Why California textbooks ignore Chicano/ Mexican American history
And what you can do about it.
Textbooks for California schools are selected by the State Board of Education based upon recommendations of their Curriculum Committees and the state frameworks and standards. The current Framework was written in 1987 – before the fall of the Soviet Union. It is urgent that the History-Social Science Framework be revised to provide an accurate history of the contributions of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Latinos and Asians to the history of the state and of the nation. The current Framework reflects the historiography of the 1950’s. It was written in 1986 by senior scholars, they in turn were educated in the early 1970’s or before. It is substantially out of date. For a more detailed description of this issue see https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/home/why-california-students-do-not-know-chicano-history
Unfortunately this existing, outdated, biased document could well become the template for schools throughout the nation as a part of the Common Core Standards efforts.
Here is the problem. The Democracy and Education Institute and the Mexican American Digital History Project has been working for the last three years to change the California History/Social Science Framework for California Public Schools to include the significant contributions of Mexicans and Chicanos to the history of the state.
At the same time, the U.S. is moving toward Common Core standards for all schools in the nation. The Common Core is well along its way in math and English (reading). History, Civics and Social Studies will follow
