Latest news with #AB101
Axios
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Axios
SF schools to replace ethnic studies curriculum amid backlash
The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is overhauling its ethnic studies curriculum to add what superintendent Maria Su called "guardrails" in a Monday interview. Why it matters: San Francisco high schools' ethnic studies classes, which started as an elective in 2010, became the target of controversy in recent months as some parents accused the district of peddling division and promoting antisemitism, among other concerns. Driving the news: SFUSD will opt for an off-the-shelf package instead of its home-grown curriculum starting this August. There will be an audit of current materials, and the school board will have to sign off before the district officially adopts another curriculum. The year-long ethnic studies course requirement for freshmen, first implemented last year, will remain in place, though students can choose to waive it. What they're saying: "There is general consensus that ethnic studies as a course is really important," but the district's curriculum has evolved to include lessons that don't reflect its "true tenets," Su told the San Francisco Chronicle Monday. She did not cite specifics but said generally that parents have complained the curriculum "has flaws." "We want to ensure that all of our educators are adopting the curriculum in a consistent manner," she said. "I'm putting in more guardrails." Su did not immediately return a request for comment, while SFUSD directed Axios to its press release on the announcement. Between the lines: Controversy surrounding ethnic studies has largely centered on how to approach the subject — whether it should focus on appreciating cultures other than your own or systemic racism and white supremacy. In one case, a unit on social movements included references to the Chinese Red Guards as a push for "change and justice" despite their use of murder, torture and public humiliation to crack down on dissent against Mao Zedong, the San Francisco Standard reports. Some parents have also argued that lessons perpetrate discrimination against white students, pointing to a reading about white male privilege from 2012. The big picture: California became the first state to establish a one-semester ethnic studies course as a graduation requirement for public high school students when AB101 was signed into law in 2021.
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newsom betrays a promise by failing to fund high school ethnic studies classes
Decades of institutionalized racism and inadequate funding have left California with a racial achievement gap in its schools. All students deserve the chance to learn and succeed, but too often students of color have been failed by an education system that still bears the marks of a long history of racism and inequality. Unfortunately, Gov. Gavin Newsom failed to explicitly allocate funding to support Assembly Bill 101. That's the mandate that all public high schools offer an ethnic studies course in the 2025-26 school year and require all students to complete a one-semester ethnic studies course for graduation, beginning with school year 2029-30. The lack of explicit funding has emboldened opponents of ethnic studies education in their arguments that these requirements must be delayed or withdrawn. Opinion But delaying or abandoning the state's commitment to ethnic studies would not only break the promise that the governor and legislature made to California — at a time when this kind of education is more important than ever — it would also threaten efforts to close the racial achievement gap. Although ethnic studies isn't designed with the specific goal of reducing or closing racial achievement gaps, it has a track record of doing exactly that. Stanford researchers found that San Francisco's ninth grade ethnic studies course improved students' grade point average, school attendance and graduation rates. University of Arizona researchers also found that participation in Tucson's Mexican American Studies program raised students' achievement on the state's reading, writing and math achievement tests and virtually closed racial achievement gaps. And a University of Louisville researcher found that Black students who major in Pan-African Studies have a higher graduation rate than other Black students. Ethnic studies has consistently positive impacts on the academic achievement of minority students. By offering a relevant curriculum that speaks to issues of concern to their lives and communities, ethnic studies taps into and engages the knowledge students bring to the classroom, allowing them to draw from and recognize their own expertise. Ethnic studies classes offer an environment where important and relevant issues related to race and ethnicity can be addressed openly rather than belittled or ignored. As students come to see education as relevant to addressing problems and needs in their communities and themselves as academically capable, they gain confidence to thrive in school more generally. Ethnic studies also enrich all California students while simultaneously helping to close the racial achievement gap and prepare the workforce of tomorrow for the multicultural reality of our state. It was in recognition of these benefits that Newsom signed AB 101, declaring as part of the signing statement that 'these courses boost student achievement over the long run — especially among students of color.' California's legislators should add ethnic studies funding to the state budget. Ethnic studies needs to be a part of the curriculum offered to California's students, and it is incumbent on the governor and the legislature to make good on that promise by resolving any ambiguities about the funding of AB 101. Christine Sleeter is professor emerita in California State University Monterey Bay's College of Education. She is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, a fellow of the National Center for Education Policy and a member of the National Academy of Education.
