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ALLISON SHELLEY FOR EDUIMAGES California requires ethnic studies for high school students. |
California high school students will need to take ethnic studies course in order to receive to graduate after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the mandate Friday.
"Students cannot have a full understanding of the history of our state and nation without the inclusion of the contributions and struggles of Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans,” said Assemblymember Jose Medina, author of AB 101. "The signing of AB 101 today is one step in the long struggle for equal education for all students.”
After five years of studies, revisions and rewrites, California on Friday became the first state to make ethnic studies a required class for high school graduation to help all students understand the complete history of America, including the past and present struggles and contributions of Asian, Black Latino, Indigenous Americans and other groups whose histories and stories have been ignored or erased until now.
"America is shaped by our shared history, much of it painful and etched with woeful injustice. Students deserve to see themselves in their studies, and they must understand our nation's full history if we expect them to one day build a more just society," said the governor in a signing statement.
“Ethnic studies courses enable students to learn their own stories — and those of their classmates,” Newsom said. Ethnic studies will “help expand educational opportunities in schools, teach students about the diverse communities that comprise California. "A number of studies have shown that these courses boost student achievement over the long run - especially among students of color."
In today's schools, the only 22% of California's public school students are White. California is one of three states where Whites do not have a majority, according to the 2020 Census. More than three-quarters of California’s 6.2 million K-12 students are non-white: 55% Latino, 12% Asian or Pacific Islander and 5% African American.
RELATED: Telling the stories of California's students
The vast majority of California’s immigrants were born in Latin America (50%) or Asia (39%). However, among immigrants who arrived between 2010 and 2019, more than half (53%) were born in Asia, while only 31% were born in Latin America. according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The leading countries of origin are Mexico (3.9 million), the Philippines (859,000), China (796,000), Vietnam (539,000), and India (513,000). based on the 2019 American Communities Survey by the US Census.
From the 2020 US Census, we learn that Asians make up 15% of the state with more than 6 million people of Asian descent — more than the total population of most other states.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said that ethnic studies as a way to help students of color see themselves reflected in what they learn, and also to learn about their histories.
Under the new law, students in the Class of 2030, who will start high school in the fall of 2026, must pass at least a single one-semester course. And, by the fall of 2025, all public high schools will have to offer such a class.
Some California school districts, including Los Angeles and San Francisco school districts, have already launched their own ethnic studies requirements for years.
Enactment of AB 101 releases $50 million in this year’s state budget for all county offices of education, charter schools and school districts to develop ethnic studies curriculums. The money will be distributed to schools serving high school students, as a straight apportionment, according to the California Department of Education.
“There is no requirement for CDE or any other agency to manage the program,” said California Department of Education information officer Jonathan Mendick. “Districts must spend the money in accordance with the requirements of AB 101, which has myriad guardrails built in around curriculum that meets the graduation requirement.”
“At a time when some states are retreating from an accurate discussion of our history, I am proud that California continues to lead in its teaching of ethnic studies,” said Secretary of State Shirley Weber. “This subject not only has academic benefits, but also has the capacity to build character as students learn how people from their own or different backgrounds face challenges, overcome them and make contributes to American society. .. This is a great day for California.”
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