Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday that requires public high school students in California to complete an ethnic studies course in order to graduate.
Legislators hope the requirement educates students on the contributions of various ethnic communities to the development of California and the United States. Beyond that, educators will enlighten students about the present struggles and marginalization some of those groups still face.
Newsom vetoed an identical bill last year which focused more on the experiences of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American Californians, telling lawmakers he wanted to see a completed state curriculum guide that would be "inclusive of all communities." That guide was revised and completed in March by the state Board of Education.
"Ethnic studies courses enable students to learn their own stories—and those of their classmates," Newsom said in a signing statement.
Opponents of the bill have conflated the ethnic studies program with critical race theory—a hot button issue for conservatives across the country. The theory, first developed at UCLA Law School by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, is the specific study of the interplay between racial identity and the application of U.S. law.
Still, critics of racial education in U.S. schools insist it pervades K-12 curricula.
Critical race theory is sparingly referred to in California's ethnic studies teaching guide. Still, opponents said it has "permeated" the content, making the new requirement "racially divisive and burdened by faddish ideology," according to former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Williamson M. Evers.
Newsom's interpretation differed. In his signing statement, he highlighted curricular provisions that allow individual school districts to develop courses that reflect the diversity of their own community.
For example, a school in Glendale, home to a large Armenian community, might study the Armenian immigrant experience. On the other hand, a school in San Marino, which boasts a significant Chinese-American immigrant population, might focus more on the experience of East Asians in the United States.
Others have criticized the new version of the bill, which allows for greater public participation in the development of curricula, and eliminated certain critiques of capitalism throughout the model curriculum content.
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