Newsom Defies Expectations With Curriculum Veto

It was only one extraordinary week ago that we thought the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be the last jarring and historically unprecedented moment in this presidential campaign. But Ginsburg’s likely successor, Amy Coney Barrett, has all but disappeared from the news, except for speculation about how many of the attendees contracted COVID-19 at the White House event in which President Donald Trump announced her nomination.

Understandably, the president’s diagnosis has dominated news coverage and public attention, eclipsing the controversy over his tax returns, fallout from the first presidential debate, and the glacier-like pace of negotiations for additional coronavirus relief legislation. As of this writing, the medical particulars of Trump’s condition still are not clear.

In the meantime, I’d like to take care of some personal business: I owe Gov. Gavin Newsom an apology.

About a month ago, I wrote another in a series of articles about legislation that would mandate an ethnic studies course for California public school students. Although the draft curriculum for the class, which eventually would be required to graduate, didn’t address the Jewish experience in a significant way, admirable work by the Jewish Legislative Caucus and the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC) had convinced the draft’s authors to remove most of the overt anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic material. As a result of these changes, most members of the Jewish Caucus voted for the bill in an effort to preserve their leverage for further negotiations over the curriculum’s content.

Because Newsom previously signed similar legislation regarding an ethnic studies mandate for the California State University system, and given the prevailing political headwinds in a nation struggling with the challenges of race relations in the aftermath of the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor, I saw convincing Newsom to veto this bill as a lost cause. Rather than trying to convince the governor to oppose legislation I believed he was certain to approve, I resigned myself to what I assumed was inevitable and instead, wrote to encourage him to use the authority of his office post-signing to push for improvements in the curriculum itself.

Newsom deserves tremendous credit for withstanding immense pressure.

However, Newsom did the right thing. While expressing his strong support for the importance of ethnic studies courses for California public school students, he also cited the ongoing concerns over the curriculum’s content and urged additional negotiations to promote a more inclusive approach to the lesson plan in his veto.

Neither the Jewish Caucus nor JPAC had pushed for a veto, stressing their backing for an ethnic studies course that reflected the history and challenges of the Jewish community as well as many other overlooked ethnic groups. Given the unhappiness of many of the legislature’s Black and Latino members over Newsom’s decision, the Jewish Caucus’ support for the legislation may provide them with an opportunity to help shape the final version of the curriculum before another bill comes to Newsom next year.

Newsom deserves tremendous credit for withstanding immense pressure. But our state’s Jewish community must recognize that the governor’s efforts have not eliminated the possibility of a noninclusive ethnic studies class, but merely delayed it. This marks the second time in two years Newsom has come to the aid of the Jewish community on this issue, after last year, calling for major revisions in the original legislation. However, the governor’s ongoing support should not obscure a larger and growing challenge.

The broad support for this legislation among the state’s minority legislators reflects the lack of strong ties and useful communications channels between California Jews and our counterparts from communities of color. There was a time when Jewish leaders prioritized these relationships, but in the absence of consistent attention, these bonds have dramatically weakened. Legislation like this bill is the predictable result.

Newsom may continue to be willing to save us from ourselves, but at some point, the California Jewish community will need to stand on its own two feet. The first step toward such self-sufficiency will be rebuilding bridges to other underrepresented communities, which fell into disrepair long ago.

Dan Schnur teaches political communications at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the weekly webinar “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall.