001good morning uh this is the third day of our march board meeting and seeing that board members are present brooks can you please call the roll to establish a quorum of course good morning member birth dear president darling hammond here member fatah here remember glover woods here member mcquillen morning here i'm bernavo here member patilla brownson here member rodriguez here number rucker here vice president strauss here number son here you have a quorum okay i'll start with the announcement that in closed session yesterday the board discussed the following legal matter kapim versus california department of education and state board of education and we'll launch into our agenda i want to begin by noting that um today we'll be taking up an opportunity to take steps toward confronting and ultra ultimately transforming racism in our society
002and in our state as we take up the ethnic studies model curriculum this day has been a long time in coming and we're reminded daily that the racial injustice it reveals is not only a legacy of the past but a clear and present danger and as we have struggled for years with the ongoing spate of police shootings of unarmed black men and women george floyd john aubry brianna taylor and many more they mourn this week for the shootings of eight men and women in atlanta six of them women of asian descent not all of them had been named by the police as of yesterday but today we say the names of delana young child xi tang daiyoung fang as well as paul andre michaels and elsius hernandez ortiz who remained in critical condition as of
003last night and all of our prayers are with their families i want to just take a moment to respect and reflect on the events of the week and we know that this latest moment is built on a past that includes chinese exclusion and japanese internment as well as xenophobia directed at south asian middle eastern and muslim communities 911 racial slurs from u.s government officials which contributed to a major wave of anti-asian violence in cities across the country and as we will discuss today hate speech and crimes as well as other forms of discrimination directed at people because of their race ethnicity language appearance religion country of origin are a familiar part of our history and our contemporary reality we must understand this history if we're finally to end it and usher in a new day
004in california and in the country and with that goal in mind i want to introduce our first item of today item nine is the ethnic studies model curriculum uh by way of uh announcement for public comment uh members of the public who wish to dial in for public comment should view the live stream of the meeting to know at what time we will ask for public comment for each item on the agenda public comment may be provided by dialing the phone number and participant access code and then following each of the operators prompts upon dialing in callers will be added to a caller queue the operator will notify callers when it is their turn to provide public comment we will also ask the public calling in for public comment to please turn down the speaker
005volume of their computers if they're following the live feed to avoid an echoing effect public comment will be limited to one minute for each speaker and board members please mute your microphones when not speaking keep your cameras on except when you are taking a break to ensure that we can maintain a forum throughout today's virtual meeting for each item on the agenda there's an opportunity for you to raise your hand using the zoom participant window if you'd like to make a question or a comment and i'm going to ask our colleagues from cde to be ready to present item nine the ethnic studies model curriculum uh the item will be presented by shane coats of the cde followed by state superintendent of public instruction tony thurman who will make a few comments and introduce our
006lineup of guest speakers shanine please begin thank you thank you president linda darling hammond vice president strauss and members of the board it is truly an honor to be here today to present the recommendations for california's ethnic studies model curriculum although we are in a virtual space and all inhabiting different places i would like to begin with a land acknowledgement to recognize that this land was and still is the land i'm on the tribal land of the nissan people as well as any tribes or peoples that may be unnamed we recognize their rich history and their current presence and that we are guests of the land and that we benefit from the use of this land by offering this land acknowledgement we recognize that in our educational system we need to celebrate and place high
007value on the pre-colonial ancestral knowledge narratives and communal experiences experiences of native peoples including ensuring that the teaching of native peoples in our classrooms is in present tense and a reflection of their voice in 2016 when the legislature voted in favor of ab2016 authored by luis alejo we could have never predicted what we would have gone through as a country from then until today today i am joined by our superintendent chief deputy dr gregson guest speakers and three members of the instructional quality commission together we will explain how the model we will present fulfills the legislation and is a necessary step to continue the important conversation of ethnic studies course development in our great state and in our local educational agencies the model curriculum focuses on the four foundational disciplines of ethnic studies while giving
008districts the flexibility to shape courses to meet their local needs and reflect california's diversity the model is not a step-by-step blueprint but it is written as a guide the great value in the document is that it will be used to help local districts as they continue to develop their ethnic studies courses designed to be discussed in the context of community and used alongside other tools such as the history social science framework and the english language arts english language development framework this document provides tools resources and information that can be used as another entry point in the conversation it offers a space for historically marginalized voices to be raised and to honor those that have paved the way and for those who have never heard those voices to have the opportunity to hear the narratives of
009various experiences in our country it offers space for a more complete history to be heard known and understood for me personally my parents and grandparents story is part of that narrative my grandfather and grandmother voted for the first time in their 70s after the voting rights act of 1965 was passed and my mother attended segregated elementary schools and couldn't try on clothes in the store due to her race i have witnessed the impact of systemic inequities within the educational system that have failed some of my family members and even allowed my high school counselor who could not see my value to feel comfortable telling me to not bother to apply for college because i would not be accepted these experiences are not just examples of implicit bias they are examples that highlight systemic racism my
010narrative your narrative as well as the narratives that are included in this guide alongside the thousands of voices in the local context are the narratives of perseverance that can empower students give them a sense of pride and inspire them to be involved in our democracy that is why it is my pleasure to serve under our superintendent of public instruction tony thurman who has strengthened the conversation around ethnic studies and how we use education as a platform to end hate of all of all kinds and at this time i would like to turn it over to our chief deputy superintendent dr stephanie gregson for remarks thank you thank you shaneen and thank you for sharing your story it is one that i have not heard before and i appreciate honoring and hearing your story i'd also
011like to appreciate and acknowledge that this journey started in january of 2018 for many members of our team here at the california department of education and i would like to acknowledge those members of our team there are too many to name individually but i would like to appreciate and acknowledge shanine coats as the director of the curriculum frameworks and instructional resources division who has worked tirelessly since she began in her role on ethics studies model curriculum we so appreciate her work as executive director of the instructional quality commission as well she has a team behind her in the curriculum frameworks and instructional resources division who has been working on this since january of 2018 when i was director of the curriculum frameworks and instructional resources division and i would like to thank you and appreciate
012for your hard work during this three past three years this work crossed many divisions within the department and so i would like to acknowledge and appreciate all who contributed to the work behind the scenes of ethnic studies model curriculum it truly is a first for us here at the california department of education and it is a first for california so thank you for all of the work that you have done to get us to this moment today and with that i would like to introduce our state superintendent of public instruction tony thurman who as shanin said has helped amplify the conversation around ethnic studies but also has empowered and amplified the voices of our students whose experiences are so incredibly powerful and so with that i thank our superintendent for uplifting those student voices and
013i hand this off to a state superintendent of public instruction tony thurman you dr grigson uh good morning uh madam president members of the board it's an honor to be with you today on this important journey as we continue our discussion about the role of ethnic studies in california's education i also want to thank shanine coats for incredible leadership and stewardship of this enormous opportunity and with all that comes with it thank you shanin and to your team and to all of the staff at the california department of education and all the staff at the depa at the state board of education of course the iqc and the state board members themselves uh for all of your work i'd like to contextualize my thoughts really through the lens of what we've heard from our students
014after the killing of george floyd we sought to provide support to our students for the trauma that the nation that the world had witnessed our students said to us that they wanted to see representations of themselves they asked us why they didn't learn about their own histories in school we recognized then how important it was to us and to them that we introduce ethnic studies in a way that everyone can learn and at that moment we created a mini series on ethnic studies to introduce what ethnic studies is to many students thousands of students across the state and and so it is for those reasons that we are hopeful that we will be moving forward in a way that supports our students we we know that when students haven't seen representations of themselves that now
015we have an opportunity before us to support the self-esteem of our students that they can see their ancestors that they can see the contributions of people of color and what they have done to make california a great state and to make this a great nation we also recognize that learning those experiences of people of color and their contributions is a benefit to students of all backgrounds and so that's why today's work is so important i want to thank the many who have contributed obviously we've had lots of public comment and lots of interest i want to thank the original advisory board members for their hard work i want to thank our staff multiple professors and others who have helped us what you have before you and what you've been reviewing we believe are just excellent
016lesson plans robust content a focus on historic four disciplines that traditionally have been taught in ethnic studies but yet we've added a bridge to interconnectivity for other groups that while they may not have historically been part of of what has been traditionally taught in ethnic studies represent other groups whose stories are worthy of being told who've experienced oppression who have contributions to share and you will find all those lesson plans together but we wanted to acknowledge this bridge of inter connectivity we are proud of what we have to present to you and we acknowledge that when you do something of this magnitude it is not going to make you know it will not make everyone happy but what we strive for is balance what we strive for is how to put forward the message that
017can be helpful as a guide to all of our school districts it is not intended to be perfect i don't know that anything could be but we're very proud of what we put forward for you and we look forward to the process that will go forward around its implementation as shanine mentioned today this is a guide for school districts it is not a mandate and ultimately school districts will create their own versions of ethnic studies that are tailored uniquely to fit the needs of the communities that they serve but this guide is an important launching point and there are opportunities this year to talk about what implementation might look like as there are resources currently in trailer bill currently proposed in the governor's budget from january that would actually send resources to school districts for
