Sacramento Approves Ethnic Studies as Graduation Requirement
On Thursday, the Sacramento City Unified School Board unanimously approved the Student Advisory Council’s (SAC) resolution to make Ethnic Studies a high school graduation requirement. As Board President Darrel Woo remarked, “this is probably the most important vote I will ever cast as a school board member.” The Board’s approval is the culmination of months of research and planning by the District’s student-led council and Sacramento’s Ethnic Studies Now (ESNS) Coalition. HIP has been a proud member of the ESNS and we are overjoyed to see the community come together to help SCUSD celebrate and harness its diversity. While the implementation process will not be easy, we are proud that SCUSD has chosen be a leader in an increasingly diverse California. Ethnic Studies, in particular, is important to us because it has touched each HIP Organizer’s life.
“It helped us recognize the sacrifices of those that came before us and continues to fuel our desire to improve the lives for those that will come after us.”
Student Led. Student Driven. Student Power.
While the idea of making Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement had been floated around by various activists for a while, a tangible proposal did not materialize until a small team of passionate SCUSD students took the lead.
Jeremy Vang, Sacramento Student Advisory Council Member
The Student Advisory Council is composed of student representatives from each of SCUSD’s thirteen high schools. At the beginning of the school year, the SAC set out to understand how high school students in Sacramento wanted to improve in their schools. Using a Youth Participatory Action-Research method, the SAC collected several hundred surveys from high schools students from throughout the District. When the survey results were tabulated, the SAC discovered that a significant portion of the student population felt their educational experience lack cultural relevance and that school violence driven by race relations was becoming too prevalent. Based on the results, the SAC drew a strong correlation to the absence of relevant curriculum to the growing challenges of their multicultural campuses. It should be noted that SCUSD is the fourth most diverse district in the entire nation, where 4 out of every 5 students is a student of color. With mentorship from District Staff, in particular, Youth Services Specialist Mark Canero, the SAC concluded that establishing Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement would give students the culturally relevant curriculum they thirst for, while also helping the District harness its diversity to create greater cross-cultural understanding.
Once the decision to pursue Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement was made, the SAC set out to make this a reality. They met with school board members to get an initial feel for how receptive the Board would be. They met with community leaders to build widespread and diverse support. They met with college students to help gather over 2,500 signatures. They met with professors from Sacramento State and UC Davis to learn more about existing Ethnic Studies curriculum. They met with District staff to learn about the logistics involved with changing graduation requirements.
It takes a village.
Working alongside the SAC was a coalition of community members who were equally passionate about making Ethnic Studies a reality. Similar to efforts in Oakland, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Ethnic Studies Now – Sacramento (ESNS) originated from a shared vision of making Ethnic Studies more available to students in SCUSD and beyond.
The coalition originated from a significant contingent of Chicano/Chicana and Ethnic Studies professors from the local institutions of higher education. They were primarily interested in elevating Ethnic Studies in secondary education and reducing educational disparities affecting Latinos and other students of color. TheAssociation of Raza Educators – Sacramento Chapter was the first organization to support the SAC’s initiatives. Their unique expertise in developing Ethnic Studies curriculum and teacher training programs fast tracked the campaign–giving the students an eager Sacramento Approves Ethnic Studies as Graduation Requirement | Hmong Innovating Politics:
The coalition originated from a significant contingent of Chicano/Chicana and Ethnic Studies professors from the local institutions of higher education. They were primarily interested in elevating Ethnic Studies in secondary education and reducing educational disparities affecting Latinos and other students of color. TheAssociation of Raza Educators – Sacramento Chapter was the first organization to support the SAC’s initiatives. Their unique expertise in developing Ethnic Studies curriculum and teacher training programs fast tracked the campaign–giving the students an eager Sacramento Approves Ethnic Studies as Graduation Requirement | Hmong Innovating Politics: