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.