Educators for Excellence in Ethnic Studies
We are a grassroots group of educators committed to ensuring
that we have school curricula that confront racism, develop civic responsibility,
and build the 21st century skills that our students need to succeed in school, work, and life.
We ask that changes be made to the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum
in order for us to have a pedagogically-sound curriculum
that we are proud - not ashamed - to teach to our students.
that we have school curricula that confront racism, develop civic responsibility,
and build the 21st century skills that our students need to succeed in school, work, and life.
We ask that changes be made to the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum
in order for us to have a pedagogically-sound curriculum
that we are proud - not ashamed - to teach to our students.
Critical race theory is not sound K-12 classroom pedagogy.
It divides people into oppressor and oppressed groups,
creating a hostile and disempowering classroom environment for students.
It is polarizing, not uniting, and makes group identity primary
at the expense of individual achievement.
Simply put, we are told to teach students to first label people by the color of their skin,
and then condemn one group as being racist.
Educators for Excellence in Ethnic Studies,
Public Comment to CA Instructional Quality Commission, November 2020
It divides people into oppressor and oppressed groups,
creating a hostile and disempowering classroom environment for students.
It is polarizing, not uniting, and makes group identity primary
at the expense of individual achievement.
Simply put, we are told to teach students to first label people by the color of their skin,
and then condemn one group as being racist.
Educators for Excellence in Ethnic Studies,
Public Comment to CA Instructional Quality Commission, November 2020
The ESMC gives me serious concerns. In my view the ESMC should take a more pluralistic approach and invite diverse points of view.
The ESMC also falls short on promoting civic engagement through democratic institutions. Mark Yudof, University of California President Emeritus |
"High-quality” ethnic-studies curricula “don’t exclusively emphasize victimization... Just the opposite..." They stress instead “the considerable cultural assets” of minorities and their capacity to achieve.
Thomas Dee, Stanford Graduate School of Education |
Ethnic studies has been taught in numerous California school districts for years, and some of them have developed strong guidelines around the issue of critical thinking. The guiding values and principles of the new curriculum should incorporate such past experience.
Mark Powell, San Diego County Board of Education |
The new curriculum won’t serve the educational function that America needs in a time of broad recognition of injustice tied to race.
Bill Evers, Wall Street Journal, August 2020 |
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But ideological indoctrination, which the first draft clearly embraced and still colors the second, is not knowledge. The histories of America and California are...also narratives of overcoming adversity and achievement, and well-balanced ethnic studies should include them as well.
Dan Walters, CalMatters |
The California model curriculum has failed to “encourage cultural understanding.” Instead, students will be taught with a myopic perspective, an agenda skewed by fallacy, about victimhood. Our students deserve the whole story of ethnicity in America.
Joe Nalven, Former associate director of the Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias, San Diego State University. |
As a proud Latino Californian, I am deeply concerned that the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum continues to promote an offensive, one-sided political ideology, and encourages our children to view themselves as victims rather than leaders.
Victoria Samper, Retired Teacher |
