Arizona state Senate passes bill to hold teachers legally liable for Jew-hatred in schools

Arizona’s largest teachers’ union and a coalition of other advocacy organizations opposed the legislation and said that it fails to address other forms of bigotry, including Islamophobia and bias against the Mormon church.

By Andrew Bernard, JNS

The Arizona state Senate passed legislation on Wednesday that would allow public school students to sue their teachers for Jew-hatred.

HB 2867 adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism and forbids education officials from propagating any “antisemitism or antisemitic conduct, act or process that constitutes harassment or discrimination and that creates a hostile educational environment.”

“For a first offense, issue a formal reprimand,” the act states. “For a second offense, suspend the teacher’s or principal’s certificate.”

A third offense would result in the revocation of a teaching certificate.

Arizona’s largest teachers’ union and a coalition of other advocacy organizations opposed the legislation and said that it fails to address other forms of bigotry, including Islamophobia and bias against the Mormon church.

“Bill 2867 will transform classroom misunderstandings into costly legal battles, encourage disgruntled individuals to harass and extort educators and push hard-working professionals out of the classroom,” the union and its partners wrote in a letter to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat.

“In a state where salaries are already too low, this bill will create a powerful disincentive to teach in Arizona,” the groups wrote.

Some lawmakers also said that the legislation would silence criticism of Israel.

“It is part of a broader effort to falsely and slanderously associate advocating for Palestinian human rights with antisemitism, which is a dangerous and offensive conflation,” said Analise Ortiz, a state senator and a Democrat.

Republican backers of the bill asked why educators should be able to instruct students with content that the IHRA definition, and its contemporary examples, deem antisemitic.

John Kavanagh, a Republican state senator, stated that he was “curious” which of the IHRA contemporary examples those who voted against the bill thought that teachers ought to be able to do.

The bill passed the Arizona state Senate 16-12, with all Democrats opposed and all but one Republican in favor. A previous version passed the House in March with bipartisan support.

The legislation will now return to the Arizona state House for a final vote on the Senate’s amendments before passage to the governor for signing into law.