News Update

Last chance to comment on proposed ethnic studies curriculum

Two weeks remain for the public to comment on the final draft of the model ethnic studies curriculum that will go before the State Board of Education for final approval in March.

There has been no shortage of responses to the controversial document: 57,000 comments over 18-months, according to the California Department of Education. It has gone through two rewrites and 240 amendments in the last review alone by an advisory commission to the state board in November.

The department didn’t publish a notice of the final review on its website, and it’s not easy to find the latest revision. But here it is, along with instructions for submitting comments.

The document will be a guide to resources and teaching ethnic studies, concentrating on the four ethnic and racial groups that have been the focus on college ethnic studies programs: African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans. Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, is the author of Assembly Bill 101, which would require a course in ethnic studies for a high school diploma. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill last year, citing unspecified problems with a previous draft of the curriculum.