, whose husband is Jewish, proposed an amendment to the bill to ban the teaching of various other types of discrimination, remove personal civil liability for teachers and apply the law to both public and private schools, it was voted down along party lines. Hobbs wrote in her veto letter that parents and students can already report allegations of unprofessional conduct from teachers to the State Board of Education. 'I am confident that by using those tools, we can fulfill our moral and legal responsibility to eradicate hate and discrimination in our public school system,' she wrote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona Gov. Hobbs vetoes antisemitism bill, citing 'attack' on public schools
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have allowed students and their parents to sue K-12 and university teachers and potentially make them pay damages for teaching or promoting antisemitism. Hobbs announced the veto of House Bill 2867 in a letter June 10. In it, she said the bill was "not about antisemitism" but rather, "it's about attacking our teachers. It puts an unacceptable level of personal liability in place for our public school, community college, and university educators and staff, opening them up to threats of personally costly lawsuits." She rebuked the Legislature, writing, "It is disappointing to yet again see this Legislature single out and attack our public education system." The governor said despite the veto, she continues to stand with the Jewish community against hate and remains "committed to fighting antisemitism in all its forms." Students who experience antisemitism in the classroom already can report unprofessional conduct to the State Board of Education, Hobbs said. She said she was "confident that by using those tools, we can fulfill our moral and legal responsibility to eradicate hate and discrimination in our public school system." Hobbs also pointed to several Jewish groups that opposed the bill, including the National Council of Jewish Women Arizona, the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center and the Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project. HB 2867 would have prohibited teachers, administrators, contractors and volunteers at K-12 public schools and public or private universities from: teaching or promoting antisemitism; requiring students to advocate for anti-Semitic points of view; and receiving professional development "in any antisemitism" that creates a "discriminatory" or "hostile" environment. The proposal provoked concern from public-school advocates about exacerbating the teacher shortage and had raised red flags about First Amendment violations due to what the proposed law considered "antisemitism." The Arizona Education Association, the main teachers' union in the state, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona had urged Hobbs, a Democrat, to veto the bill. The teacher's union said the bill "weaponizes legitimate concerns about antisemitism to attack public education" by stripping teachers of professional liability protections. The ACLU said it would "chill the First Amendment rights of students, teachers, speakers and administrators" and target those who criticized Israel. The bill included specific examples of speech the state would have prohibited, which a Federal District Court in Texas said amounted to "viewpoint discrimination that chills speech in violation of the First Amendment" when used to punish university students. Arizona's bill mostly applied to teachers, but one provision targeted university student groups — a fact First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh said was "pretty clearly unconstitutional." Supporters of the bill, such as sponsor Rep. Michael Way, R-Queen Creek, said it was needed because existing anti-discrimination laws "either weren't clear enough or didn't contain the necessary enforcement mechanism to address this problem." Rep. Alma Hernandez, a Democrat from Tucson and co-sponsor of the bill, was another vocal proponent of the legislation. Neither she nor Way immediately responded to requests for comment regarding Hobbs' veto. Could teachers be sued? Under a bill on Hobbs' desk, Ariz. teachers could be sued for what they say in classroom Taylor Seely is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at The Arizona Republic / Do you have a story about the government infringing on your First Amendment rights? Reach her at tseely@ or by phone at 480-476-6116. Seely's role is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Gov. Hobbs says antisemitism bill an 'attack' on schools