018implementing ethnic studies in a way that is unique to the districts and so we continue that conversation as we continue today's conversation i'd like to invite a few colleagues partners and friends who've helped us uh to get to this latest round of fine tuning and edits um that you have before you uh to share with us their experience and to help frame for us the importance of ethnic studies i'd like to begin with first assemblymember luis alejo assemblymember alejo hat currently serves as a member of the board of supervisors in my home county in monterey county where i was born he is as you heard from director coats the author of ab2016 which created the opportunity to create the model ethnic studies curriculum guide assemblymember alejo we welcome your remarks good morning and buenos dias
019thank you to the state board of education members and to my good friend state superintendent tony thurman for allowing me to say some words on this historic day as you consider finalizing this high school ethnic studies model curriculum created created under my legislation assembly bill 2016. there's no question that our students need and deserve an education that more truthfully and completely reflects the experiences and contributions of people of color today 77 percent of students in our california's k-12 schools are students of color and our students speak over 90 different languages in their homes in a state with the most diverse student body anywhere in the nation our students must see themselves reflected in their schools their curriculum and in the knowledge they learn this year marks 19 years since i drafted the first bill on
020ethnic studies as an assembly fellow back in 2002 for then assembly member manny diaz your decision to approve this first in the nation model curriculum on ethnic studies will show other states what is possible and will inspire them to follow our lead since my curriculum legislation was approved in 2016 indiana oregon and most recently connecticut have also landed a past landmark legislation to standardize and elevate ethnic studies in their high schools so there is now movement across our nation but in the wake of the racial unrest and the resurgence of hate and bigotry bigotry across our country especially for the api american community who were victims of violence once again last tuesday in georgia now more than ever the need for a comprehensive and inclusive ethnic studies model curriculum cannot feel more urgent today we
021have the opportunity to use the power of education as a force for lasting change in the pursuit of racial and social justice while keeping true to the and expanding the curriculum of the four core traditional curriculums of ethnic studies educators will also have more resources to explore additional identities whose experiences intersect here in california i believe this curriculum will also be a catalyst for more high schools to offer ethnic studies for a greater demand of ethnic studies trained teachers and for more grade appropriate books and materials to be produced in ethnic studies not to mention more professional development for our teachers it will truly be transformative more than anything else in our high school since ethnic studies was created 53 years ago i want to remind everyone that this curriculum is voluntary and that school
022boards are already empowered to use the curriculum or not to supplement their curriculum in their schools and to provide for the distinct needs of their students and let's be clear this curriculum was also inten was also intended as an introductory course for our high school students i understand that adopting a model curriculum today that is balanced focused and bold is an extraordinary task that may not please everyone by the end of today but facing our history is an uncomfortable endeavor and making landmark educational change is never easy it is time to do what is right for 1.7 million high school students in california this is long overdue and i urge you to prove this model curriculum today let us send a mess strong message to the rest of the nation that california's public schools can
023be the change we want to see thank you and back to your superintendent thank you for guiding us in your original legislation and for getting us to this point thank you for your continued leadership the next person that i want to introduce um is dolores huerta she needs no introduction she is a civil rights icon in her work to support human rights and labor rights she's also been a champion for bringing ethnic studies to the forefront throughout her career she gave us the pleasure of having her as a guest on our miniseries to introduce ethnic studies to our students i'm honored to call her a friend and mentor and it is an honor to present to you dolores wettat to share some remarks thank you superintendent thurman and you know we cannot undo the horrific
024acts of the past against people of color that unfortunately still continue today as we saw this week in georgia but we what we do have to do is take steps to start preventing these horrific acts against people of color dr martin luther king jr said that racism is a sickness and we have to excuse me we we have to become the healers uh to erase that ignorance and the way that is it is affecting our students i i cannot i miss coach shared what happened to her when she was a student and that was not very long ago is we work in 17 different school districts in the dolores horta foundation working with students and with parents and i cannot tell you how often i have heard that same story from students where teachers tell
025them that they are not qualified to go to college i had once one student tell me that her teacher told her that her brother would probably end up in prison so there was no need for him to continue to go to school so we know it is not enough to be uh to say i am not a racist what we have to do in today's world is we have to be anti-racist dr martin luther king jr said racism is a sickness and we have to become the healers and there is no place that has the greatest responsibility than our educational system and so we have to really bear down we have to support this measure that yes we have to have ethnic studies as a mandatory requirement but we know that probably that will not
026even go far enough it is a beginning we have to start this the ethnic studies program in our elementary schools we know that children are not born racist they learn racism from their culture from the families that they grow up in and so we are the ones that have to take the responsibility excuse me you know i live in kern county and kern county bakersfield california i can say is one of the most conservative and we have a lot amount of racism in our county and even with our local high school which we sued for the expulsion of over 2 000 black and brown students in one year and yes we got that expulsion down to 21 students but they are still putting students in alternative schools and the graduation rate for african-american students is
027dismal so we know that the racism continues our part of our lawsuit was we asked them to do a latino heritage month to do a black history month it didn't happen it didn't happen this is before the pandemic so the board of education you have a huge responsibility and we really have to bear down on these school districts and we have to make them understand that the racism that is perpetuated in our school system is hurting black and brown students i graduated from high school a long time ago back in 1947 and it really pains me to think of the racism that i suffered as a mexican-american student in my high school that is still happening today to many students of color yamasta it's time to end it and you know we have to use
028all of the power all of the authority that we have to make sure that we can heal our society we should not in any way prepare any more children to be neo-nazis when you have people that deny the holocaust that they pretend it never happened and the people of color get keep getting killed and it's not it's not just mass shootings it's that the everyday the the the micro aggressions and the macro get aggression that people of color feel you know we have a huge responsibility i know that this board is up to the task and that we can do everything that we can to dig down deep into our schools i would love to see in our curriculums for instance that before 1848 a third of the united states was mexico so when we
029tell latino children or they are told by the classmates go back where you came from we have to say i have to say as a mexican-american my family was here before the united states was the united states of america so she said whether we can make it happen and it's time it's time thank you so much thank you miss whatever it's so amazing thank you for bringing us si se puede thank you for all the work that you've done and that you continue to do and as you have said it is indeed time thank you for your incredible leadership thank you also a pleasure to introduce someone who is very well known to this board she's a former iqc member and she is the first african-american woman to serve as california's secretary of state and
030other than my colleague dr shirley weber dr shirley weber in her role uh has really helped to center us in our focus on ethnic studies it's something she knows quite a bit about as a 45-year educator as someone who i think is a foremost educator on many subjects and who is a distinguished professor of africana studies it is a pleasure and an honor to introduce a colleague and friend dr shirley weber dr weber we are looking forward to your remarks and thank you very much superintendent thurman and i'm always honored when i'm in the presence of de los because she is such an icon and an inspiration to all of us as she continues the battle uh to make sure and that everyone has an opportunity in the state of california and across the nation
031so it's always good to be with dolores um you know i am i'm honored to be here today and i want to thank your staff and those who have worked so hard on this particular issue um little did i know when i was appointed to the iqc that i'd be walking in the middle of the storm but then i'm but i'm accustomed to that having been in ethnic studies for so long um when i accept the responsibility to serve i had no idea that this would be one of the major or the major issue that we would be confronted with that on the iqc i want to thank your staff who's been so diligent and patient with all of us and and the ipc experience for me as a member of the legislature uh was
032quite a unique and and honored experience and and even though i moved on now to the secretary of state um position uh i still have ethnic studies in my soul and in my bone and it will never leave because of the power of it and the fact that it continues to informed uh inform us not only in where we are at the legislature but throughout our schools but also at the secretary of state and the responsibility of ensuring that our communities have the same opportunity in terms of voting rights and opportunities that are there the movement for ethnic studies has uh and that lifts that lifts the voice of many marginalized individuals has often been met with resistance and has a long legacy of over 50 years i would have thought when i came to
033san diego state university in 1972 merely to help out with a project that i would become the center of the storm and that it would begin a life journey to basically create ethnic opportunities and ethnic studies not only for african-americans but working with chicano studies and native american studies and asian studies across the state and the nation even the establishment as we know the first ethnic studies department was born in struggle born in difficulty that resulted in student protest and school shutdowns and host of other things that took place but it was so important this journey was so important for them that many students risked their their academic careers uh to establish ethnic studies i had friends at various campuses uh in the in northridge in the valley and other places who fought so hard
034for ethnic studies that they were expelled from the university and maybe 20 years later they were allowed to come back and to get their degree but they believe so strongly in the power of ethnic studies as a department chair for many many years of the 40 years i was at san diego state um it became real clear to me that this would be a battle an effort to try to eliminate and not to downgrade ethnic studies and so it's interesting and ironic to me now that as we have fought to to maintain and to keep ethnic studies when i came into the legislature and we authored our first resolution to basically make ethnic studies a requirement across the state and working with mr alejo and now with mr medina uh we have continued to fight
035the battle and so it's always interesting that every now and then others want to join ethnic studies which shocks me because i know 50 years ago being in ethnic studies was not a face of power nor position nor was it desirable and those of us who put our careers into ethnic studies were often told that we were participating in a dying experience that it would not live and that it would ruin our academic careers if we continue to talk about ethnic studies and yet many of us persisted to do so at the peril of the of the fear of losing our career but more importantly we were excited about the fact that we were establishing something that had possibly changed the very nature of the state you know despite decades of resistance it's interesting that
036the national education association review of ethnic studies supports that those of us in the discipline have known all along what we have known is that a well-taught ethnic studies curriculum is beneficial to all students regardless of race that every student's life is enhanced by the knowledge of ethnic studies about learning about the four major groups that they have interacted with and it transforms and changes their lives and i say that as a professor of 40 years who i've taught students across the board my first classes that were almost all african-americans by the time i left the university uh it i could look into a classroom and not tell whether it was ethnic studies or not because it was so diverse in terms of the number of students who were taking the class and as i've
