Bill > A5755

Introduced Session

This bill would expressly prohibit anti-Semitism in public schools and institutions of higher education in the State. It would require that discrimination resulting from school or institution policies or by students or employees, which is motivated by anti-Semitic intent, be treated in the same manner in which discrimination motivated by all factors enumerated in the New Jersey "Law Against Discrimination" is treated. As defined under the bill, anti-Semitism means a certain perception of the Jewish people, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jewish people, rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism directed toward a person, a person's property, or toward Jewish community institutions or religious facilities. The bill specifies particular examples of anti-Semitism directed at Jewish people and at Israel. Current New Jersey law provides that no student in a public school in the State shall be discriminated against in admission to, or in obtaining any advantages, privileges or courses of study of the school by reason of race, color, creed, sex, or national origin. In addition, a provision in the "Law Against Discrimination" states that educational institutions, including public schools and colleges and universities, are broadly prohibited from discriminating on the basis of a number of factors, including creed. In practice, discrimination based on an individual's creed has been interpreted to include discrimination based on religion. The bill also amends current sections of State law, which provide certain anti-discrimination protections to students, to clarify that discrimination based on religion is prohibited and that all protected categories enumerated under the "Law Against Discrimination" are subject to anti-discrimination protections in public schools.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Ronald Dancer (R)*,  Gordon Johnson (D)*,  Britnee Timberlake (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 08/23/2019)

Official Document