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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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California makes ethnic studies a high school requirement

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation Friday that makes the state the first to require high school students to take an ethnic studies course for graduation.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California is the first state to mandate high school students study the historical prejudices minorities have faced in America as a graduate requirement, under legislation signed Friday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Proponents say the mandated one-semester ethnic studies course is a badly needed update to the state’s curriculum that will give students a chance to learn “outside of the Euro-centric” teachings common in California high schools. AB 101, the first-of-a-kind legislation, requires high schools to start offering an ethnic studies course as an elective by the 2025-26 school year and as a mandatory class in 2029-30.

The mandate is not new to some California schools. San Francisco, Fresno and San Diego Unified school districts already require ethnic studies courses for graduation.

In a signing message, Newsom said the new social studies requirement will help students learn about the struggles faced by people of different ethnic backgrounds.

“America is shaped by our shared history, much of it painful and etched with woeful injustice,” wrote the Democratic governor. “Students deserve to see themselves in their studies, and they must understand our nation's full history if we expect them to one day build a more just society.” 

Newsom's statement cited a Stanford University study in claiming the coursework "will help expand educational opportunities in schools, teach students about the diverse communities that comprise California, and boost academic engagement and attainment for students."

Friday’s signing comes one year after Newsom vetoed a similar proposal due to concerns that the proposed curriculum wasn’t fully hatched or free from bias. He told lawmakers state education officials needed more time to craft an acceptable guide.

Former Governor Jerry Brown also vetoed a similar legislative attempt in 2018, claiming a mandate was unnecessary as school districts could determine their curriculum.

GOP Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who ran as a replacement candidate in the recent failed gubernatorial recall election, accused Newsom of flip-flopping on the topic of ethnic studies.

“Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to make critical race theory a high school graduation requirement, two years after saying the draft ethnic studies curriculum would ‘never see the light of day,’” Kiley said on Twitter.  

Last spring, the state Board of Education signed off on an ethnic studies model that focuses primarily on the struggles African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans have faced in previous centuries and decades.

While the bill asks school districts to consider the "lengthy, thorough, deliberative and inclusive process" the board took to create the curriculum, it is supposed to act as a guide, and each school district will be allowed to craft its courses.

Shortly after the board’s approval, Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, reintroduced his landmark proposal, and it cleared the Legislature on Sept. 8 despite no support from state Republicans. 

“The inclusion of ethnic studies in the high school curriculum is long overdue,” Medina said in a statement. “The signing of AB 101 today is one step in the long struggle for equal education for all students.”

Throughout the legislative process, Republicans ripped Medina’s proposal and said it would result in students learning critical race theory, a form of curriculum that examines systemic racism and historic patterns of discrimination in the U.S.

“Our kids aren’t born hating other people because of their race, they are taught that and the last thing we need is state-sanctioned racism being taught in our schools,” said GOP state Sen. Melissa Melendez before voting against AB 101.

Meanwhile, a non-profit called Californians for Equal Rights and several individuals sued the state and education officials over the ethnic studies curriculum model. Filed in San Diego County Superior Court, the non-profit claims the model favors religions over others and wants references to an Aztec prayer removed.

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Categories / Civil Rights, Education, Government

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