Governor Hobbs Vetoes Bill That Would Target Teachers Under the Guise of Saying They Promote Anti Semitism

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed HB2867, a measure that, if it had become law, would have prosecuted teachers under the guise of saying they were promoting Anti Semitism.

In her veto letter to Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro, the Governor touted her credititionals supporting the Jewish Community in the Grand Canyon State, including expanding Holocaust educational exposure in schools and wrote:

“Unfortunately, this bill is not about Anti Semitism; it’s about attacking our teachers. It puts an unacceptable level of personal liability in place of our public school, community college, and university educators and staff, opening them up to threats of personally costly lawsuits…It sets a dangerous precedent that unfairly targets public school teachers while shielding private school staff.”

Hobbs was backed up in her veto by a letter from Lori Shepherd, the Executive Director of the Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center.

Ms. Shepherd wrote:

“While I support the need to fight hate and antisemitism, the bill’s vague language and punitive approach send a dangerous message to teachers: avoid controversy, or face a courtroom. Teaching the Holocaust is not simple. It requires confronting moral ambiguity, exploring the roots of hatred, and examining how propaganda, nationalism, and apathy paved the way to genocide. It also invites students to ask tough questions about the legacy of the Holocaust today—questions that often touch on the history of Zionism, the founding of the State of Israel, and the persistence of global antisemitism.”

“Under HB 2867, those discussions could be deemed “antisemitic” depending on how a single phrase is interpreted, regardless of intent or context. A student misunderstanding a classroom debate, a parent disagreeing with a textbook, or a community member recording a lecture out of context—any of these could spark a lawsuit. No teacher would want to teach this history under those conditions.”

Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia commented on the veto at a House Democratic Budget event earlier today, saying:

“We’re really grateful that all the work we went into trying to explain why the bill was not going to be helpful in discriminatory events that could or could not be happening in classrooms. We’re grateful that she listened to Educators, parents, and the Jewish Community who said, this is not what we needed. So very grateful that she (Governor Hobbs) listened to her constituents.”

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne offered dissenting remarks to the Governor’s veto, relaying in a statement:

“This is a terrible error in judgment on the part of the Governor. This bipartisan legislation was vital for ensuring that public schools cannot infect students with antisemitic propaganda and her veto is a slap at the Jewish community and those who fight every day against racism. Representative Michael Way worked tirelessly to shepherd this bill through the legislature, getting support from both parties. This bill should have been signed into law.”

“Our country has been witnessing a large and steady increase in antisemitism. Studies show that it is much more so among young people than among the older generation. It is not true that there are no instances of teachers in Arizona schools teaching antisemitism. At Desert Mountain High School, the sponsor of UNICEF and the sponsor of Amnesty International, both teachers, brought to the school a totally one-sided pro Hamas anti-Israel presentation which caused some impressionable students to develop antisemitic feelings, which made Jewish students uncomfortable. The antisemitism has become more and more violent, as illustrated by the murder of two Jewish people in Washington and an attempt to murder by burning alive Jewish people in Colorado.”

If true, Horne is right about one thing. There is no place for one sided garbage that makes terrorist Hamas innocent victims while laying all the blame for the tensions in that area on Israel.

Schools, like Hobbs said in her veto letter, should be exposed to Holocaust/Genocide Studies in order for children to gain an increasing level of historical literacy/appreciation and tolerance for all communities.

Schools should also have four years of history as well as required studies in Government, Economics, and World Cultural Geography.

Any teacher, private, traditional public, charter public or home school who openly make verifiable derogatory remarks against any Semite group (Jews and Arabs for the historically illiterate,) Muslims, Blacks, Latinos, Native American, Asians, Eskimos, and members of the LGBTQ communities, should immediately be reprimanded and, if it warrants, dismissed and have their certificate revoked.

It already is in the human resource policies of all public school districts.

It is not necessary to have a new law when the policies and legal statutes already exist on the books.

Just use existing policy.