CA Legislature Approves Bill Creating Teachers Collaborative on Holocaust and Genocide Education
Senate Bill 1277 (Stern), establishing the educational collaborative run by JFCS San Francisco as an official state program, heads to Newsom’s desk
September 1, 2024
SACRAMENTO, CA — On Friday evening, the California State Senate and Assembly approved Senate Bill 1277, authored by Senator Henry Stern (D–San Fernando Valley) and sponsored by JPAC and Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) of San Francisco, Peninsula, Marin & Sonoma Counties. SB 1277 will establish the California Teachers Collaborative on Holocaust and Genocide Education (the Collaborative) as an official state program.
It passed the Assembly with a 76-0 vote, and the Senate with a 40-0 vote. Both votes were unanimous and bipartisan (three Assemblymembers were absent, and one seat is vacant). It now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. The legislature concluded its 2023-24 session at midnight last night, sending hundreds of bills to Newsom’s desk. He has until September 30th to sign them.
Since 1985, California has required Holocaust and genocide education to be taught in public schools. However, most schools are not up to state standards, and there is no systematic teacher training to help bridge the gap. The Collaborative is led by JFCS and brings together 14 leading Holocaust and genocide education institutions from across California. In addition to the Holocaust, educational groups about the Rwandan, Cambodia, Guatemalan, Uyghur, and Native genocides are members of the Collaborative. Together, they develop curriculum, train 8,500 public school teachers, and educate one million students by 2027 – including teachers and students in every California local educational agency (LEA).
The Collaborative has been working towards this goal since 2021 as an independent educational entity. The State provided $1.9 million to the Collaborative in 2021 to support its work, $1.5 million in 2023, and another $5 million in 2024. If signed by Governor Newsom, the Collaborative would become an official California State program.
This parallels the work of the recently established Governor’s Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education, which is conducting a statewide study on how effective California schools are meeting their Holocaust and genocide education mandate. The Collaborative will provide LEAs that are not up to the state’s expectations with the tools and resources to get there.
SB 1277 was surprisingly opposed by Jewish Voice for Peace, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Coalition for Liberated Ethnic Studies. They argued that Holocaust educational institutions should not contribute to Holocaust education if those institutions also support Israel – which all major U.S. Holocaust educational institutions do. Despite such disingenuous opposition, the bill’s overwhelming bipartisan support in the legislature demonstrated the desire for such education.
“We know that Holocaust and genocide education helps develop a more empathetic, morally courageous, and socially responsible next generation,” said David Bocarsly, JPAC Executive Director. “Unfortunately, in many schools across California, we’ve seen how such education is simply non-existent or not meeting state standards. Codifying the Collaborative as a state program is a huge step towards righting this wrong and will help counter the rising tide of hate in our society. Special thanks to Senator Henry Stern for authoring this bill, and for being a champion for Holocaust and genocide education.”
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This week, the legislature also sent three other JPAC-sponsored bills to the Governor’s desk:
- SB 1287 (Glazer) will require college campuses to update and enforce provisions in their student codes to prevent instances of intimidation, harassment, and violence. The bill will also require each system of higher education to develop training programs to educate students on civil discourse. The bill is also on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature.
- AB 2925 (Friedman) will mandate that California’s college campuses include the five most targeted groups in their training to combat and address discrimination. Currently, most campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) trainings do not teach about antisemitism at all or cover it inadequately relative to its prevalence. With the Jewish community consistently among the most targeted groups, this bill would ensure that antisemitism is included in campus anti-discrimination or DEI trainings.
- SB 85 (Wiener), the California Extended Case Management Act, extends critical case management services for new refugees for 90 more days, on top of the 90 days currently funded by the federal government. Jewish Family Service agencies – in the East Bay, Silicon Valley, Long Beach, and San Diego – are some of the state’s leading refugee resettlement agencies, supported by HIAS
JPAC is also supporting several dozen other bills, many of which are on the Governor’s desk. You can see the status of all of JPAC’s priority bills here.
About JPAC:
The Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC) is the voice of California’s Jewish community to the State Capitol. Composed of California’s leading Jewish community organizations, JPAC advocates in Sacramento on behalf of the Jewish community’s concerns and broadly shared values. JPAC member organizations – including Jewish Federations, Jewish Community Relations Councils, Jewish Family Service agencies, and others – collectively serve hundreds of thousands of Californians of all backgrounds and represent the interests of California’s 1.2 million Jews, making it the largest single-state coalition of Jewish organizations in the nation.
For more information, visit us at http://jpac-cal.org.
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Contact: David Bocarsly, JPAC Executive Director, david@jpac-cal.org