As a teacher in Los Angeles county, Jose Lara has fought for years to have ethnic studies taught in high schools across the state. He’s taught the course for 13 years and says he’s seen his students transform by studying their history—whether learning about Cesar Chavez, who led the farmworkers movement in the ’60s, or about Angel Island, a port of entry near San Francisco that limited Chinese immigration in the early 1900s.
“Ethnic studies helps students develop an academic identity,” he said. “It really builds empathy cross-culturally as well so it brings communities that may be different from one another closer together.”
But skeptics say the state couldn’t afford to require such a course. Some critics go even further, insisting the state shouldn’t reinforce “identity politics” and instead should laser-focus on shrinking the academic achievement gap for black and Latino students.
This week the Legislature—which had been considering a bill to make California the first state to require ethnic studies for high school graduation—backed away from creating such a statewide mandate, citing costs estimated to top $400 million. Sponsors settled on a pilot program instead.
The pilot would cover 10 to 15 school districts across the state that will opt in to have ethnic studies as a graduation requirement. Schools would begin applying next year and the program would create the requirement for some students as early as 2022, with schools reporting their findings in 2024.
A state law passed in 2016 already encourages high schools to offer an elective course in ethnic studies, and requires the state to create a model curriculum for the class by 2020. Currently only 1 percent of California’s public high school students take ethnic studies. …
How about just history? Add in Italians, Irish, French, etc. Broaden the scope.
When will the white folks get sick and tired of getting slathered with a big, fat “guilt brush” when they never had anything to do with race crimes? And, when will the black people stop acting angry all the time? It really never works and is tiresome.
Google “Two Minute Conservative” for more.
Not a good idea at all.
Ethnic studies will only reinforce diversity and diversity is one side of the coin that is bringing California and this nation to its knees.
Do this instead. Require all classes be taught in English. Require that U.S. History be taught from the Lost Colony to the election of President Trump, with out bias! Teach Civic, how our government is supposed to work, not how the teacher thinks it should be working. Teach economics, writing, reading, critical thinking, problem solving, etc., these studies that divide waste my tax dollars and do nothing to further the success of this state or nation. We are either a community of like minded with same values, language, and patriotism or we are doomed!
You’re such a dinosaur!/s
Great. Reading levels are below par, math scores are below par and most students can’t tell you anything about history. But we need “ethnic” studies.
I know about this. my cousin Leroy married one of them ethnics he met at a free love lecture in Haight Ashbury in 1968. Well, within a year or two Leroy discovered his little ethnic was frigid. Upon confrontation of this fact she took all of Leroy’s weed and left for parts unknown. This shook poor Leroy up so bad that he became one of them envoiromentalest vegetarians and moved to California. I recently heard through the grapevine that he’s running for governor this year.
“Ethnic” as the left defines it, narrows things down to so-called ‘people of color’ so whites don’t exist in this one dimensional world of brown people. If this is to counter what is perceived to be indoctrination, then the new standard will accomplish the same thing.
Why not just teach the basics to survive in this insane life out here? Like budgeting, check writing, basic shopping, and so on! How bout COMMON SENSE ( which is not so common now). This ethnic study crap looks like a fertile breeding ground for brainwashing of mush brains by ALL socialist liberal instructors! So that will be the ONLY thing taught! There are very few if any, conservative teachers anymore. And YES to Jim M for wanting UNVARNISHED history to be taught! Without the DNC spin! The list is endless…
Knowing the morons in CA leadership, they will drop Math and Literacy to make room !!!
I have watched little kids force fed food. When the grew up they hated that food.
Get the idea?
4th grade is supposed to be Calif. history. Not enough? Oh that is right the political correct state that studying the trans-formative culture (Spain) is wrong. They also state that US Anglo Culture is even worse.
Shrug, let’s tear down every positive aspects of how this nation and culture have developed into one of the premier societies of the history human development.
This will most likely be censored but I will say this one more time. America was the vision of WHITE PEOPLE . Africa is now ( with mass ethnic cleansing and murder against the white race as well as other tribes, coming to America soon if not already here. Just watch the news ) the vision of black people, Mexico as it is , is what the Mexicans wanted for their country. Their country’s prosperity is principally because of the influence of the USA. Mexicans killed and took land from the Native Americans who killed and took land from different tribes who founded the original peoples here but came across land bridges from other continents. So whose ethnic story is more important to study ? It is good to know and understand the stories of other nations but lets not forget whose story is most important to the USA. , it is the white story. Not saying that Blacks and Hispanics have not contributed in many ways , I am saying the IT’S ALRIGHT TO BE WHITE and the contrast between those other countries should be taught as a second to history of other places.
Sureeeeeee why not. They can’t read or write or do math. Guess we shouldn’t worry because if they cant get the basics down, how can they learn ethnic diversity nonsense. BTW, hasn’t any one told them it doesn’t work? Oh right, I forgot, they don’t teach history anymore either.
Considering the ethnic make-up of most CA student-bodies, taking a White-Studies Course should be de rigueur.
More indoctrination into divisive race politics by the socialist Democratic cancer that’s metasticizing more rapidly these days in response to its t Trump Derangement Syndrome
To hell with American history, mathematics, and learning English language. What is important is “social justice.”
Take white studies in summer school.