Portantino’s Parent Silencing Bill – What You Need To Know
And a couple of quick action items!
California State Senator Anthony Portantino is currently trying to pass SB 596, which we like to refer to as “Portantino’s Parent Silencing Bill.” This California Senate bill seeks to criminalize the speech of “a parent, guardian” who objects to the “course of duties” of school employees, including “instruction.” Should it pass, it will have the effect of quieting all those pesky parents who voice concerns about their kids’ education at school board meetings, or even on social media, as Portantino revealed in his press release. Worried about gender ideology, critical race theory, ethnic studies, comprehensive sex education, the politicization of curriculum, low reading and math scores, and so much more? How comfortable would you be voicing those opinions about your child’s education if you knew your words risked criminal prosecution?
To briefly summarize, the bill states that any person who “engages in harassment or similar conduct” against school employees outside of school hours will be subject to a fine or up to one year in jail:
How does Portantino’s bill define “harassment?” It could be something that “alarms, annoys” or “serves no legitimate purpose.” It could be something that causes a school employee “emotional distress.” Who will determine what is alarming, annoying or what serves a legitimate purpose? The bill does not say, which would leave the interpretation to be resolved in court. In the meantime, schools and districts could file charges against parents, which would have the effect of intimidating parents from speaking up in the first place.
Make no mistake, if this bill is passed, if you voice a concern or complaint or make a Facebook or Instagram post about the actions or behavior of your child’s teacher or a public school administrator, watch out – those employees could read those comments and feel alarmed, annoyed, or emotionally distressed! And then you could be charged and potentially go to jail.
The original law that SB 596 seeks to amend makes no effort to hide that it specifically targets parents and guardians:
As we see the purpose and intent of SB 596, it aims to chill free speech and intimidate parents and other concerned citizens from speaking out against school teachers, administrators and school boards and their practices and policies. If passed, the bill will almost certainly be Constitutionally challenged and will likely be struck down. The bill is unnecessary, as threats, harassment, and doxxing are already illegal under California law. There are already laws on the book that protect teachers and other public school employees from harassment.1 While the Constitutionality of the law is challenged in the courts, which will likely take years, parents will be dissuaded from speaking openly and exercising their Constitutionally protected freedom of speech when it comes to directing their child’s education.
That’s why any parent or organization reading this article must speak out against this bill. The bill will be brought to the Senate Appropriations Committee for review on Monday, May 8th at 10:00AM. It has already been reviewed and approved by the Senate Education and Public Safety committees.
ACTION ITEM 1: Please call each member of the Senate Appropriations Committee (all phone numbers are in the link) and let them know you OPPOSE SB 596. It only takes one to two minutes per phone call! You will be done in less than ten minutes. Sample script: “Hello, SB 596 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday May 8, and I am calling to voice my OPPOSITION to this bill.”
ACTION ITEM 2: By end of day on Sunday, May 7th, email all members of the Senate Appropriations Committee (their staff contacts are below) and let them know you OPPOSE SB 596. Short emails are fine, one or two sentences is all that is needed, the most important thing is to submit the emails. Example email: “I am writing to OPPOSE SB596. California has the lowest literacy rate in the United States. Why are we spending money to stifle parents’ First Amendment rights?” Once you write your short letter, it will take one minute per email to send to all members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Anthony Portantino (Democrat) – staff emails:
aaron.skaggs@sen.ca.gov, tara.mcgee@sen.ca.gov, lerna.shirinian@sen.ca.gov, talin.mangioglu@sen.ca.gov
Brian Jones (Republican) – staff emails:
craig.wilson@sen.ca.gov, danielle.parsons@sen.ca.gov, nina.krishel@sen.ca.gov, andrew.hayes@sen.ca.gov
Angelique Ashby (Democrat) – staff emails:
katie.hanzlik@sen.ca.gov, cassidy.denny@sen.ca.gov, michelle.sherwood@sen.ca.gov, daniel.washington@sen.ca.gov
Steven Bradford (Democrat) – staff emails:
carolyn.mcintyre@sen.ca.gov, christopher.morales@sen.ca.gov, jerome.parra@sen.ca.gov, nital.patel@sen.ca.gov
Kelly Seyarto (Republican) – staff emails:
kristy.macdougall@sen.ca.gov, nicolas.gauthier@sen.ca.gov, hildur.sam@sen.ca.gov, joe.fuentes@sen.ca.gov
Aisha Wahab (Democrat) – staff emails:
megan.mekelburg@sen.ca.gov, ruscal.cayangyang@sen.ca.gov, alicia.lawrence@sen.ca.gov, nurges.gheyszada@sen.ca.gov
Scott Wiener (Democrat) – staff emails:
krista.pfefferkorn@sen.ca.gov, severiano.christian@sen.ca.gov, erik.mebust@sen.ca.gov, jeff.sparks@sen.ca.gov
Some people have asked if we may be overreacting — perhaps this bill will be used judiciously and fairly in cases of true threats against school employees. For example, there is language in the bill about how Constitutionally protected activity will not be affected. This is a prime example of how legislators like Portantino are using deceptive language that is vague and ambiguous, which will have to ultimately be litigated. Why would speech that “annoys” or “alarms” school employees not be Constitutionally protected? And yet the bill states that annoying or alarming speech could result in someone going to jail for a year.
In addition, our worst fears regarding how school districts might use SB 596 to silence parents were confirmed during the May 2, 2023 Glendale Unified school board meeting. Glendale Unified is particularly proud of SB 596 because they were the ones who lobbied State Senator Portantino to author it. At its May 2nd meeting the GUSD board passed a resolution in support of SB 596 that stated that the bill was written to address the issue of “greater scrutiny over lessons taught in the classroom:”
State Senator Portantino is gearing up for a 2026 run for State Superintendent of Pupil Instruction, and he’s doing it in a rather unique manner - by trying to pass a law to throw parents in jail for asking what their kids are learning in school. A curious approach, and yet he’s already raised over a million dollars:
Maybe Portantino isn’t looking for parent votes and is just looking to lock in the teacher union votes. What parent would possibly vote for Anthony Portantino after seeing this bill? Let’s tell him what we think about his bill (call or write his office if you can), do what we can to oppose it, and spread the word that this is not the type of leadership we want in our California schools in 2026.
Thanks for all your efforts,
The Gender Identity K-12 Team
California Penal Code 653.2 already criminalizes electronic cyber harassment such as cyber bullying and doxxing. There are also special laws to protect teachers and other public employees from harassment. For example, CA Penal Code 71 makes it illegal for any person to threaten or harass public employees, particularly officials or employees of public educational institutions, with the intent to influence the victim’s official duties.