California Fights Dismissal in Landmark Jewish Students Antisemitism Lawsuit

California's Attorney General's Office has asked a Los Angeles judge to throw out a lawsuit accusing the state's public school system of allowing widespread antisemitism against Jewish students, arguing that a new state law already delivers the protections the plaintiffs are demanding. The filing, submitted to Judge Bruce G. Iwasaki, sets up a December showdown over whether California's education agencies can even be sued for what happened inside individual classrooms.

The lawsuit, filed in February by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and StandWithUs, names California's Board of Education, Department of Education and state Superintendent Tony Thurmond as defendants, according to MyNewsLA.com. It marks the first time an entire state public education system and state department of education have been sued over alleged systemic antisemitism in K-12 schools nationwide, as reported by The Washington Times. The plaintiffs are represented by national firm Davis Polk & Wardwell and Los Angeles-based Stubbs Alderton & Markiles alongside in-house counsel from the two advocacy groups, per J. The Jewish News of Northern California.

The state's dismissal motion, filed August 21, argues that California is not a proper party defendant and that Assembly Bill 715 already provides the relief the plaintiffs are seeking, per the court papers cited by MyNewsLA.com. The proposed injunctive relief, the Attorney General's Office contends, would usurp the authority of the state's Office of Civil Rights, which already houses an Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator.

What the 48-Page Complaint Alleges

The complaint, running 48 pages, describes what it calls unchecked antisemitism in school districts across the state, per the complaint. It identifies affected districts including Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Campbell Union, Berkeley, Fremont, Etiwanda and Oakland, according to the filing detailed by MyNewsLA.com.

Among the specific incidents cited: a Kester Elementary School teacher allegedly barred a student from performing in a talent show unless she stopped using a poster depicting the Israeli flag, and a third-grade Jewish student at the same school was allegedly called a racist by her teacher, per the lawsuit. At Louis Armstrong Middle School, a seventh-grade Jewish student who wore a Star of David necklace and Israel-related shirts was allegedly disciplined, the suit claims. A Daniel Pearl Magnet High School honors student was allegedly required to sit through a teacher's antisemitic celebration of the October 7, 2023 massacre of Israelis, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit also alleges that many California teachers led students in off-campus walkouts supporting Hamas and demonizing Israel, and that teachers used class time to teach antisemitic and anti-Israel propaganda. It specifically points to a ninth-grade art teacher at Berkeley High School who allegedly displayed artwork depicting a fist punching through a Star of David and facilitated a student walkout involving antisemitic chants, according to J. The Jewish News of Northern California. The complaint further alleges the Oakland Education Association created an unapproved curriculum recycling antisemitic propaganda and longstanding antisemitic tropes, including a children's book for transitional kindergarten through third-grade students stating “I is for Intifada.”

What the Plaintiffs Want the Court to Order

The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the elimination of antisemitic curriculum and instruction, require antisemitism training for teachers and administrators, and mandate monitoring of schools where antisemitism is a problem. They also want the court to prohibit segregation of Jewish students and to limit school funding for districts that allegedly fail to enforce nondiscrimination policies. The suit cites the state constitution's equal protection and free exercise clauses, alleging that California and the Board of Education violated those provisions, and claims state agencies failed to act against antisemitic discrimination in public schools.

Plaintiffs said the lawsuit was necessitated by systemic failure and seeks protections for California's Jewish students. The California Legislature itself had already found that antisemitic discrimination, harassment and bullying threatened student safety and learning, a finding tied directly to the passage of Assembly Bill 715.

The Law at the Center of the State's Defense

Assembly Bill 715, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2025 following months of legislative debate, established a statewide Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator within the state's newly created Office of Civil Rights, effective January 1, according to CalMatters. The law was introduced in response to a reported surge in antisemitic discrimination, harassment and bullying in California schools. California Department of Justice data cited by CalMatters shows reported anti-Jewish bias incidents statewide doubled between 2021 and 2024, accounting for more than 15% of all reported hate crime events in California despite Jewish residents comprising roughly 3% of the state's population.

The California Department of Education moved to implement the law over the summer, publishing an official Management Bulletin on July 17 under Education Code Section 280(a) providing administrative guidance to local educational agencies on AB 715's anti-discrimination requirements and reporting responsibilities. Separately, at least ten California school districts were already under federal Title VI civil rights investigations by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights over alleged anti-Jewish discrimination at the time the state lawsuit was filed, per The Washington Times.

AB 715 has already survived one legal test. In July, U.S. District Judge Noel Wise dismissed with prejudice a separate federal First Amendment lawsuit brought by teachers, students and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee seeking to block enforcement of the law, according to Courthouse News Service. That challenge is separate from the Brandeis Center and StandWithUs suit but bears on the same statute the Attorney General's Office now cites as grounds for dismissal. Hoodline previously covered the federal challenge when it was first filed.

What Happens Next

Judge Iwasaki has scheduled a formal hearing for December 3 to hear oral arguments on the Attorney General's demurrer and motion to dismiss. The hearing will determine whether the case moves forward or whether the court agrees that AB 715's administrative framework already renders the plaintiffs' requested injunctive relief unnecessary. Also unresolved is whether classroom-level incidents in individual districts can properly be pursued against state agencies rather than the districts themselves, a question the state's filings raise directly.