037interacted with my former students i come to realize that they are different professionals better professionals whether they're black white and native american asian hispanic whatever it is they are different perspec professionals because they have a different level of respect for others they have a tremendous and profound knowledge of themselves and they walk with pride and dignity as in in the in the profession in which they exist these benefits are overwhelming for our students and therefore we must make sure that our students have it you know as i listened to the students and i sat on the uh a couple of uh lectures with for uh your superintendent it was they were persistent and consistent they were saying over and over we want this information we are just concerned that we don't have this information that
038this information will propel us forward and i know when i was at the university um students would come to the university who had no knowledge of themselves at all and then they would be angry in the in the course they'd be first be angry because there was so much information that they did not have and had never been exposed to and then they would become inspired inspired that they that they had a strong legacy that they had to live up to that they were building on something greater than themselves and they had respect for the ancestors and those who had come before them so it was a transformation that i saw in every class with students as to who they are and where they are and i stay in touch with these students across the
039nation across the world who are really very different kinds of professionals who make a difference this model curriculum that we have is critical it is very very important because without it there is very little structure to ethnic studies across the state if we're going to have a discipline that we respect one of the things we learned in developing ethnic studies when i was at san diego state is that in the beginning we were just struggling to survive and then once we had to survive we had to develop some some some disciplines and guidelines that helped to develop the curriculum so that students could go from campus to campus or swim from university university and discover that that they have the core knowledge and the basic knowledge to basically survive in ethnic studies this will give
040us the parameters of a discipline and it will help the the instructors to know exactly what they need to be working on what the outcome should be and how they can basically extract uh this discuss this session it's interesting that this cr this criticism will continue i can guarantee you that that it will continue that the robust conversation will continue to go on it has in ethnic studies after over 50 years we still have these robust conversations about what is in the discipline what is not in the discipline what's appropriate kind of material to use and we will find that robust discussion uh it will continue but most importantly we must understand that we must take this first step the curriculum is not a static thing that doesn't grow that doesn't expand but you have
041to take the first step and we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good that we will not find the perfect curriculum but we have found a good curriculum one that is strong we have found some uh course outlines that will give us the kind of focus that we need and we have to move forward it is about time it is about time that we finally take that step we took the step at the cal state university and this coming falls all students will be required to take at least three units of ethnic studies a required advent at the csu that's a half a million students at california state university will be exposed to ethnic studies they then should lay the foundation for our teachers and the training of our teachers so that
042they then too can begin to have the kind of support and resource resources they need to be excellent at educators in our k-12 system so i'm honored to be here with today i strongly urge you to move forward with this a proposal that we do not dilly dally and wait for any more because we have done the work you have done the work you have basically developed a strong curriculum and it is time for california to move forward with this curriculum on behalf of our students and those professionals who have invested in this as i said there will always be an opportunity for criticism there will always be an opportunity for expansion uh nothing is perfect but we must move forward to make sure that this moves forward with us and that we will at
043some point hopefully this year arrive at an understanding that ethnic studies is not only recommended but ethnic studies will be required thank you very much thank you secretary of state weber your story is a powerful testimony to the importance of ethnic studies when you talk about your father coming to california to avoid uh the racist acts of the ku klux klan and others your journey to become a legislator and secretary of state uh you know the powerful stories you share with our students as part of our black history month and ethnic studies series we're grateful as you have said as dolores huerta has said it is time thank you secretary of state weber thank you next i'd like to introduce assemblymember james ramos assemblymember ramos is the first person of native american descent to serve
044in the california legislature assemblyman ramos has worked on many important pieces of legislation but he has made at the forefront of his tenure of how we create a stronger and robust native american studies curriculum in california he has contributed to this particular curriculum draft he has served in our conversations with students in our mini-series on ethnic studies and he is continuing to work with us in the state on how we change the narrative about what we teach california students about native american studies and native american people so it is correct and accurate and does no harm to our people he's one of our newest members to the iqc it's a pleasure to introduce assemblymember james rommels thank you mr superintendent for that introduction i just want to start with acknowledging california's first people who have
045been in california since time immemorial and all of the ancestors that have come before me so that we could have this voice to speak on their behalf this model curriculum ethnic studies is something that's needed for the first step to start to educate the state of california on all the different culture and diversity that's here in the state of california when we talk about the mission systems when the spanish missionary period came yet we don't have a sound uh document talking about the atrocities genocide that was inflicted upon the california indian people when the state of california has the largest number of tribes when the spanish missionaries started their incursion here we have to make sure that those voices are not forgotten about and this ethnic study starts to pave the way to enjoy that
046that relationship and to that advocacy to make sure that awareness is coming out also when we talk about atrocities atrocities in the history of the state of california we cannot talk about the history of the state of california unless we're going to be able to talk about the atrocities and genocide that took place against california's first people for my own tribe in 1866 a militia was formed and paid by the state legislature to go into the san bernardino mountains to rid the mountains of all indian people and my clan the johann clan was one that was pushed to almost extermination our clan dwindled down to less than 30 members but we're still here it's those types of stories those types of history that needs to be told throughout the state of california this certainly happened
047in the san bernardino mountains but it also happened throughout the state of california where many tribes have those same stories to share with educating the state of california we also know that tribal governments many times outdate many governments here in the state of california so we also want to look at when we start to move forward in the governmental scheme when we learn about the federal government state government local government that we're also learning about tribal governments and the sovereignty that they have and why this is important i had i was able to sit on the state board of education i was appointed by governor brown in and there still is some some members on there that we sat with for that period of time but myself and jim schwanden and the board that's there
048he appointed a special uh superintendent to the round valley school district where the native american population in that district was as high as 70 percent yet the graduation rates were not there people weren't even getting into um the high school level they were there at the junior high level so we see that that educational attainment gap is still very real in the state of california particularly to the california indian people and so why this is important because when the governor comes forward and and issues an apology for atrocities and genocide inflicted upon the california people is through education that we start to be aware of what truly happened and then that starts to build that individual to be able to overcome those obstacles because now what we've been saying in indian country is now validated
049throughout the system in education therefore allowing people to achieve their educational dreams these are things that are very much important this is a first step in moving forward and we also do have different pieces of bills and legislation that we're continuing to move forward to reaffirm the standards in the educational system to continue to teach on california's first people of the atrocities and also the contributions that makes the state what it is one of the things that a lot of times people don't know about is the different music and the different stories that are individually to the different tribes in the state of california and one try one song individually talks about how the world was dark and the moon says well i like the way for the people at night and the sun said
050well i like the way for the people during the day and the cottontail rabbit said i'll make a trail for the people at night time that will lead them to water then the jackrabbit the brushed rabbit says well i'll make the way for the people um during the day so they can find nourishment and the water that's there i truly support ethnic studies and this model curriculum as the first step to addressing california's first people and mr superintendent if i can leave you with a traditional kuwa bird song that talks about how the world was dark and names the moon and the sun this is culture from the state of california that we're able now because of this curriculum to start to engage the the students here in the state of california [Music] is thank
051you assemblymember ramos incredible thank you that you would share traditional bird song with us that you would share some of the origin of the music that your advocacy for what we teach about california's first people be accurate and correct and true that it talk about some of the very difficult things that have really not been told truthfully in history but also the important contributions of california's first people we're grateful for your leadership and your friendship thank you again assemblymember ramos thank you we have a number of semi-members on many of them have to be uh in committees and also have to report to the legislative floor we appreciate you staying with us as long as you can but we also recognize that legislative business does call you thank you again assemblymember ramos it's a pleasure
052now uh to introduce uh dr karen korematsu dr koromatsu is the founder and leader of the fred koromatsu institute it's named after her late father the civil rights icon fred korematsu who was detained in an incarceration camp in a japanese incarceration camp who later challenged the orders and it really created a lifetime of work of civil rights and speaking up and speaking out that dr koromatsu has continued to this wonderful institute with a focus on racial equity and racial justice i want to thank dr coramatsu for her personal time and work in challenging us to do more in challenging us to do better to strengthen many parts of the curriculum and in particular many of the sections that speak to the experiences of asian american and pacific islanders in california and in the nation we
053thank you dr koromatsu for always speaking truth to power and speaking about how we need change in this country as it relates to racial justice it is an honor to introduce for some remarks dr karen koromatsu thank you superintendent thurman for that kind introduction good morning president darling hammond and state board of education members i appreciate the opportunity to speak to you this morning i'm a native californian i was born in oakland and attended public schools in the east bay all during that time i experienced racism and prejudice because of my japanese ancestry this occurred year after year especially around the time of the anniversary of pearl harbor on december 7th my classmates would say it was my fault for the bombing of pearl harbor go home go back to where you came from you
