California Assembly Bill 1078, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 25, 2023, bars local school boards from rejecting or banning textbooks, library books, and other instructional materials because those materials cover the contributions of LGBTQ+ people, racial minorities, and other groups California law requires schools to teach. The law also treats violations as unlawful discrimination, lets anyone file a complaint directly with the State Superintendent, and lets the state buy compliant books and deduct the cost from a noncompliant district’s funding.
What Boards Can No Longer Do
The heart of AB 1078 is Education Code Section 243. It prohibits school district boards, county boards of education, and charter school governing bodies from refusing to approve or banning any textbook, instructional material, supplemental resource, or library book because it includes content about the role and contributions of the diverse groups listed in Sections 51204.5 and 60040.1California Legislative Information. California Education Code 243
In practice, that means a board cannot vote to pull a library book because it features a same-sex family, reject a social studies text because it covers the civil rights contributions of Latino Americans, or refuse supplemental materials about the role of religious minorities in American history. The rule reaches both classroom materials and school library collections, so a board cannot get around the ban by treating the library as a separate matter.
A board that chooses one inclusive textbook over another inclusive textbook is still exercising legitimate discretion. A board that rejects all available options because they mention LGBTQ+ Americans is violating the law.
The Two Narrow Exceptions
Boards keep the ability to reject materials on two specific grounds. Section 51501 lets a board turn down content that reflects adversely upon people based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, nationality, or sexual orientation.2California Legislative Information. California Education Code 51501 Section 60044 lets a board reject materials that cast negative portrayals of people based on those same characteristics or contain sectarian propaganda.3California Legislative Information. California Education Code 60044
These carveouts exist to keep discriminatory or harmful content out of schools. They are not a route to remove inclusive material a board finds politically inconvenient.
Which Groups Materials Must Cover
AB 1078 protects materials that satisfy California’s inclusive-content requirements, so it helps to know what those requirements say. Section 60040 directs that adopted instructional materials accurately portray the cultural and racial diversity of society, including the contributions of people of all genders in professional, vocational, and executive roles, and the role and contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, persons with disabilities, and members of other ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic status groups.4California Legislative Information. California Education Code 60040
Section 51204.5 applies the same standard to social sciences instruction, requiring coverage of the early history of California and the contributions of these groups to the economic, political, and social development of the state and nation, with particular emphasis on their role in contemporary society.5California Legislative Information. California Education Code 51204.5
Compliance is not just about having enough books on hand. The books themselves have to reflect this content. A district using outdated textbooks that omit LGBTQ+ Americans or portray only a narrow slice of California’s history is out of compliance even if every student has a copy.
How to File a Complaint
Section 243 lets anyone file a complaint alleging a board violated the ban. The complaint can go through the district’s standard Uniform Complaint Procedures, or it can be filed directly with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.1California Legislative Information. California Education Code 243
That direct route matters. In most education disputes, complaints have to work through local channels before the state gets involved. Under AB 1078, the Superintendent can step in immediately without waiting for the district to investigate itself, which is critical when the board is the source of the problem.
A complaint filed directly with the Superintendent has to explain why it’s being filed at the state level rather than locally and include supporting evidence. If you’re preparing one, document the board’s action, pull the meeting minutes or vote records, and identify the specific materials that were rejected or removed and the reason the board gave.
Financial Penalties for Districts
The enforcement chain has real teeth. When students lack sufficient textbooks or instructional materials because of a board’s actions, the county superintendent of schools must notify the local board and the California Department of Education. If the deficiency isn’t corrected, the Department of Education can buy compliant materials directly and send them to the affected schools.6Assemblymember Dr. Corey A. Jackson. AB 1078 Instructional Materials The State Controller then deducts the cost from the district’s next principal apportionment or other state funding.7Digital Democracy. AB 1078 Instructional Materials and Curriculum Diversity
Separately, the Superintendent of Public Instruction can assess a financial penalty against a noncompliant district’s Local Control Funding Formula allocation.6Assemblymember Dr. Corey A. Jackson. AB 1078 Instructional Materials So a district that refuses to provide inclusive curriculum can be hit twice: the cost of the replacement books the state buys, and an additional funding penalty on top of that.
Complaints about insufficient materials can also go straight to the Superintendent, who can intervene without waiting for the local principal or district superintendent to investigate.7Digital Democracy. AB 1078 Instructional Materials and Curriculum Diversity
Violations Count as Unlawful Discrimination
Section 243(b) provides that any board action violating the ban constitutes unlawful discrimination under Education Code Section 220.1California Legislative Information. California Education Code 243 Section 220 is California’s broad anti-discrimination statute for education, covering disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and immigration status in any program or activity at an institution receiving state financial assistance.8California Legislative Information. California Education Code 220
That classification changes the stakes. A board vote to pull materials covering LGBTQ+ contributions is not treated as a curriculum disagreement; under the statute, it is unlawful discrimination against the students those materials represent, and it opens the door to formal complaints, state intervention, and broader legal exposure. Section 202 reinforces the point, stating that restricting access to materials because they feature LGBTQ+ people or were written by LGBTQ+ authors is censorship that violates California law and policy.
What AB 1078 Does Not Do
The law leaves local authority over curriculum largely intact. Boards can still select among compliant materials, set instructional priorities within the state framework, and make pedagogical decisions about how content is taught. What they cannot do is use that authority to erase the contributions of particular groups from what students can access.
AB 1078 also does not create an individual right to have a specific book added to a school library or curriculum. It prevents removal or rejection of materials that meet the state’s inclusivity standards; it does not require that every book on every topic be stocked. And it does not override the Section 51501 and 60044 exceptions for materials that reflect adversely on a protected group or contain sectarian propaganda. Those removals remain permissible because they align with the law’s goals rather than working against them.