Concerned that some California school boards might reneg on teaching the history and contributions of the state's ethnic groups, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a premptive legal alert to school boards and county offices of education.
“Every student deserves to see themselves reflected in the stories and lessons we teach within our classrooms,” said Bonta, California's first Filipino American AG.
“Our legal alert serves as a guide for educational leaders to actively contribute to the creation of an educational landscape that embraces the rich tapestry of California's diverse population.”
While other states ban books and rewrite history to avoid making White students "uncomfortable," California is improving educational outcomes and investing tens of billions of dollars to improve literacy. The state's students outperformed most states — including Florida and Texas — in mitigating learning loss during the pandemic, and through historic levels of school funding, the state is building a cohesive structure of support for educators and students that reflects a focus on equity, inclusion, and academic success.
FYI: Read the California legal alert here.
The alert emphasizes the obligation of state schools to provide inclusive curricula, instructional materials, and books that reflect the roles and contributions of California’s diverse population.
A segment of California's Education Code madates that curriculum "Reflect the diversity of the State by including a study of the role and contributions of protected groups in social sciences curricula, including the roles and contributions of all genders, Native Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, persons with disabilities, members of other ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic status groups, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to the 'economic, political, and social development of California and the United States of America, with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.'"
This obligation is reinforced by recently-enacted legislation including Assembly Bill 1078, which expands the right to inclusive curricula and books, and AB 101.
In 2021, the governor signed a law that requires high schools to offer ethnic studies courses starting in the 2025-26 school year, and that requires students to complete the courses to graduate, starting with the class of 2030.
As California’s chief law officer, Bonta plays a role in monitoring compliance of these laws and conducting investigations to address potential violations.
The legal alert comes afterBonta, Governor Gavin Newsom, and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond sent a joint letter to all county, district, and charter school officials cautioning against book bans in June 2023. The legal alert provides an overview of these laws and stresses the responsibilities of educational institutions to provide a non-biased and inclusive curriculum.
The FAIR Education Act mandates the accurate representation of cultural and racial diversity in educational curricula, particularly in social studies for grades 1-12. Enacted on September 25, 2023,
AB 1078 provides additional mechanisms for ensuring that students have textbooks and instructional materials that are standards-aligned, and safeguards curricular materials containing inclusive and diverse perspectives, roles, and contributions from being prohibited by governing boards of school districts, county boards, and charter schools. In October 2021,
AB 101 was signed into law, in anticipation that by the 2025-2026 school year, Districts will offer a one-semester high school course in ethnic studies that showcases the diverse histories and contributions of groups in line with California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.
If a school district chooses to adopt an ethnic studies course for this purpose that is not based on the Model curriculum, among other things, it must comply with AB 101’s requirements to teach about the experiences and contributions of diverse communities in an appropriate manner.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.
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