054don't belong here and it was it was a very difficult time and i i'd even i kept all that to myself um made excuses not to ride the school bus i just was waiting for the christmas break because usually by by the time school started again the students had forgot forgotten but the problem also was because the teachers did not really have the the education about uh japanese american culture about the different cultures in this country and and so they were not able to uh to change the minds of these students in some ways they perpetuated it by saying oh the japanese were very bad people they came over and killed over 2 000 servicemen um you know in in pearl harbor hawaii and so that was the kind of education that i had and
055uh and and unfortunately um you know it it hasn't changed as that much um and that's why the uh the uh ethnic studies model curriculum is is important it's a starting point it's not an end point and we all need to remember that um you know it uh this is a pivotal moment in our california education history and you know we continue to face not only a global pandemic but also an epidemic of prolonged racial um ethnic and social injustice in our country that's quite obvious you know the anti-black and anti-asian hate violence is on the rise each day i'm reminded the importance of what my father said of standing up for what is right and in honoring my father's legacy fred koromatsu who resisted the incarceration uh during world war ii and fought to
056uphold justice for marginalized groups throughout his life this is not a just a japanese-american story or or a west coast story it's it's an american story and those are the kinds of stories that we want want our students to learn this generation and future generations the fight for justice and racial equity and human rights begins with education there is no more no place more important than the public education classroom for sharing the truths histories and voices of all peoples um you know the work that that we do at the korematsu institute uh is to bridge my father's story with very topics in history including civil rights heroes and movements um of world war ii the constitution global human rights and asian american history and the intersectionality of ethnic studies we make connections to present day
057civil rights discrimination and political scapegoating and as mass and mass incarceration the anti-immigrant sentiment and islamophobia fundamental to our work is how we raise awareness by developing programs to promote civic education and supporting policy and legislation we build partnerships and educate our communities on the importance of broadening the narrative to include historically marginalized groups and we bring people together on issues of race race and social justice ethnic studies promises a higher level of engagement for traditionally marginalized student groups heightened awareness of civic and cultural engagement and a broader acceptance for the experience of others it's been a noble challenge ambitious and certainly not without its detractors still the pro progress has been vigorous including tremendous stakeholder input multiple rounds and revisions and significant debate as we well know also i want to thank superintendent thurman
058and his staff at cde who have really made an effort to be inclusive to show diversity i've been through countless zoom meetings i can tell you in trying to to work especially on the api lesson plans which has been numerous because some people don't realize there are so many different asian ethnicities especially in the state of california and certainly everyone's story wants to be told but even for example for japanese americans i could have said okay we want a lesson plan about fred koromatsu no this is not what ethnic studies is about this is about learning of our our different cultures um the history that we all bring uh to to this to this state into this country so unless we are indigenous um american indians we are immigrants and immigration is an important story
059that we need to tell that we have more shared struggles than we do differences you know we are more alike than not that's what ethnic studies brings uh you know to to our education for for this generation and future generations and as i said this is a this is a starting point not not an endpoint you know there is going to be a repository as i think the uh the board members know um of the the uh four other lesson plans that can be added along the way that you know they certainly have to comply to the uh california state standards which is going to be important but this this is a a framework and uh you know the the the essential part in helping to shape the formation of ideas um and the robust
060content-rich curriculum and experiences of the asia-pacific islanders i am so proud to have been a part of that uh it it hasn't it hasn't been easy and certainly you know i'm even hearing this morning a lot of pushback but i can tell you i am committed to also making sure that this that that this curriculum evolves um you know and and i want to also encourage uh the the uh the board of um education members to be sure that there is a budget in there that will help with teacher development you know it for for ethnic studies teaching ethnic studies is is a is a different um approach to our education and uh it's it's like you know not everyone i can tell you um teachers are gonna be mad at me but um not
061every teacher can write a good lesson plan well not all teachers have the tools to to teach about ethnic studies because there is a diversity that also the the humanity behind ethnic studies is one that we want to promote you know we want to to promote also uh teaching respect i never thought i would get to this age in my life where we would have to teach about respect and moral principles these are kinds of lessons that that we will come out of ethics studies i know we have a long ways to go but you know the path ahead will not be without controversy the struggles against injustice need to be embedded in the lessons that become our common history um i strongly support the ethnic studies model curriculum and i hope that the uh
062board of education will uh vote this through that as as my my as my father said uh stand up for what is right and you know prejudice is is ignorance and the most powerful weapon that we have is education we have an opportunity and now is the time to take action thank you thank you dr kuromatsu for your wonderful remarks for your leadership for all of the zoom meetings you are correct it was extensive but you helped us to connect with other leaders who had stories to share and thank you for stewarding many of the conversations that allowed us to really broaden and strengthen the asian american and pacific islander content and as you said any curriculum must evolve and it will continue to evolve and there are proposed there are proposed resources in the
063proposed state budget that would do as you say support teacher development we all know that these are difficult topics sometimes to unpack and it really requires training and support to be able to facilitate that so thank you again for your leadership and your commitment to the ongoing evolution of this process thank you very much good morning everyone good morning i'm dr darling hamming and i'm state board members i'm dr dan lee the deputy superintendent of equity i'm here to introduce our next speaker which is dr olympia asante he is the professor and chair of the department of african american studies at temple university he's a leading expert in african-american african studies and also african-american studies he's published over i think 77 books and probably still counting at least 500 articles um and he's the president
064of the millefe asante institute and i would like to say frank so dr asante support george [Music] thank you very much dr lee and i want to say to a madam president darling hammond and to superintendent thurman i am very delighted and happy to be here and i give praises first to the ancestors of the first nations people uh our our meeting today has been so powerful already i've learned so much from so many of the outstanding speakers and i've been inspired already over again with the powerful presentations and there's a confluence for me with this this meeting and that is that secretary of education superintendent of education thurman and also the secretary of state shirley weber both have crossed my path as students either at ucla or at tilbury university and i have heard
065quoted one of my recent students ibrahim kindy who wrote the book how to be an anti-racist so i'm i'm feeling quite happy today with this discussion and with the discourse that has gone on around uh this whole question of ethnic studies and and i do give a lot of credit to shanine coats and others on the panel who have been really profoundly uh focus on ensuring that we get this right california is a leader and california will be a leader in the nation uh i am familiar with many uh parts of this country and and of course i traveled the world but in my judgment there is no place on the earth more significant for ethnic studies to create the model for the rest of the world in california and you have done it already
066with what you have achieved this achievement it will go down in history as a historic moment where we have taken into consideration a number of things and i think that if we understand what we have done we will see that we can advance it and many people have said that the ethnic studies curriculum is not static and that is true but the nation is not static it's the dynamic uh america today the united states of america today is not what it was a hundred years ago or 200 years ago and it will not be the same 100 years from now the the nation is dynamic but the nation was born with a number of strats against the proper understanding of culture and ethnicity and relationships it was born with the genocide of the native peoples
067uh it was born with the enslavement of the africans the dispossession of the mexicans and the mistreatment of women it was born it was later developed with the exclusion acts against asian people and the incarceration of japanese people i went to school with at ucla in the 1960s had come out of the concentration camps so i understand that uh what we have done in california and particularly uh as we have developed these uh these uh this curriculum uh what we have done is something that is unique in this country but has to become the model for everyone else it cannot remain the same and here's the problem i mean we we recognize that a number of people have spoken to it today the the problem in the american society and we know this from the
068killing of the eight people and the six asian women in georgia is that there still remains among many of our citizens in this country this racial ladder this perception of other people as less than and this means that the ethnic studies curriculum is not just for those of us from particular uh ethnicities but it is also uh it has to be enlarged to to to take into consideration many of the white citizens in this country who have no understanding of the notion of humanity because basically and one of the reasons i've always thought that interconnectivity was a better word at least for me than intersectionality is because one of the things that we have to understand there's only one race in the world that's a human race if you know that there's only one racist
069human race i don't care who comes to me or who do who i meet i see that person as a human being and if you see that person as a human being then there is no racial ladder with hierarchy and patriarchy these are the things that create this need for people to talk about intersectionality but if you talk about humans there's a whole different thing and you can talk about culture because culture is different but to talk about racial ladders and uh the perception of that the police for example we often say the police uh often they have a perception that african-american males will bring trouble where do they get their perception from who who created that perception who created the notion that white people were superior to other people african people didn't create that
070who created the idea that african people were lazy which is of course you know no true no truer or false than any than any other group of people why would you create that who created that and who acts on the basis of those hierarchies that's what we have to get rid of the rank the racial ranking if we can get rid of the racial ranking and we get through that with this we get with this with the ethnic studies curriculum we are approaching that that's why many speakers have said it's an initiative it's a it's a first step because the ultimate step is to get to the point where people see that and they won't see it unless we keep training and teaching that yes you're not alone in the world you don't exist in
071the society by yourself i was talking to a group of students yet last week and i was telling them we talk about the gps system and everybody looks to figure out how do i get from here to there and i said you don't know you don't realize that gladys west who who invented that system was an african-american woman because we don't we don't we only think in terms of the perceptions that have been given to us and so i was very happy and pleased to have worked with the african-american content area and we have a very robust area um i mean when you start thinking about uh this history more than a hundred different african ethnic groups were brought to this country the african-american community is in many ways the quintessential american community because we
