A move that continues to stir controversy in America

California Include Ethnic Studies in Schools

• The law ensures that courses are not exclusionary, biased or intolerant.

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• Gavin Newsom.

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California students will soon be required to engage in ethnic studies, prior to graduating high school;

It is the first state to do so to ensure students are taught ethnic groups whose history and traditions have been ignored.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed off on the legislation days ago, ending a years-long debate about crafting a racially model curriculum that more closely reflects the demographic diversity of California's classrooms.

Despite loud protests in school board meetings against lessons about race, some other states have moved in the same direction as California.

And last year, Connecticut became the first state to require high schools to offer black and Latino studies.

New Jersey passed a law requiring public schools to offer courses on diversity.

And in California, school districts will develop courses that delve into the contributions and struggles of blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asians throughout the nation's history.

Courses must be offered beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year.

Supporters of the bill, including lawmakers from Hispanic communities, Asian Pacific Islanders, blacks, Jews and Native Americans, argue that the bill comes at a critical time.

More than 25 Republican-led states have endorsed or proposed limits on how teachers discuss racism and sexism, amid a larger, coordinated effort by right-leaning groups to attack systemic lessons about racism as divisive.

The "race theory" was the hot topic on Fox News this summer.

Defenders point to research showing the academic benefits of such curricula, including one that found that race studies courses offered in San Francisco schools increased attendance by 21% and raised cumulative grade point averages by 1.4 points.

“America is shaped by our shared history, much of it painful and etched with miserable injustice,” Newsom wrote in the signing statement. “Students deserve to know what happened, and they must understand the entire history of our nation if we ever expect them to build a more just society.”

The state's governor vetoed a similar bill last year, citing "concern that the initial draft of the Model Curriculum was not sufficiently balanced and comprehensive and needed substantial modification."

In the last draft, lesson plans were added to represent groups that were previously excluded, including Sikhs, Jews, Arabs, and Armenians.

The bill also removed terminology related to ethnic studies, which had sparked widespread controversy in the past.

The governor promoted the "protective barriers" provided by law, which he said ensured that the courses were not exclusionary, biased or intolerant.

But, despite overwhelming support in the state Congress, the new law has critics, including some of those involved in launching the legislation, who have since called for their names to be removed, because they say the proposed approach to the law does not meet the necessary requirements.

An advisory group made up of educators and experts, including those behind the initial draft, says the curriculum is "a watered-down version of history," noting lessons left out, such as "the real reasons behind police brutality" against black Americans.

• New Jersey passed a law requiring public schools to offer courses on diversity.

• 21% increase in attendance at San Francisco schools thanks to Ethnic Studies courses.

A decisive moment

Responding to the criticism, one of the law's sponsors, Democratic Representative Jose Medina, said the bill had been amended to make the curriculum more understandable for students, who had not yet reached the university level.

He said he expects school districts to work alongside universities and government colleges to create their own lesson plans.

Medina said he wouldn't be surprised to see the bill, passed in other states, saying this summer marked a "defining moment for education in the country", following last summer's racial justice protests in response to the killing of George Floyd.

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