California schools erased Christmas.
They renamed it "Winter Break" and told Christian parents the state had to stay neutral on religion.
But now Gavin Newsom is about to sign a law forcing those same schools to celebrate Islam.
The Asymmetry Written Into the Law
Assembly Bill 2017 does three things California has never once done for Christians or Jews: it makes Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha official state holidays, authorizes school closures on those days, and directs the State Board of Education to build a model curriculum guide for classroom exercises marking the holidays.
The bill passed the California Assembly 64-1.
Sixty-four lawmakers voted yes.
One had the nerve to vote no.
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The California Family Council documented the double standard precisely.
"Christmas gets December 25 as a state holiday. Good Friday gets three hours of partial recognition. Easter gets nothing. And no California statute has ever authorized public schools to hold exercises celebrating the meaning of Christmas, Easter, or Good Friday," they wrote. "The asymmetry is written into the law."
What Neutrality Actually Meant
The same districts now moving toward official Eid recognition spent years telling Christian parents their children couldn't mention Christmas at school because the state had to stay neutral.
Fresno County's Board of Education has a written policy – updated as recently as March 2026 – that states plainly: "While teaching about religious holidays is a permissible part of the educational program, celebrating religious holidays is not allowed in the public schools."
That policy was used against Christian families for decades.
Christmas break became Winter Break. Easter break became Spring Break.
Now Sacramento is building a government curriculum to celebrate Eid al-Adha – the Festival of Sacrifice – inside those same classrooms.
California Family Council Vice President Greg Burt said it simply: "What happened to neutrality? It doesn't make any sense."
There's one more thing you need to know about who wrote this bill.
The legislation was co-sponsored by CAIR – the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR is not a neutral religious accommodation group.
CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case and subsequently removed from the FBI's outreach programs.
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That organization co-sponsored AB 2017.
“Muslim students often face a no-win situation: attend school and miss communal prayers and religious practices or observe their faith and risk falling behind academically,” said the Council on American-Islamic Relations, California. “Even when absences are excused, students can miss instruction and feel excluded from their peers.”
What Newsom Signs Next
The bill cleared the Assembly in May and ran through the Senate committee.
“California is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Muslim communities in the country,” said bill author Assemblymember Matt Haney. “AB 2017 is about making sure Muslim Californians are seen, valued, and treated with the same dignity as every other community in our state.”
The legislative session ended Monday – which means Newsom either signs it or lets it die.
He's going to sign it.
Newsom has spent his entire political career building the coalition that wrote this bill – San Francisco Democrats, CAIR, progressive advocacy groups.
The assemblymember who introduced AB 2017, Matt Haney, represents San Francisco.
The moment he signs, California becomes the most aggressive state in the country at institutionalizing Islamic religious observance in public schools – with a state-funded curriculum to match.
Meanwhile, the 12 million Catholics in California still can't get a school to acknowledge the religious meaning of Christmas.
That's not an accident.
It's the plan.
Sources:
- Stephen Sorace, "California bill recognizing 2 Islamic holidays nears Newsom's desk," Fox News, August 30, 2026.
- "California Wants to Give Public Schools Permission to Celebrate the End of Ramadan," California Family Council, May 12, 2026.
- Kyle Becker, "California's Bill to Recognize Islamic Holidays Poised to Reach Newsom's Desk," RedState, August 30, 2026.
- "California bill to make Muslim holidays official state days raises hard questions about school neutrality," American Almanac, July 3, 2026.
- "California Bill to Recognize Muslim Holidays and Allow Schools to 'Celebrate' Them in Classrooms," Red News Nation, July 2, 2026.