072have we have people uh from many of the if you look at people from the african-american community you have many different african groups that have come together africa is not a country it's a continent and there there are over 3 000 languages spoken on that continent and over a hundred of them came with those languages and ethnicities were brought to america and during the slave trade millions of people crossing the atlantic and then forming a community and creating a language and creating music out of that experience it's a very profound experience and when you think about it in the african-american community we have we have people who who represent almost all of the ethnicities in the country because in the african-american community there are you we don't talk about purity of the ethnicity we don't
073talk about where you can only because in all of our families in my family i'm thinking particularly of my family i have people from many several ethnic communities or in my family they're african-americans we accept african-americans that way that's that's the future the future of america is that we see people as humans and we accept people as humans and when we do that we will be profoundly rewarded with a community that is the model for the rest of the world california i am so happy that i went to ucla i'm so happy that my wife was was grew up in pasadena i'm just so proud to know a superintendent of and secretary weber because uh and all the people that i have met and known about uh certainly dr kuros matsu's family i know very
074well i'm so happy to just be with all of you and appreciate it very much and uh and give honor to all the ancestors of assemblyman ramos take care thank you thank you dr asante i don't dare say anything after that just to let that land but would take a moment of just thanks with all of your writing and all of your teaching that you would help us to fine-tune and strengthen this draft in particular the stories of the african-american experience we are grateful and just a moment of personal pride to be a graduate of temple university i also want to acknowledge that our distinguished board president dr linda darling hammond is also a member of the temple university family and dr daniel lee and just want you to know that temple owls are everywhere
075thank you dr asante good morning board president darling hammond uh superintendent thurman and state board members i'm dan thickpen deputy superintendent for communications at the california department of education as we've heard here today and in many instances from many of our powerful speakers and we're hearing about the power of the classroom and of ethnic studies to help advance equity and justice for all students uh and to amplify the voices that have often been ignored in public education and as we've seen throughout uh this past year we know that there are multiple lanes for education to have the power to end fate and hate in all forms and bigotry and bias against so many communities our aapi communities we saw tragically earlier this week anti-black violence our lgbtq communities and our state superintendent has worked hard
076to engage all stakeholders and educators in areas where we can leverage and create paths in the classroom to help end hate of all forms we've seen rising incidents of anti-semitism and other forms of hate and i'd like to introduce now uh to talk a little bit about that uh tyler gregory he's the executive director of the jewish community relations council thank you so much and uh thank you to superintendent thurman and the cde staff members of the sve the governor and his team and our friends in the legislature like senator allen and assembly members gabriel chu and medina for your friendship with the california jewish community throughout this process i'm the descendant of holocaust survivors and it's my duty to ensure that this state and this country remain safe for the jewish community we come
077together just two months after a capital insurrection that saw sweatshirts emblazoned with six million is not enough in just two years after synagogue shootings in pittsburgh and poway near san diego which is my hometown and the chilling chant heard in charlottesville of jews will not replace us still echo in all of our ears so while anti-semitism extends far beyond america's borders and history it is also quite often a symptom of other sicknesses in our country like declining faith in our democracy like white supremacy like hyper polarization and division with this in mind we must walk and chew gum at the same time combat anti-semitism wherever it appears while working with our neighbors to chip away at the deep rot beneath other forms of oppression like racism sexism xenophobia islamophobia homophobia and transphobia so as our
078asian pacific islander neighbors reel from tuesday's tragic atlanta shooting as our african-american neighbors call for a national reckoning after the murders of george floyd brianna taylor and so many others worth naming as our latino neighbors are targeted and scapegoated by xenophobes and as the stories and lands of indigenous peoples are erased we recognize that the systemic injustices facing our neighboring communities of color and jews of color often stem from the same root causes of rising anti-semitism in our country education is an essential strategy in combating these injustices to that end i say that we need ethnic studies now ethnic studies gives marginalized communities the agency to define and share their own cultures stories histories and traditions as jewish americans we relate to this urgent need for too long in our classrooms and i know from
079my own experiences in san diego public schools jewish identity has been flattened and distorted to that of a white religious minority taking little note of our global peoplehood history diversity and oppression not to mention erasing jews of color and jews in the middle east and north africa almost entirely we appreciate for example that holocaust education appears in social studies courses but education about jews must be so much more than what has happened to us for consideration today are the inclusions of two jewish lesson plans that obliterate the notion that jews are a monolithic group and to lift up segments of our community that have too often gone invisible our crucial inclusion presents our own chance to impart the richness of our people so that future generations hear the dog whistles of anti-semitism and other form
080of oppression the two often fall on deaf ears the department of education has devised a curriculum that honors the four founding disciplines of ethnic studies and lifts up four additional communities with the deep history and commitment to our state with the inner ethnic bridge building section for jewish americans arab americans armenian americans and sikh americans we know that we cannot rest after today's deliberations my organization the jewish community relations council and our jewish community partners will work tirelessly in partnership with the cde and school districts across our state to ensure this curriculum is used inclusively in our classrooms to elevate the stories and experiences of people of color and ensure the teaching of jewish and other lessons in the inter-ethnic bridge building section thank you for having me good morning again my name is dr
081daniel lee i'm the deputy superintendent of equity with the california department of education and i'm here to introduce our next speaker our next speaker is maha l gennady she's the founder and chief innovator chief innovation officer of the islamic network group um she has offered authored handbooks on outreach to muslim american communities and also trainings um on cultural competency with muslim and arab americans um you may also know or remember her from our ed and hate webinar series where she presented on strategies to combat islamophobia but i want to also elevate one award today that she received and she received many of them but the one that stood out for me today um was she was presented with the civil rights leadership award from the california association of human relations organizations so um we're honored
082to have you and the poor is yours um miss elgin thank you so much dr lee i really appreciate it um the wonderful introduction and i'm so honored to be among the group of uh speakers that i heard and uh i was in tears throughout listening to all of you um let me begin by saying good morning um and also by thanking um state superintendent thurman for the invitation to speak with you all today i am thrilled that finally based on ab 2016 that we're seeing the first version of the ethnic studies model curriculum being voted on today this comes after years of input by community groups of which some continue to seek additional changes and i expect that the process will never be complete based on the because the subject matter of ethnic studies
083is both deeply personal and directly impactful to marginalized groups as we've all heard speaking as an arab american and a muslim american i grew up in the 70s and 80s at a time when arabs were taught about not in the context of the rich history of arab americans but rather in the context of american foreign and domestic policy interests so in the 70s arabs were framed in the context of the oil embargo by the saudis and the october war between egypt syria and israel where arabs in both cases were portrayed as enemies of the state working against the interests of the united states which was and continues of course to be interested in oil that image of the arab as enemy continued to get worse and conflated with islam and muslims after every major conflict
084in the middle east where the u.s was involved from u.s involvement in iran not an arab country by the way which led to the hostage crisis in 1979 to our military involvement in lebanon in the early 80s to the first persian gulf war in the early 90s our invasion of iraq in the early 2000s followed by the ncr's special registration program here in the united states for people uh of the middle east the war against isis in iraq and so forth where it got to the point that in the presidential elections in 2016 as many of you will recall the candidates were literally competing with each other on who disparaged muslims the most all of which continue to reinforce a completely distorted representation of muslims slash arabs today both completely different communities uh by the
085way and these misrepresentations of course didn't begin in my lifetime they began as early as the crusades and really take concrete form during the colonial period and become incorporated in the creation of whiteness in the united states so distorted narratives about arabs and muslims who are now racialized as non-whites have a very long history in the united states so as an arab as a female in hijab like myself who is muslim and not white experiences the cumulative effects of multiple forms of discrimination which for our children in schools is especially critical and of course for educators much of this requires knowledge and lesson plans as has been pointed out and that are you know part of which are included in um in the in the model curriculum and so this is the kind of material
086that makes ethnic studies so important and so relevant it's not just about marginalized groups it's really about understanding america from the perspective of the american people therefore the california government attempting to do this is quite remarkable if you think about it and not without its challenges as we've all experienced and so this current ethnic studies model curriculum is a very good start for the government and a work in progress and it will be one of many useful documents that will be made available by the state including documents by community groups that will guide teachers in their teaching of ethnic studies in the classroom organ our organization islamic networks group is one of these community groups offering material for educators we were very happy to contribute to uh cde lesson plans relating to islamophobia and its
087relationship to other forms of bigotry in fact two of our lesson plans were incorporated in the model curriculum uh specifically on dominant narratives you can find the rest of our anti-racism lesson plans on our website at ing.org we were also very happy to join the cde's education to end hate as dr lee pointed out by conducting a webinar on islamaphobia which provided educators with tangible teaching tools and again at our website at ing.org we have dozens of other lesson plans relating to muslims in the context of religious and cultural pluralism and we also provide educators with panels of live speakers and presenters on dozens of related topics where we go out with uh you know with with jews christians buddhists hindus and people of various ethnic backgrounds to give these presentations finally i want to
088end with my very sincere gratitude to state superintendent thurman and his entire team for working uh so hard and for being great allies to work with um i know how hard they've worked because i was there with them and the pressure that they were under in pulling it all together i encourage the board to approve this version of the model uh curriculum as i do community groups to continue working with the cde and each other on this incredibly important project of ethnic studies for the sake of our children thank you buenos dias madam president darling hammond superintendent thurman and board members my name is jenny carrion and i am the deputy superintendent of strategic planning and special projects i arrived to this country in third grade from juarez chihuahua to east los angeles and i
