California is now the first state to require students to complete an ethnic studies course.

Ethnic studies are now compulsory for graduation in California community colleges, the California State University system, and some University of California campuses, in addition to being established on a Bay Area college campus. Last year, Newsom vetoed a similar bill, citing “concern that the initial draft of the model curriculum was insufficiently balanced and inclusive, necessitating considerable modification.” While some citizens may be concerned about the bill, Gov. Newsom points out that it has “a variety of safeguards to guarantee that courses are devoid of bias or bigotry and acceptable for all students.¨ Among the precautions are the requirements that ethnic studies guidelines and teaching materials be made available. “not indicate or encourage” any prejudice, racism, or blatant discrimination, and also that districts and charter schools publish a specified ethnic studies program at a separate public meeting before enacting it, allowing citizens to offer their ideas.

The Senate Appropriations Committee introduced an alternative urging school districts not to “use the portions of the draft model curriculum that the Instructional Quality Commission did not adopt owing to concerns about bias, racism, and marginalization.” This was a specific reference towards the design curriculum’s severely criticized first proposal. Regardless of the precautions implemented by this bill, the law change does have its critics, including some of those participating in the legislature’s development.

According to the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, a consulting group comprised of instructors and professionals, such as those responsible for the original draft, the education system is “a watered-down version” of history, quoting lessons like “the true causes of police brutality” against Black People that aren’t even covered. Parents in predominantly white, politically conservative groups are already hostile to the mandate, and the model curriculum is misunderstood.

In San Diego County, the Ramona Unified School District devised a common core education course that encourages nationalism whilst carefully restricting what could be taught related to race. Others want to ban any discussion of race theory, a legal theory that studies institutionalized racism but now has come to mean what educators are frightened of teaching. Supporters argue that the curriculum’s anti-racist teachings and historical perspectives on oppressed groups are crucial at this time in the United States, as the country grapples with issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement and police mistreatment, violent attacks on Asian Americans, and the growth of hate crimes against them, and efforts to undermine the democracy of race. After approximately 8 hours of conferences and debate, board president Linda Darling-Hammond stated, “The passion that we hear about this topic illustrates why ethnic studies are so important,” “Much of it is a quest by each person or each group for a sense of belonging and acknowledgment.” “Ethnic studies demands that we understand the forces that stand in the way of our shared humanity so that we can address them,” she said. “We need the more complete study of our history that ethnic studies provide and the attention to inequality that it stimulates.”

If passed, the policy will take effect in the 2023-24 school year. If the proposed state legislation is enacted and signed into law by the governor, it will take effect in 2021-22. Assemblymember Jose Medina stated he wouldn’t be shocked if the bill is embraced in other states, highlighting last summer’s criminal justice reform marches in reaction to the murder of George Floyd as a “moment of reckoning on education.” The discussion will almost definitely continue as school districts across the state determine how to implement this new requirement. “I believe California is very much leading the way in education,” Medina said.