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A New Ethnic Studies Bill in California: Overview of AB 1468
- PEER K12
- Apr 8
- 14 min read
Updated: May 7
Navigating the nuances of legislative bills can be confusing—everything starts to blend together, making it hard to determine whether to support a bill without digging into the fine print to understand its true impact.
Don’t worry—PeerK12 has done the heavy lifting for you. Just read our notes to get up to speed.
Below, we break down the key details of California’s newest Ethnic Studies Assembly Bill 1468, and analyze if its provisions will be enough to protect the civil rights of Jewish students and teachers, as well as all students who could be impacted by this Bill.
Overview: Ethnic Studies California Assembly Bill 1468
AB 1468 is a bill that aims to create and standardize ethnic studies courses in California high schools by 2028 with two main functions: the creation of content standards, and curriculum transparency.
Our Analysis
Our analysis of AB1468 reveals significant concerns.
The bill lacks essential enforcement mechanisms for both content standards and transparency requirements. Without these, AB1468 will fail to create meaningful accountability or change at the district and classroom levels.
Moreover, by elevating ethnic studies to equal standing with core subjects such as math, science, English, and history, AB1468 paves the way for the potential adoption of ethnic studies as a mandatory admissions requirement for the UC and CSU systems as a new "Area H".
Such a move would effectively impose Liberated Ethnic Studies on all applicants worldwide seeking admission to California’s public universities.
Key Takeaways
AB 1468 seeks to create content standards for ethnic studies as a way to ensure school districts adhere to the original guardrails that AB 101 outlined.
However, the new bill lacks clear enforcement measures to ensure the curriculum is fair, balanced, and free from bias, which had also been the main issue with AB 101.
High Cost: Funding for Ethnic Studies is Still in Limbo
The mandate is estimated to cost the state upwards of $275 million annually.
Budgets would need to come from other educational areas - and based on Gov. Newsom's realignment in recent months, it seems highly unlikely that he would approve any funding towards such a politically charged issue.
AB 1468 also seeks to elevate ethnic studies to the same level of importance as math, science, english and other core subjects.
A potential unintended consequence is already happening - a push to make ethnic studies a UC/CSU admissions requirement - as a new "Area H".
This effort has been underway for years and has recently seen a resurgence (CA Ballot Measure Submission: Advancing Ethnic Studies Action Act).
A number of our grassroots partners were actively opposing this: AMCHA Defeated Area H Ethnic Studies Admissions Requirement.
Parents should be aware that AB 1468 does not protect their children from harmful or biased content in ethnic studies courses or content inside curriculum.
The bill lacks district-level enforcement or state-level accountability - there is no penalty for deviations or violations.
There are also no consequences for districts violating existing state content standards in core subjects (English, History, Science, etc.).
Current core subjects are already embedded with ethnic studies (like Ethnic Literature classes) - with no content standards enforcement mechanism.
The onus falls to parents and their students to oversee and challenge biased or inappropriate content on their own with no support from the State level with regards to oversight or enforcement.
Often this opposition must occur publicly - usually via litigation (examples: here, here and here) which can leave their children vulnerable to retaliation at the school site or school district location.
The bill excludes Jewish American history and enforces the flexibility given to local school districts to create their own curricula, which could lead to disparities and ideological issues in the classroom.
Who is Endorsing this Bill & Who is Opposing it
It's important to note here that - as with all things ethnic studies related - it's complicated....
Our analysis of the unfortunate division within the Jewish community on this bill is that half of the Jewish community wants to prioritize content standards and transparency in order to have a clear baseline by which "the guardrails" can be judged (these are the orgs listed below as endorsing/supporting the bill).
The other half of the Jewish community wants to prioritize enforcing existing protections and general content standards before trying to legislate and create additional new ones specifically for ethnic studies.
The main issue is that AB1468 does not provide any oversight mechanism or enforcement levers that could be activated to ensure new ethnic studies specific content standards are followed.
We've seen time and time again that content standards are not being enforced for core subjects like history or english - which means adding content standards for ethnic studies will not be an effective deterrent to ensuring the removal of harmful ideologies and antisemitic content from any ethnic studies class across more than 1000 school districts in California.
That is the reason why you see below that half the Jewish community is supporting this bill, while the other half is opposing it.
We are disappointed that AB1468 does not have any provisions to enforce either the content standards or the transparency clauses that it seeks to accomplish with this bill.
Without those in place, there will be no noticeable difference on the ground in districts and classrooms with or without AB1468.
Furthermore, if AB1468 passes that automatically elevates ethnic studies to the same level of importance as math, science, english, history, etc. - which means that there will be no foreseeable way to continue to halt it from becoming an admissions requirement at the UC/CSU level, which would effectively mandate Liberated Ethnic Studies for anyone in the world who applies to California state universities.
ENDORSING
OPPOSING
DUE TO LACK OF ENFORCEMENT & PROTECTIONS
OPPOSING
DUE TO FORCED TRANSPARENCY
Articles Exposing Antisemitism in Ethnic Studies
Apr 22 2025 | EdSource
Apr 10 2025 | Jerusalem Post
Mar 13, 2025 | DAILY WIRE
The Ethnic Studies Battlegrounds: Political Ideology, Teacher Unions, and a Divided Jewish Community
March 9 2025 | L'Chaim Magazine
Nov 19, 2024 | EdSource
Sept 11 2024 | Epoch Times
Sept 25, 2024 | Jewish Journal
Apr 30 2024 | City Journal
Sept 23, 2023 | RealClear Politics
Dec 19 2023 | The Free Press
Our Recent Webinars Discussing Ethnic Studies & AB1468
April 28, 2025
March 31, 2025
February 25, 2025
Here's a deeper dive into some of the major concerns around this new ethnic studies bill ...
Creation of Content Standards & Curriculum
By 2028, the State Board of Education must develop content standards for ethnic studies courses in high schools. These standards will guide what students should learn in these courses.
The Instructional Quality Commission will review and recommend curriculum frameworks and materials to be used in teaching ethnic studies.
Advisory Committee Formation: the bill stipulates an additional piece of legislation be created to form an Advisory Committee composed of experts in only four (4) main areas of ethnic studies: African American studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, Native American studies, and Latino and Chicanx studies.
California school districts must submit their curriculum to be reviewed and approved based on these content standards.
Graduation Requirement Confusion & Timing Misalignment
Course Content Requirements/Restrictions [ LIST OF ED CODES ]
LACK of Oversight & Compliance
Potential Issues
BILL SHORTCOMINGS ANALYSIS
Lack of Oversight Enforcement
AB 1468 does not explicitly outline specific penalties or consequences for districts that fail to comply with its requirements.
However, there are certain implications and mechanisms that could be triggered in case of noncompliance.
Here's a breakdown of the relevant provisions related to compliance and the potential consequences of failure to comply:
Monitoring and Compliance
Section 60165 (as previously mentioned) requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to monitor compliance with the ethnic studies requirements, as part of the annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs. This oversight will help ensure that districts implement ethnic studies courses according to the guidelines set by the state.
The CDE will compile data over a five-year period, which will be reported to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature. This is part of the larger monitoring process to evaluate whether districts are meeting the standards of ethnic studies curriculum.
Lack of Explicit Penalties
Potential Consequences of Noncompliance
Summary of Oversight Provisions
Can Ethnic Studies be Repealed?
There are a few potential factors that could render the Ethnic Studies Mandate inoperative or repealable, including several provisions within AB 1468 could delay, suspend, or nullify the ethnic studies mandate:
Mandate is Contingent Upon Legislative Funding
Without this funding, the mandate remains inactive, and schools are not legally required to implement the ethnic studies course.
Operative Clause: The requirement for schools to offer and for students to complete an ethnic studies course becomes operative only when the California Legislature allocates specific funds for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Implementation Challenges with Compliance at the Local Educational Agency (LEA) Level
Adding Sunset & Review Provisions
Indirect Potential (Negative) Consequences
Fast-tracking ethnic studies as an admissions requirement for the UC/CSU System
By standardizing and scaling ethnic studies instruction across all high schools, this bill could lay the groundwork for UC/CSU to consider incorporating ethnic studies into their admissions framework in the future.
It makes it more likely that ethnic studies courses would be recognized as satisfying existing A–G requirements, particularly under the “A” (history/social science) or “G” (elective) categories.
Content Standards already exist in the California Ed Code - however those standards and Ed Codes are rarely enforced, meaning there is little chance AB 1468 has any effect or ability to enforce ethnic studies curriculum, even if standards were created.
Loss of Federal Funding for All California School Districts
Litigation Sources
Blind Spots to Consider
Funding Dependency: The activation of the ethnic studies requirement is explicitly tied to state funding. Without the necessary appropriations, the mandate does not take effect.
Removal of Jewish American experiences from Ethnic Studies: By confining Ethnic Studies Content Standards to only the four (4) main marginalized groups, AB 1468 is the first ethnic studies bill in California that explicitly removes Jewish American experiences from being taught.
LEA Responsibilities: Local agencies must be prepared to develop and implement the curriculum in alignment with state guidelines. Failure to do so could lead to interventions or policy changes.
Legislative Oversight: The Legislature retains the authority to amend, delay, or repeal the requirement based on various factors, including funding availability and program effectiveness.
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