089remember very vividly my ancestors history and contributions never being taught in any of my classrooms so today i'm very excited that i get to introduce one of my favorite authors he was once an lausd student and went on to be a member of stanford university's history department dr albert camarillo is a founding scholar of the field of mexican american history and chicano studies he was also instrumental with the atlantic studies portion of this curriculum and we are fortunate that his invaluable knowledge on why diversity matters will now be taught in classrooms across the state not just in universities dr camarillo thank you miss and thank you to superintendent thurman uh good morning to to all board members uh i'm going to share a few comments with you about the ethics studies model curriculum and i
090followed this the path of this both curricular project and political project for many years and most recently was invited by superintendent thurman and his staff to review parts of the document especially the sections on the approaches to latino latino studies and comparative studies in race and ethnicity i recently reviewed the the document with the edited uh edits by the instructional quality commission and i strongly endorse strongly endorse the revised and edited document and this document i know you are aware of this reflects a huge commitment of time and energy and expertise by so many thoughtful educators and others to develop an outcome that is both substantive and informative now this ethnic studies model curriculum is an important reference guide for for teachers for school administrators for staff and others now as shanine mentioned in her
091opening comments it is not a blueprint per se for the incorporation and implementation of ethnic studies curriculum but it is a critically important road map and guidepost that is greatly needed in public education others have spoke to this and appropriately so the lessons of the past and the realities of the present day tell us that the time is now it is now to adopt this ethnic studies model curriculum and as one of the founding historians of chicano studies and latino studies it gives me enormous pride to see that our state california is on the threshold of including an ethnic studies curriculum for and i want to underscore all teachers underscore all students now i've seen firsthand the impact of a culturally relevant culturally sustaining curriculum over the last dozen years i helped i worked with
092with history and social science high school teachers in two charter schools in the san francisco bay area first with the east palo alto academy and more recently with the luis valdez leadership academy in east san jose to implement a curriculum required of all ninth graders in chicano studies mexican american studies i have seen firsthand in working with the teachers and working with the students the transformative nature the motivation that is gained by students engaging with ethnic studies and of course at stanford for the last 45 years i've taught ethnic studies resource related courses i've seen there too that all students benefit tremendously from a foundation of knowledge about diversity in our society and that's why i think it is so fundamentally important at this moment at this time at this moment of racial reckoning once
093again in our society that we move forward in a creative and innovative way to bring this curriculum to our students and i will tell you up front i've been working and superintendent thurman and staff know this as well i've been working based upon the implementation of that pilot project in charter schools and ethnic studies to move forward with the online comprehensive comparative studies and race of method and ethnicity curriculum for all california teachers and all california students so that in one in one stop on on the internet they can go to in the next few years a comprehensive online curriculum that will make ethnic studies so available to all so i thank you again for the chance to meet with you this morning even if only for a few minutes good luck with your important
094work during this unprecedented period good morning state board members thank you for allowing me to be here today my name is mary nicely and i'm a senior policy advisor to the superintendent as a burmese american i am so proud to have been able to work with the api community to bring the community's voice into the esmc thank you dr koromatsu for all of your guidance and the api school board members association right now i have the honor to introduce on away a champion of the pacific islander community over a decade ago manufa founded camp unity in daly city to have a summer camp where pacific islander polynesian youth could learn about their heritage and feel seen in her in a community that saw them as others manufa is a trustee with the jefferson elementary school
095district in san mateo county and co-chairs the superintendent's closing opportunity gap initiative thank you for your support in convening pacific islander educators and stakeholders for input and bringing the pacific islander voice to the esmc welcome trustee greetings everyone talofa and saya manuea i too would like to pay respect to our first station and i'm deeply um honored to be able to share this space with everyone on this meeting i'm i'm really emotional i i say to myself who am i who am i to share this time to be able to offer and lend my voice with such esteemed leaders in this work i say that i am ethnic studies that is who i am that is who i am in my community that is the voice that i will continue to lend in this work
096i want to extend my gratitude to the honorable members of the board of education to the iqc and especially to state superintendent my brother tony thurman for ensuring that the pacific islander community had the opportunity to revisit the initial draft when we saw that we didn't feel that it was a reflection of our community he allowed us to go in together it was important to him to ensure that this was an inclusive conversation and for me ethnic studies is just an opportunity for us to formalize ethnic studies outside of the classrooms because this continues to happen we've seen all of the teachings happen in our homes in our neighborhoods what ethnic studies allows us to do is to bring it into our learning circles so my ask was to come to you today to share
097some of the successes that we have had in our pacific islander community in building into this model curriculum but also to share what we continue to do and our task to do as community members and as community leaders as a pacific islander woman being elected as a board trustee in a school district six years ago it is a rarity that is ethnic studies to know that the first samoan american board trustee and public official was elected right here in california and still serves in san rafael as a product of public education as someone who went to uc berkeley who was allowed to play nfl a dream that many pacific islander young men aspire to and come back to his community in marin county san rafael and say i want to serve how can i do
098that i'm going to do that and secure a seat in education he has served there for over 20 years but what his story has allowed for me and many other pacific islanders it has allowed for five other pacific islanders to run for similar seats in our communities and be successful at serving in those roles that is ethnic studies today we are having a conversation of an opportunity and the urgency that we must embrace to support this model curriculum but i would be remissed if i didn't share the stories of the contributors from my community that allowed for many of these things to happen and will continue to be able to contribute to this ever evolving work as a team member of the institute of human and social development we have served our early learning communities
099for over 35 years in san mateo county and we are the only head start provider in this region it's amazing to see our young pre-k learners receiving doses of pacific islander culture in our classrooms and having educators that look like them along with many of other ethnic communities that are reflective of our student population additionally i love that our school district which is an elementary k-8 school district embraced ethnic studies early on and we are not waiting for our students to get to high school we are introducing ethnic studies curriculum in the fall in san mateo county we have big lift which supports literacy and continues to work towards closing the academic and achievement gap by ensuring our students become successful and confident readers by the end of the third grade this platform provides opportunities
100to immerse our students in pacific literature and i'm particularly proud of our pacific islander investors from educators to community leaders to parents and to allies who took on the task to build out this curriculum from our oceanic community we have been able to contribute and add nuggets of wisdom that are authentic to our outlook and our history i must mention our pacific islander pathways are in place because of organizations such as tofa inc who serve the greater sacramento sacramento area and we have to make note to san francisco unified school district under the leadership of commissioner molina who have built out the matua advisory council and the assam war initiative which is the first in the nation they have provided a template for many of us to embrace and follow pacific islander community built camp
101unity 10 years ago as shared by mary nicely we are at the forefront of building this initiative and ensuring that allies that need to be recognized are continued partners in this work samoan solutions and more recently pi fest which is a new initiative of pacific islanders encouraging fun engineering science and technology with a twist of pacific islander culture and history that has been birthed right here in the home of genentech in south san francisco california the pipeline has been built by our pacific oceanic community aaa degree is now offered in pacific islander studies at the city college of san francisco the first in the nation that pipeline has been extended to the san francisco state university and our partners at uc berkeley as well as de anza and college of san mateo are just a
102few who have embraced this work we did not wait for this initiative but we embrace it open arms and i want to close out with my deep gratitude i am a mother of a special needs child and i ran for office to make sure that she was seen and when she saw camp unity identify with who she was and that we were able to share this in our local school districts something something went off in her she had her aha moment camp unity does not just serve pacific islander students and i have to share this 65 of our participants are either mixed race or non-pacific islander they have stayed with us since the inception of the program to this very day because them and their families understand the meaning of embracing and respecting other cultures
103and other histories because what it does it expands their cultural antenna and their human dignity and love for others so i want to close out with a wonderful quote that represents my people in my community from professor ebeli we should not be defined by the smallness of our islands but in the greatness of our oceans we are the sea we are the ocean oceana is us we are ethnic studies so today i stand with all of you and urge and encourage you to support and vote yes on the current model ethnic studies curriculum thank you for this time again i appreciate the opportunity that has been extended to me to share my voice and the voice of my people fafetai soy fua maiama thank you so much for your wonderful words for that beautiful quote
104for your advocacy in the community and early education and supporting youth development and your leadership in the pacific islander community and for all the time you took to work with us bringing leaders together from the pacific islander community to to fine-tune and improve the lesson plans to make sure they're reflective and culturally competent and an important addition and a wonderful addition to this draft thank you for your leadership i thank you dr camarillo for your words and your work i thank you dr eli gennady for your leadership and your work and your help with the lesson plans thank you mr gregory and again dr asante to the members of the board madam president and members of the board this concludes our um presentation um uh i just have to say i hope it was for
105you as it was for me it was a very emotional moment and a powerful moment you heard not all the voices that have been a part of this but you heard from many of the voices who have been helping us steer and continue to amplify the importance of ethnic studies and to continue to build that robust content for our students and educators to have access to i'm grateful to all of our speakers as has been said this is an involving process and um we look forward to the next step of the journey and so with that we conclude this part of the presentation i'll turn it back to director coats who will take us further from here and of course one final thanks to director coats and to dr gregson i think these are two
106people who have lived this curriculum draft since its inception they probably know every section of it can cite any reference of it we're grateful for them and all the staff who've worked on it back to you director coats and back to the state board thank you thank you so much i'm overwhelmed uh really by the community that is that is here today so right now we're going to transition to the next portion of the presentation which is the presentation of the ethnic studies model curriculum and the recommendations by the instructional quality commission so if you just give me one moment okay i'm joined by commissioners and will be additionally introducing them as well so the recommendation for the day is on the screen the california department of education recommends that the state board of education
