Arizona governor vetoes bill to ban teaching antisemitism in Arizona's public schools

PHOENIX: Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed a proposal that would ban teaching antisemitism at the state's public K-12 schools, universities and colleges and expose educators who violate the new rules to discipline and lawsuits. On Tuesday, the Democratic governor said the bill is not about antisemitism but rather about attacking 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 said in a statement.

"Additionally, it sets a dangerous precedent that unfairly targets public school teachers while shielding private school staff." The measure cleared the Legislature on Wednesday on a 33-20 vote by the House, including a few Democrats who crossed party lines to support it.

It is one of a few proposals to combat antisemitism across the country. The proposal would prohibit teachers and administrators from teaching or promoting antisemitism or antisemitic actions that create a hostile environment, calling for the genocide of any group or requiring students to advocate for an antisemitic point of view. It also would bar public schools from using public money to support the teaching of antisemitism.

Educators would personally be responsible for covering the costs of damages in lawsuits for violating the rules. Democrats tried but failed to remove the lawsuit provision and swap out references to antisemitism within the bill with "unlawful discrimination" to reflect other discrimination.

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'Rise in antisemitism'

The bill's chief sponsor, Republican Rep Michael Way, of Queen Creek, has said his proposal would create accountability when educators fail to protect students from the rise in antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Opponents say the bill aims to silence people who want to speak out on the oppression of Palestinians and opens up educators to personal legal liability in lawsuits students could file.

Students over the age of 18 and the parents of younger pupils would be able to file lawsuits over violations that create a hostile education environment, leaving teachers responsible for paying any damages that may be awarded, denying them immunity and prohibiting the state from paying any judgments arising from any such lawsuits.

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Rule breakers to face suspension or termination

The proposal would create a process for punishing those who break the rules. At K-12 schools, a first-offense violation would lead to a reprimand, a suspension of a teacher or principal's certificate for a second offense and a revocation of the certificate for a third offence.

At colleges and universities, violators would face a reprimand on first offence, a suspension without pay for a second offence and termination for a third offence. The proposal also would require colleges and universities to consider violations by employees to be a negative factor when making employment or tenure decisions.

Under the proposal, universities and colleges could not recognise any student organisation that invites a guest speaker who incites antisemitism, encourages its members to engage in antisemitism or calls for the genocide of any group.

Elsewhere in the US, a Louisiana lawmaker is pushing a resolution that asks universities to adopt policies to combat antisemitism on campuses and collect data on antisemitism-related reports and complaints. And a Michigan lawmaker has proposed putting a definition of antisemitism into the state's civil rights law.