Local educators on Friday weighed in the state Board of Education’s approval of guidelines to help local high schools develop or enhance ethnic studies courses, classes that researchers say can improve graduation and college-going rates among all students — and especially teens of color.
From the Vacaville Unified board president to area superintendents to ethnic studies teachers, they say there is a need to offer students, increasingly racially diverse in numbers, instruction about other cultures, knowledge that can be life-changing for all.
In their responses to Reporter questions, the local educators more or less reflected what state schools chief Tony Thurmond said Thursday after the state board voted unanimously on the model curriculum guidance. This ended years of often divisive debate over ethnic studies in California’s K-12 schools and how to show the histories, struggles, and contributions of Asians, Blacks, Latinos, and American Indians — and the racism and marginalization they have experienced in the United States — to millions of students.
Over the years, the new guidelines also evolved to include a range of experiences, including lessons on the Jewish, Armenian and Sikh communities.
“California’s students have been telling us for years that they need to see themselves and their stories represented in the classroom,” state schools chief Tony Thurmond said in a press release.
The panel’s vote, he added, “gives schools the opportunity to uplift the histories and voices of marginalized communities in ways that help our state and nation achieve racial justice and create lasting change. By fostering our understanding of the struggles and achievements of people of color, ethnic studies benefit students of all backgrounds.”
For the past year, VUSD has offered an ethnic studies course in high schools, noted Elaine Kong, a spokeswoman for Superintendent Jane Shamieh, adding, “We will take a look at the guidance, and see if any modifications are needed as we head back into the physical classroom on Monday,” when secondary students return to schools.
Said Laura Roberts, an ethnic studies teaches at Wood High, “Our current curriculum taught in our ethnic studies course at our high schools are inclusive and geared towards our community and our community’s needs.”
The course “has created a sense of empowerment and pride to all of our students,” she added.
Vacaville High Principal Adam Wight said: “Ethnic studies has been a great addition to our course offerings this year for students. I am excited that they have this opportunity available to learn about this important subject, and we are working to fill the class for next year.”
Likewise, Michael Kitzes, president of the VUSD governing board, called the curriculum “important,” adding, “I believe that we should consciously start teaching about other cultures in the very early grades, as so much of our perception solidifies early on, and we are more open to learning.”
“We all need to be exposed to other cultures so we can understand that differences are to be celebrated, not judged or denigrated,” he continued. “In its best case, ethnic studies allows students to both learn about other cultures, explore the ways we all have internalized our own culture, and experience how those of other cultures and ethnicities have internalized their beliefs about our own culture in a safe, thoughtful environment. The potential growth in this environment can be life-changing.”
Dixon Unified Superintendent Brian Dolan welcomed the news about the new guidelines “on the basis of the statement it makes about the importance of addressing racism and the under-representation of people of color in our curricula, and as a practical tool for use in developing courses and programs.”
The district currently has an Equity Task Force comprised of students, parents, and staff developing a plan for the district, and “one of the areas of focus is developing frameworks and materials for use in teaching ethnic studies. This guidance will be an asset as we go about that work,” he added.
At press time Friday, Travis Unified Superintendent Pamela Conklin, had not responded to a Reporter request for comment.
In Fairfield-Suisun Unified, Kristen Witt, director of secondary education, said the board of trustees approved five ethnic studies courses nearly two years ago: Women in Literature, Mythology and Folklore, Race and Social Justice: U.S. History, African-American: Blacks in Literature, and “Mystery and Suspense in Literature and Film.
“It was definitely at the request of the teachers,” she said during a brief phone interview. “Because the teachers in the district saw a need and wanted to be responsive for our students and brought forward these course proposals.”
Witt added, “Our teachers weren’t waiting for the state to do this. They saw this as a need in our community” and brought the proposals to the governing board in January 2019.
Ethnic studies, she said, noting that they also meet state university and University of California requirements for graduation, “are vital to all students within the Fairfield-Suisun Unified community. It provides students with an understanding of different perspectives and historical viewpoints that shape who we are as Americans today. The more we understand, the more we become united and have a better appreciation for each other’s history.”
While use of The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum is not mandated, it is intended to supply local school districts with the background, ideas, and examples to begin local discussions on expanding ethnic studies offerings, Thurmond said.
Presenters who spoke in support of the draft Thursday included civil rights activist Dolores Huerta; newly named Secretary of State Shirley Weber; Karen Korematsu, daughter of civil rights activist Fred Korematsu and founder of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute; Temple University African American Studies Professor Dr. Molefi Asante; and Stanford University Chicano Studies Professor Albert Camarillo, among others.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said racism is a sickness, and we have to become the healers,” Huerta said in urging board members to adopt the curriculum.
Because there are a growing number of schools offering ethnic studies — some of California’s largest school districts require it for graduation — $5 million is included in the January budget proposal specifically for high-quality ethnic studies professional development.
“The ethnic studies model curriculum is a starting point,” Korematsu said. “It’s not an endpoint. This is a pivotal moment in California’s educational history. The fight for justice and human rights begins with education, and begins now.”
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Local educators weigh in on state’s historic ethnic studies guide for high schools - Vacaville Reporter
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