107adopt the ethnic studies model curriculum with line edits described in attachment to as well as additional recommend recommendations as outlined on slide 55 of this presentation the cde also recommends that the state board of education authorize cde staff pending approval of the state board of education executive director to prepare revisions requested by the state board of education and correct any typographical errors and non-substantive clarifying edits the state board of education item before you contains attachment 1 which is a summary table of public comments attachment 2 which summarizes the cde recommended edits to the third field review draft which was recommended by the instructional quality commission and the item also contains a link to the draft recommended by the iqc as well as a link to the draft as it would appear if the state board
108of education chose to accept the cde recommended edits to the third field review draft so as you know the instructional quality commission is one of five of the state board of education's advisory boards this 18 member board is responsible for advising the state board of education on matters related to curriculum and instruction its members are appointed by various parties including the state board of education the governor the speaker of the assembly and the senate rules committee it also includes a state senator and a state assembly member and the state board has also elected to include a student member this advisory body represents a diverse cross-section of california geographically ethnically and a wide range of expertise specific to california curriculum and instruction matters curriculum and instruction projects after receiving the advice of some specific subject matter
109committees such as the model curriculum advisor advisory committee or for example when we work on frameworks the curriculum frameworks and evaluation criteria committees are provided to the instructional quality commission for further development and to ensure consistency with the state board of education guidelines and to be responsive to the needs of california students presenting alongside with me are three commissioners from the instructional quality commission david pantai iqc member member of the history social science committee is a high school english teacher of 18 years and works with diverse urban use in various capacities in sacramento he is a proud product of public education and believes the classroom should be a safe comfortable and welcoming environment for all students additionally iqc co-chair dr costa hernandez is currently serving as the executive director of the california reading and literature
110project part of the network of nine california subject matter projects dr costa hernandez is an experienced educator with 30 years of leadership experience at the classroom school district and state level through her career she has been an advocate for underserved students and their families and the iqc chair dr manuel rustin who also served as chair of the history social science committee last year during the project's development and is a proud believer in the promise of public education dr rustin has spent all 16 plus years of his career teaching marginalized populist populations and underserved high schools he currently teaches united states history american government economics and a hip-hop studies course infusing ethnic studies studies teaching all the while he is a proud member of the ed trust west's educator advisory council and earned his doctorate in
111educational leadership at ucla he is also a recipient of prestigious awards such as the milken educator award by the milken family foundation and the ruby mcknight educator award by the pasadena naacp today we will present the model curriculum in its four phases of development those phases include phase one from statute to the development of the first draft phase two from the first public comment period to the posting of the second field review draft phase three from the second public comment period to the posting of the third field review draft and phase four from the third field review public comment period to our final recommendations today at this time i'll turn it over to commissioner pantai to lead us into the discussion of the first phase of development thank you director coats i'm honored and excited
112to be here ab2016 was enacted on january 1st 2017 as educational code 51226.7 which requires the instructional quality commission to develop and the sbe to adopt modify or revise a model curriculum in ethnic studies the statute also requires that the model curriculum be written as a guide to allow school districts to adapt their courses to reflect the pupil demographics in their communities the statute also requires that the model curriculum is written as a guide to allow school districts to adapt their courses to reflect the people of demographics in their communities it requires that the model curriculum includes examples of courses offered by local agencies that have been approved as meeting the a through g requirements of uc and csu including the course outlines to the extent possible it was also the legislature's intent that leas
113submit courses uh course outlines to the uc csu a through g system so that the database could continue to be built the original statute required action by march 2020 uh it was um but we we actually received an a one year extension of that time that we will discuss a bit later but the statute required a minimum of 45 days of public comment period before the state board approval as you know the iqc has held three public comment periods and have accepted public comment throughout a vast number of people and organizations have contributed to shaping and forming this project the project has received over one hundred thousand public comments in our frameworks the most we've received has been twenty thousand this is a reflective of the level of engagement by a broad body of stakeholders
114and the desire and need to continue to address ethnic studies in california i'll hand it over to commissioner rustin who will walk us through some additional key points and framing thank you commissioner pantai and good morning everybody it's a true honor to be here in your presence i've been an admirer of your work in education as individuals and as a collective for quite some time so i'm really happy and really honored to be here with you this morning now when the legislature enacted ab2016 they found and declared in part that there are 92 languages other than english spoken throughout the state of california there's a growing body of research that shows the importance of culturally meaningful and relevant curriculum they cited the national education association's publication the academic and social value of ethnic studies which
115stated that the inclusion of ethnic studies has positive impacts for students they also declare that ethnic studies benefit students in observable ways boosting academic engagement increasing performance on standardized tests improving graduation rates and developing a sense of self-eff efficacy and personal empowerment they acknowledge that the state's educational standards should be guided by core values of equity inclusiveness and universally high expectations and that the state is committed to its efforts to provide all students with excellent educational opportunities including its obligation to ensure its youth are college prepared and ready for college prepared and ready to be global citizens within appreciation for the contributions of multiple cultures now as a teacher who has incorporated ethnic studies myself i've seen students engaged to a whole new level academically when using ethnic studies as our guide for example students
116who i've had who have really struggled with in-class presentations when we did a youth participatory action research project and presented at a youth summit at a local university uh the same students that that really struggled with a basic in-class presentation really came alive when presenting their own research when treated as intellectuals which is what ethnic studies of course does um does with our students or for our students now we can see here that there are many districts that are teaching ethnic studies already and some have it as a graduation requirement based on the figures presented on this slide we can see that statewide student enrollment in ethics studies courses has steadily increased over the last four years this is a good indication that there is growing interest as well as a growing body of ethnic
117studies courses across the state according to dataquest when we compare enrollment from 2015 to we see enrollment and ethics studies courses increased by around 60 percent there was a 12 increase in enrollment between the 2017-18 school year and the 2018-19 school year alone now before we begin to talk more in depth about the model curriculum it's important to give a clear look at the various other tools that california utilizes to discuss history now in california we have a landscape for curriculum and instruction there are three main components the standards the frameworks and instructional materials the standards are essentially the what for students and teachers and they provide the language of student expectations for each grade or proficiency or proficiency level as well as where we want students to be at the end of the school
118year end of their school career i'm sorry uh standards come about as the result of legislation a content specific advisory committee comes together to develop standards and they then turn their work over to the iqc for further development once standards are approved by the state board a content specific group of educators draft the frameworks frameworks are essentially the how they serve as guidance documents to help educators implement the standards a content specific advisory committee for frameworks recommends its draft to the iqc and their work concludes the iqc then further develops the draft including being responsive to public comment now once the state board of education approves a framework publishers participate in the k-8 instructional materials adoptions instructional materials are a tool to help teachers provide standards aligned instruction now model curricula are supplemental to this
119established core area of curriculum and instruction including the history social science framework now speaking of that framework in california instruction in history social science is guided by the content standards and the 2016 history social science framework the 2016 framework emphasizes four major shifts in instruction one is discipline specific inquiry the framework encourages teachers to organize their instruction around questions of significance for students to explore and after analyzing uh relevant evidence developing their own interpretations the frameworks also include expanded content although california history social science standards haven't changed the framework adds content on a variety of different topics including for example to incorporate the latest historiography like a more connected and less regional approach to world history their framework also emphasizes student literacy the disciplinary demands of history geography economics and government align with the literacy
120literacy expectations outlined in the common core and california's english language development standards and the 2016 framework offers strategies to integrate content and literacy instruction the framework as well includes citizenship although previous iterations of the frameworks also included significant attention to developing student understanding of our democratic system of governance the 2016 version extends that work by offering concrete examples of how schools may not only teach our students how our government works but it also goes one step further to support student participation in civic discourse and to promote public service with this framework students in my u.s history class for example learn about major events of the 20th century we recently complete completed our study of the 1920s and the framework includes the question why were the 1920s filled with political social and economic extremes and we
121explored this through a variety of investigations using documents ranging from newspaper clippings from the 20s to contemporary research about chicana flappers in the 20s to poems and music written in the 20s so that sort of encapsulates encapsulates how we use inquiry and literacy to explore the past this model curriculum which we're talking about today is anchored to the history social science framework and serves as a baseline to model the state board guidelines which includes the emphasis on student-based inquiry consistent with the instructional shifts in the history social science frameworks and promote the values of civic engagement and civic responsibility if used to its fullest capacity the model curriculum will be but a fraction of the ensuing rich dialogue and pro programmatic experiences provided by districts in partnership with their local communities to continue and in
122some places begin the journey of affirming seeing and giving voice to the diversity of california so to be clear a model curriculum is a guidance document that provides support to teachers and administrators in developing courses and or instructional content in a specific topic area it does not impose a mandate on schools and it is not a complete curriculum or or set of instructional materials is intended to be a resource and it is to be used in tandem with the history social science frameworks and ela frameworks and other tools available to the local educational agency so the model curriculum cites the 2016 state board of education adopted history social science frameworks for public schools kindergarten through grade 12 which defines ethnic studies as follows ethnic studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that encompasses many subject
