Florida Senate - 2019 CS for SB 1272
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Gruters
590-04032-19 20191272c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to anti-Semitism; amending s. 1000.05,
3 F.S.; prohibiting discrimination in the Florida K-20
4 public education system based on religion; requiring
5 public K-20 educational institutions to take into
6 consideration anti-Semitism under certain instances of
7 discrimination; defining the term “anti-Semitism”;
8 providing an exception; providing construction;
9 amending s. 1002.20, F.S.; conforming provisions to
10 changes made by the act; providing an effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Present subsection (7) of section 1000.05,
15 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (8), a new
16 subsection (7) is added to that section, and paragraphs (a),
17 (b), (c), and (e) of subsection (2) are amended, to read:
18 1000.05 Discrimination against students and employees in
19 the Florida K-20 public education system prohibited; equality of
20 access required.—
21 (2)(a) Discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity,
22 national origin, gender, disability, religion, or marital status
23 against a student or an employee in the state system of public
24 K-20 education is prohibited. No person in this state shall, on
25 the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender,
26 disability, religion, or marital status, be excluded from
27 participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
28 discrimination under any public K-20 education program or
29 activity, or in any employment conditions or practices,
30 conducted by a public educational institution that receives or
31 benefits from federal or state financial assistance.
32 (b) The criteria for admission to a program or course shall
33 not have the effect of restricting access by persons of a
34 particular race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, disability,
35 religion, or marital status.
36 (c) All public K-20 education classes shall be available to
37 all students without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin,
38 gender, disability, religion, or marital status; however, this
39 is not intended to eliminate the provision of programs designed
40 to meet the needs of students with limited proficiency in
41 English, gifted students, or students with disabilities or
42 programs tailored to students with specialized talents or
43 skills.
44 (e) Guidance services, counseling services, and financial
45 assistance services in the state public K-20 education system
46 shall be available to students equally. Guidance and counseling
47 services, materials, and promotional events shall stress access
48 to academic and career opportunities for students without regard
49 to race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, disability,
50 religion, or marital status.
51 (7) A public K-20 educational institution must treat
52 discrimination by students or employees or resulting from
53 institutional policies motivated by anti-Semitic intent in an
54 identical manner to discrimination motivated by race. For
55 purposes of this section, the term “anti-Semitism” includes a
56 certain perception of the Jewish people, which may be expressed
57 as hatred toward Jewish people, rhetorical and physical
58 manifestations of anti-Semitism directed toward a person, his or
59 her property, or toward Jewish community institutions or
60 religious facilities.
61 (a) Examples of anti-Semitism include:
62 1. Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or
63 harming of Jews, often in the name of a radical ideology or an
64 extremist view of religion.
65 2. Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or
66 stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of
67 Jews as a collective, especially, but not exclusively, the myth
68 about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the
69 media, economy, government, or other societal institutions.
70 3. Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real
71 or imagined wrongdoings committed by a single Jewish person or
72 group, the State of Israel, or even for acts committed by non
73 Jews.
74 4. Accusing Jews as a people or the State of Israel of
75 inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
76 5. Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel,
77 or the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the
78 interest of their own nations.
79 (b) Examples of anti-Semitism related to Israel include:
80 1. Demonizing Israel by using the symbols and images
81 associated with classic anti-Semitism to characterize Israel or
82 Israelis, drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to
83 that of the Nazis, or blaming Israel for all interreligious or
84 political tensions.
85 2. Applying a double standard to Israel by requiring
86 behavior of Israel that is not expected or demanded of any other
87 democratic nation, or focusing peace or human rights
88 investigations only on Israel.
89 3. Delegitimizing Israel by denying the Jewish people their
90 right to self-determination and denying Israel the right to
91 exist.
92
93 However, criticism of Israel that is similar to criticism toward
94 any other country may not be regarded as anti-Semitic.
95 (c) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
96 diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First
97 Amendment to the United States Constitution, or the State
98 Constitution. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
99 conflict with federal or state discrimination laws.
100 Section 2. Subsection (7) of section 1002.20, Florida
101 Statutes, is amended to read:
102 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
103 school students must receive accurate and timely information
104 regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
105 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
106 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
107 rights including, but not limited to, the following:
108 (7) NONDISCRIMINATION.—All education programs, activities,
109 and opportunities offered by public educational institutions
110 must be made available without discrimination on the basis of
111 race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, disability, religion,
112 or marital status, in accordance with the provisions of s.
113 1000.05.
114 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.