By John Fensterwald, EdSource, August 1, 2020
The California Department of Education released a more readable and tempered draft of an “ethnic studies model curriculum” on Friday, 11 months after intense criticism of the first draft forced state officials to order a rewrite.
Its release will start eight months of review and revision, beginning with an Aug. 13 meeting of a curriculum commission reporting to the State Board of Education, then a one-month public comment period and more review. The process will culminate in adoption by the state board in March.
The model curriculum will serve as a guide, not a mandated curriculum, for the several hundred high schools that already offer ethnic studies courses. The author of a bill to make a course in ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement withdrew it last fall amid the furor over the initial draft, but Assemblyman José Medina, D-Riverside, has said he would re-introduce Assembly Bill 331 next year. Last month, California State University trustees voted to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement, and the Legislature is poised to pass an alternate version.
Comments (0)