Fighting Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Bias in Education
2016 - Ethnic Studies Curriculum
2019 - First Draft
2020 - Second Draft
2020 - AB 1460
2021 - AB 101
Since 2016, the California Board of Education has been in the process of including Ethnic Studies in K-12 school curriculum and establishing the subject as a requirement for all California public high school students.
The first draft, released in 2019, included content opposed by many in the Jewish community, including references to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and promoted offensive antisemitic and anti-Israel biases.
The second draft of the curriculum, released in the summer of 2020, removed the BDS reference but still contained content that Jewish groups found problematic. That included a message that Jews were beneficiaries of white privilege and the absence of a definition of antisemitism and a lesson plan on Mizrahi Jewry.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring all California State University undergraduates to take ethnic studies.The bill signed by Newsom, AB 1460, requires all CSU undergraduates to take at least one three-unit course in ethnic studies, defined as having a focus on African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino/a Americans and Native Americans.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 101, an education bill that will require every student at a public high school or charter school in the state to take an ethnic studies course.It includes a one-semester ethnic studies course in high school diploma requirements, beginning with students graduating in the 2029-30 school year.
The Birth of Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Institute
A half dozen members of the advisory group behind the first draft have joined others to create their own organization, the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Coalition, to promote what they consider the right version of ethnic studies to school districts in California as well as to offer them their educational expertise in implementing the curriculum.