Silicon Valley parents are calling for transparency about a new ethnic studies course before it launches this fall, but the California school district piloting the class is staying mum.
Two high schools in wealthy Palo Alto will teach the new class to a small group of incoming freshmen ahead of its state-mandated rollout in the 2025-26 school year. The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ethnic studies covers the experiences of minority groups in the United States, especially African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
Members of the Palo Alto Parents Alliance (PA²) want to see the lesson plan before it debuts, fearing the controversial course will take a “liberated” approach focused on discrimination and oppression rather than an “inclusive” one.
“It would be a huge help if we as parents could see the curriculum,” Alan Crystal, a parent of a new senior, told the Chronicle. “What we want most is to see what is being proposed and the curriculum.”
“It would be a huge help if we as parents could see the curriculum,” said Alan Crystal (left). Members of the Palo Alto Parents Alliance (PA²) are demanding transparency and want to see the ethnic studies curriculum before it is implemented.
“We are not against ethnic studies,” said PA² member Sarith Honigstein. “Our problem is that it has not been carried out in a transparent way.”
Proponents argue that the course helps minority students learn about their culture and history, particularly points not covered in typical textbooks.
PA² members gathered 1,400 signatures on a petition calling for transparency, saying they support ethnic studies but want the opportunity to provide input.
“We are not against ethnic studies,” PA² member Sarith Honigstein told The Chronicle. “Our problem is that it has not been carried out in a transparent way.”
Bill Honig, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction, described a “liberated” model in Source Ed such as: ‘Presenting non-whites as victims and whites, individually and collectively through institutions, as oppressors.’
He described an “inclusive” approach as: “Inclusive ethnic studies does not prioritize group membership over the uniqueness of each individual… It rejects group identity as the primary lens for understanding history, society, culture, and politics… It promotes the importance of an individual’s characteristics.”
In a May letter, PA² argued that “the approach PAUSD chooses to teach is important because there have been divisions and unrest in the boardrooms and classrooms of the school district that adopted ‘liberated’ Ethnic Studies.”
Guillermo Lopez, associate superintendent of the school district, insisted that students will receive an “inclusive” curriculum.
There is no single curriculum for ethnic studies courses statewide, as it has largely been left up to each district how they want to teach it.
The district held three input sessions with parents, who say they received little response.
Parents fear the class will teach a “liberated” model rather than an “inclusive” one. The school district denies it is working on a “liberated” model and insisted to parents that their students will learn an “inclusive” curriculum, according to Associate Superintendent Guillermo Lopez (pictured).
Worries don’t just arise out of nowhere.
The school district covering nearby San Mateo received hundreds of complaints from parents who said its ethnic studies course pushed a leftist agenda, and the Mountain View Los Altos High School District was sued by a nonprofit to make its curriculum documents public, the Chronicle reported.
The debate is not limited to California’s borders. Florida banned an AP course on African-American studies, while Tennessee restricted teachers from teaching certain race-related topics.
DEI and critical race theory classes have sparked massive debate across the United States and are becoming a focal point in the 2024 presidential election.
Palo Alto parents fear the course could end up as the lesson plan for the UC Berkeley History and Social Science Project, which partnered with the school district to help develop the course concepts.
PA² highlighted its concerns with Berkeley’s programming, noting that key concepts of the project include calling out the privileged white male and oppressive Western society.
Lopez told the Chronicle that Berkeley’s programming “doesn’t really apply to our course.”
Palo Alto High School (pictured) and Henry M. Gunn High School will pilot a new ethnic studies course with a small group of new freshmen before its state-mandated implementation begins in the 2025-26 school year.
Lopez stressed that the pilot course this fall will not be the final curriculum as the district wants to learn what works and what doesn’t.
He also stressed that the pilot course to be held this fall will not be the final curriculum.
“All we can do is continue to have conversations and train our staff to understand some of the do’s and don’ts,” Lopez said. “Our goal is to include all communities.”
Jason Muñiz, director of the Berkeley project, told the Chronicle that his role was to help “teachers tailor the lesson to their own district.”