Critics slam draft of California ethnic studies curriculum as far-left, anti-Jewish propaganda
Officials say it will be dramatically changed.
The draft of a new ethnics studies curriculum for California public school students is being slammed by critics. They accuse it of espousing bias against Israel and Jews, defining capitalism as a “form of power and oppression” and promoting a far-left-wing political agenda. The pushback has been so strong that California education officials say the curriculum “needs to be substantially redesigned.”
A law signed in 2016 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D) mandated that California create an ethnic studies course. An advisory committee constituted mostly of K-12th grade teachers and professors was appointed in 2018 by the State Board of Education to draft a curriculum that could be used by local school systems to create their own courses.
Linda Darling-Hammond, who was appointed president of the state Board of Education by Brown’s successor, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), said in an interview that the draft would undergo major changes. The board has not officially been given the draft from the state’s Instructional Quality Commission, which received it a few months ago, made some changes and posted it on the state Education Department’s website for public comment through Aug. 15.
Darling-Hammond issued a statement with Ilene Straus, vice president of the Board of Education, and board member Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon, saying, “A model curriculum should be accurate, free of bias, appropriate for all learners in our diverse state, and align with Governor Newsom’s vision of a California for all. The current draft model curriculum falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned.”
Drafters of the proposed curriculum and their supporters say it is important for students to view the world in a way not promoted by the powerful.
The Cal Matters website quoted R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, a member of the advisory committee that worked on the draft, as saying, “Sometimes people want to approach ethnic studies as just a superficial diversity class and that’s it. Ethnic studies is an academic field of over 50 years that has its own frameworks, its own academic language, its own understandings of how it approaches subjects and our world.” CONTINUE READING: Critics slam draft of California ethnic studies curriculum as far-left propaganda - The Washington Post