NATIONAL NEWS

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

Jun 10, 2025, 5:01 PM

FILE - Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, center, applauds for those affected by the Los Angeles ...

FILE - Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, center, applauds for those affected by the Los Angeles area wildfires as she gives the State of the State address in the House of Representatives at the state Capitol with Speaker of the House Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, left, and Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, flanking the governor on Jan. 13, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. 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 last week on a 33-20 vote by the House, including a few Democrats who crossed party lines to support it. It’s 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.

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.

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 offense.

At colleges and universities, violators would face a reprimand on first offense, a suspension without pay for a second offense and termination for a third offense. 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 couldn’t recognize any student organization 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 U.S., 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.

National News

Associated Press

Elon Musk backs off from feud with Trump, saying he regrets social media posts that ‘went too far’

Elon Musk stepped back from his explosive feud with U.S. President Donald Trump, writing on X that he regrets some of his posts about his onetime ally and that they went “too far.” Early Wednesday morning, he posted “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.” Musk earlier […]

1 hour ago

A protester raises the U.S. flag after police use tear gas and flash-bangs at the Federal Building ...

Associated Press

AP PHOTOS: Protests over immigration raids spread beyond Los Angeles

Protests that sprang up in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement raids have begun to spread across the country, with more demonstrations planned. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Los Angeles imposes downtown curfew as protests against Trump’s immigration crackdown continue

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles leaders imposed a downtown curfew through Wednesday morning to deal with protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, while the governor accused him of drawing a “military dragnet” across the nation’s second-largest city with his escalating use of the National Guard. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom asked a court to […]

5 hours ago

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an address on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Office of California Governo...

Associated Press

California governor says ‘democracy is under assault’ by Trump as feds intervene in LA protests

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Calling President Donald Trump a threat to the American way of life, Gov. Gavin Newsom depicted the federal military intervention in Los Angeles as the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy. In a speech Tuesday evening, […]

6 hours ago

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office of the the White House, Tuesday, Ju...

Associated Press

A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in Trump’s bid to erase his hush money conviction

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s quest to erase his criminal conviction heads to a federal appeals court Wednesday. It’s one way he’s trying to get last year’s hush money verdict overturned. A three-judge panel is set to hear arguments in Trump’s long-running fight to get the New York case moved from state court […]

6 hours ago

FILE - Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting and activist, looks at the photos t...

Associated Press

Pulse massacre survivors are set to revisit the nightclub before it’s razed

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Survivors and family members of the 49 victims killed in the Pulse nightclub massacre nine years ago are getting their first chance Wednesday to walk through the long-shuttered, LGBTQ+-friendly Florida venue before it’s razed and replaced with a permanent memorial to what was once the worst U.S. mass shooting in modern […]

6 hours ago

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