Ethnic Studies Are Important

The Time for Ethnic Studies is Now

Christine Sleeter

California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the nation. Over 71 percent of California’s students are ethnic minority; over half are Latino. There is ongoing concern about closing racial/ethnic achievement gaps, and about building cross-racial understanding. What is often not understood is that ethnic studies helps to address both concerns.

Over the past two decades, very little attention done into making California’s curriculum more reflective of Californians. In 2002, I analyzed the History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools for its racial/ethnic representation. I found the 96 Americans named for study were 77% White, 18% African American, 4% Native American, 1% Latino, and 0% Asian American. All Latino and all but one Native American names appeared at the elementary level. AB 101 specifically addresses this absence of racial/ethnic minorities, particularly Latinos, in the state’s social science curriculum.

Ethnic Studies Now

Thank you for making calls and sending emails. So far we have been able to send 600+ emails and 200+ calls but I believe we can do better! Can you send another email and make another phone call? It's easy to do, just…. 

call: (916) 623-4866. Tell Governor Brown to take a stand and support Ethnic Studies. California is NOT Arizona. Use/Share this ESN number so we can keep track of how many people call. Then press "1" for English, and "4" to speak with a rep. Say you want the Governor to sign AB 101 into law. If you get voicemail, it means the Governor's line is busy, so just keep calling back. There are a lot of bills on the Governor's desk, so a lot of calls being made.

2. Email Governor Brown (there shouldn't be any more bouncing, as we removed the cc to the Gov's staffer whose box was full):

3. Letters to the Editor
Please also consider writing a Letter to the Editor to one of the following newspapers about the importance of AB 101 and Ethnic Studies. You can use the email to the Governor as an example. Please let us know if the article is published. How to submit a Letter to the Editor:

Ethnic studies courses benefit all students

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/sep/26/ethnic-studies-education-students/

By Thandeka K. Chapman & Tricia M. Gallagher-Geurtsen | 12:01 a.m. Sept. 26, 2015 | Updated, 5 p.m. | Sept. 25, 2015

On June 9, 2015, the Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) approved a resolution for an Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee to begin meeting immediately to “develop recommendations as to how ethnic studies can be implemented and accessible to all students in the San Diego Unified School District throughout their K-12 educational experience.” Why ethnic studies and why is this curriculum important for all of our youth in San Diego?
The support for ethnic studies in K-12 schools in California has been growing for the past few years. Briefly, ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study through social science, history and literature of how different populations have engaged in and experienced building what is now the United States of America. Although the student population of San Diego Unified School District is extremely diverse representing many ethnic groups and more than 60 languages and dialects, our social science, history and language arts texts and curriculum are not reflective of this diversity.

Support Ethnic Studies

Thank you!  In 24 hours over 100 people sent emails in support of AB 101. Can we reach 200? If you haven't sent an email yet it's super easy, just click on the orange button below. This Wednesday the Ethnic Studies bill will go before the Assembly Education Committee -- and they need to hear from you as soon as possible: Please click on the button above, add your name at the bottom of the email, and send.