Showing posts with label Ethnic studies curriculum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethnic studies curriculum. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

California State Board of Education admits the draft ethnic studies curriculum needs "substantial revision"

In the wake of widespread criticism, the California Board of Education has faced reality, and admits  "The current draft model curriculum falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned."

From an August 12 press release
CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION1430 N Street, Suite 5111
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-319-0827
Fax: 916-319-0175

For Immediate Release

August 12, 2019
Contact

Janet Weeks, Director of Communications
916-319-0313

jweeks@cde.ca.gov

State Board of Education President Darling-Hammond, Vice President Straus and  Member Ortiz-Licon Issue Joint Statement on Draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum


SACRAMENTO -- State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond, Vice President Ilene Straus and Board Member Feliza Ortiz-Licon issued the following joint statement today on the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, now under development:

“Ethnic studies can be an important tool to improve school climate and increase our understanding of one another.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.

Following the Instructional Quality Commission’s review and response to all public comments, a new draft will be developed for State Board of Education review and potential approval. The Board will ultimately adopt an ethnic studies model curriculum that aligns to California’s values.”

Linda Darling-Hammond, President

Ilene Straus, Vice President

Feliza Ortiz-Licon, Board Member and Liaison to the Instructional Quality Commission

Public comment on the draft model curriculum will be accepted through August 15. More information on the process can be found at  https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/esmcpubliccomment.asp.



Sunday, August 4, 2019

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus issues a statement against biased model curriculum

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus  has issued a statement regarding the initial draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), which will be open for public comment until August 15, 2019.  

From the Caucus: 

Once revised and approved, California’s ESMC will serve as the standard for public classroom instruction across the state. In its current form, the draft curriculum is inaccurate and misleading in several critical respects and reflects an anti-Jewish bias.
We are working with our allies in the legislature and our Jewish organizational partners to improve the current ESMC draft so that we may adopt a curriculum that is appropriate for all of California’s children.
According to the statement, the current draft curriculum effectively erases the American Jewish experience, omits any meaningful discussion of antisemitism, denigrates Jews, and singles out the state of Israel for condemnation

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus concludes:
It would be a cruel irony if a curriculum meant to help alleviate prejudice and bigotry were instead to marginalize Jewish students and fuel hatred against the Jewish community.  Without significant edits the ESMC will do just that.

View the  full statement here.


The community unites against biased ethnic studies model curriculum

A draft of the the first state level curriculum on ethnic studies in the country is now available on line through the Department of Education.  Public comment will be open until August 15.

From the JNS:  Proposed anti-Israel ethnic-studies curriculum in California has Jewish community on alert

Tammi Benjamin, tireless fighter against anti-Semitism on campus has weighed in already:  

“[It] is deeply troubling—not only for its shocking omission of any mention of Jewish Americans or anti-Semitism or its blatant anti-Israel bias and praise of BDS, but for its clear attempt to politically indoctrinate students to adopt the view that Israel and its Jewish supporters are part of ‘interlocking systems of oppression and privilege’ that must be fought with ‘direct action’ and ‘resistance.’

From Central pacific regional director (ADL) of the the Anti-Defamation League Seth Brysk:

“This is nothing more than an attempt by fringe activists to highjack the model ethnic-studies curriculum for California high schools in the service of radical political goals.”

From Masha Merkulova the executive director of the nationwide Zionist youth group, Club Z:
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“The proposed California curriculum intentionally excludes Jews as an ethnic group that has faced oppression; presents a one-sided narrative of the only Jewish state; and provides a mouthpiece for the bigoted BDS movement"

From the executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Asaf Romirowsky, the draft represents a “one-sided politicized curriculum, especially as it relates to Israel and the Middle East.”


....a current draft of the model curriculum, drawn up by a committee of teachers and academics and headed to the State Board of Education, is an impenetrable melange of academic jargon and politically correct pronouncements. It’s hard to wade through all the references to hxrstory and womxn and misogynoir and cisheteropatriarchy.


...We are deeply disappointed that the current draft promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and other anti-Israel narratives, while excluding the Jewish community as a diverse and frequently targeted ethnic group.

Its no surprise that  at least some of the drafters of the model curriculum, Theresa Johnson, Theresa Montano and Samia Shoman have a history of anti-Israel agitation and bias.

Outraged?  Stand With Us has some practical suggestions for action
Stop Anti-Israel Hate in California Public Schools

To submit feedback about the curriculum, follow these steps: 

Download the public input form here.
Fill out the form, respectfully requesting the removal of BDS and other anti-Israel bias from the model curriculum.
The form asks for references to specific pages, so please include page 2 of this document, as well as pages 234, 237, 242, 256, and 264-269 of this document.
Add a general comment to the form urging the state to add lessons about American Jews as an ethnic group, including those who fled the Holocaust, oppression in the Middle East, and discrimination in the former Soviet Union.

Email the form to ethnicstudies@cde.ca.gov


Consider signing this petition at change.org  
Stop institutionalized bigotry in CA public schools