123areas including history literature economics sociology anthropology and political science it emerged to both address content considered missing from traditional curriculum and to encourage critical engagement it goes on to say that as a field ethnic studies seeks to empower all students to engage socially and politically and to think critically about the world around them it is important for ethnic studies courses to develop to document the experiences of people of color in order for students to construct counter narratives and develop a more complex understanding of the human experience through these studies students should develop respect for cultural diversity and see the advantages of inclusion because of the interdisciplinary nature of this field ethnic studies courses may take several forms however central to any ethnic studies course is a historic struggle of communities of color taking into account
124the intersectionality of identity gender class sexuality among others to challenge racism discrimination and oppression and interrogate the systems that continue to perpetuate in equity and again that's from the 2016 framework so this slide provides a high level overview of the process for developing the model curriculum and we will continue to address each of these steps as we walk through the four phases of the project and here we see that phase one some key milestones in phase one of the development of the model curriculum which include the public input webinar the appointment of the model curriculum advisory committee members and approval of the state board of education guidelines all the way through to the development and posting of the first draft for public comment in january 9 2018 the cde held a public input webinar this
125was open to participation by anyone and and posted on the cbe website 74 scholars teachers and interested parties attended including various ethnic studies experts throughout the field and the purpose of the webinar was to receive input from ethnic studies educators statewide on the development of an ethnic studies model curriculum four questions were asked of the participants one what kind of course outline should be included in the model curriculum two what are the essential components of effective ethnic studies pedagogy three what are some of the current challenges educators are encountering while teaching ethnic studies and four how can the model curriculum best support districts administrators and teachers that offer or consider offering ethnic studies courses at their schools and participants attested to the efficacy and success of concept or thematic approaches to ethnic studies they expressed
126that course outlines should be grounded in challenging systems of oppression they expressed that validating and creating room for lived experiences was essential to teaching ethnic studies they tied this discussion to socio-emotional development and pedagogy a need for ethnic studies to be seen as engaging multiple disciplines and then from there the guidelines were developed based on feedback received not only during the public webinar but also the requirements and the authorizing statute and the public comment and they were considered by the instructional quality commission at its may 2018 meeting the commission uh met thoughtfully regarding those guidelines and recommended them to the state board of education who approved them at their meeting your meeting on july the guidelines set the expectations for the development of the model curriculum including for the model curriculum advisory's work and the
127board in creating the first draft of the model at this time i'd like to turn it over to commissioner costa hernandez to discuss those state board of education guidelines good morning everyone it is a pleasure and an honor to be here today representing my colleagues that iqc uh the state board of education uh guidelines developed based on the input from focus groups and further recommendations by the iqc were approved by the state board at your july 2018 meeting they contain five parts statutory guidelines general principles course outlines audience and administrative and teacher support i will provide a few highlights on each section you already you're already familiar with the statutory guidelines which require that the curriculum is a guide and the inclusion of uc a3d course outlines so let's move on to the general principles
128these general principles laid the foundation for deliberations and discussions in the iqc resulting in what you see today the guiding principles align with the content and instructional shifts in the 2016 history social social studies framework as we discussed earlier this is wine one reason why it was important for the ipc to ensure that there are concrete history social science connections throughout the model the body also wanted to ensure that the curriculum aligned with common core state standards for english language arts and literacy and history social studies to provide students with skills that are applicable across the curriculum each lesson contains standards alignment with history social science as well as common core state standards in english language arts literacy the guidelines called for self and collective empowerment and import importantly the guidelines ask that the esmc
129is written utilizing language that is inclusive and supportive of multiple users the sp guidelines your guidelines wanted to ensure that students are provided with a deeper understanding of each other and themselves and how different groups have historically worked together to further equality and racial justice for all the inclusion of information on the ethnic studies movement another guiding principle works in tandem with the principle of empowerment by providing students with the foundation intent with the founding intent of ethnic studies additionally the esmc was designed to promote critical thinking and rigorous analysis of history systems of oppression and the status quo and consider what the world will look like if equality justice and equity triumph over society's current feels the guidelines recognize the importance of a thematic of a thematic approach to allow a space for educators
130to build in examples and case studies from diverse backgrounds for use in standalone or integrated courses this is why the iqc recommended building out the thematic portion of the model this was accomplished through expanding and refining the themes in the first draft as well as the sample questions that teachers can use to link across ethnic groups and is reflected in the draft before you today beyond that that the outlines are there to engage a range of disciplines beyond traditional history and social sciences this is why some of the course outlines are for example in ap english the state board guidelines consider the audience for the document they express the desire for sensitivity to the needs of students at various grade levels specifically targeting grades 9 through 12 in the outline in the legislation the guidelines
131stated that the pedagogy should be responsive validate students lived experience and addressed social emotional development which also created an inclusive space for all students regardless of race ethnicity class gender sexuality or citizenship helping students to learn from different perspectives the guidelines also address administrator and teacher support including educators who do not have a background in ethnic studies the iqc had considerably conversation regarding the balance of the academic language of the discipline and the need to make the document easy for teachers who may not have a background in ethnic studies the balance is reflected in the document that is presented to you today this model also provide examples of instructional methods and pedagogical approaches and assist in and encourage collaborative teaching among colleagues across disciplines in as a way of highlighting the interdisciplinarity of ethnic studies
132this is one of the reasons why the iqc chose to incorporate multiple frameworks and theories in order to offer various instructional and pedagogical approaches that local educational agencies would consider as they develop their own local ethnic studies courses further the guidelines ask for resources to lesson plans and other resources and as mentioned previously the state board of education guidelines set the expectation for the work of the model curriculum including the work of the model curriculum advisory committee members that were appointed to review drafts of the model curriculum and provide feedback in august through october 2018 the cde publicly requested applicants for the advisory committee to provide a review of the initial drafts of the model curriculum in november 2018 the instructional quality commission recommended the committee members and in january 2019 the state board of
133education appointed the 20 committee members the model curriculum advisory committee met over six days in february march and april 2019 to develop the first draft of the model similar to other projects their work culminated at the final committee meeting in april 2019 when they recommended to move the draft to the instructional quality commission we are appreciative of the work of the advisory committee and the culmination of their work brings phase one to an end leads us to phase two here are the key dates for phase two of the model curriculums development in this segment we will cover the posting and the first public comment review period iqc action on the draft and the extension extension of time at our may 2019 meeting the iqc reviewed the first draft and approved it for the posting for
134the 60-day public review period the review period which took place june 15 through august 15th resulted in over 20 000 public comments during the field review and an additional twelve thousand comments between the end of the field review and before the posting of the iqc's next meeting immediately surpassing the amount of public comment received for any other curriculum project in september 2019 the iqc postponed its expected action in order to provide adequate time to fully address the public comment we secured a one-year extension to the project's timeline by the passage of assembly bill 114 signed by the governor and then the cde took advantage of that time to review the public comment to convene expert panels on ethnic studies conduct listening sessions and worked with the comprehensive center to conduct focus groups with teachers students
135and excuse me teachers and administrators as well as students and to learn more about the voice of teachers and practitioners the region 15 comprehensive center assisted us by holding listening sessions about ethnic studies implementation and here to present on the teacher focus groups are deb sigmund and rose owens west and i will now turn it over to them to discuss more information on the focus groups one moment thank you director coates and president darlene hammond vice president strauss superintendent thurman we so appreciate being part of this uh really extraordinary effort and uh decision today so i am deb sigman i serve as the co-director of the region 15 comprehensive center and i am joined today by my colleague dr rose owens west who serves as our director of equity projects for west ed let me
136see if i can share my screen having a little trouble here uh dr owens west might you be able to share the screen i'm having some difficulty okay thank you i'll open the powerpoint just one moment please okay i think i've got it rose apologies um so as uh director coats mentioned we were asked to help the california department of education and the state board of education really reach out to practicing educators um just a little bit of background about what the region 15 comprehensive center is we are one of 19 federally funded regional comprehensive centers our charge is to build capacity building and provide technical assistance to our state educational agency partners in an effort to improve education for all students here at west ed we operate the region 15 comprehensive center and in
137addition to california that region includes arizona nevada and utah back in the i believe it was the summer of 2019 the department and the state board of education reached out to us and really wanted to gain some feedback from practicing k-12 educators across the state as you've heard in the last presentation critically important for if in fact the model curriculum would be used and be successful it was important to hear from those educators who would actually be using the model curriculum and so our charge was to convene some focus groups to get some feedback some really deep engaging feedback from both administrators and teachers who may have experience with teaching ethnic studies as well as those folks who may not have but would be certainly that would be part of their path if in fact
138the esmc was put into practice so as i said our charge was to gather key ideas and feedback from the practicing educators and it was really focused on what is needed and how can we inform the state policy makers to successfully implement k-12 ethnic studies so in that effort we designed our focus groups as i said to be very engaging and really not an hour conversation but some lengthy conversation and so actually each of our in-person groups this was pre-pandemic i think we conducted our last in-person group in january of 20 so shortly before we closed our schools and such so we included practicing educators both teachers and administrators that i as i said some implementing some not um and administrators uh that might be responsible for implementing um we really encouraged interaction between the
139participants to as i said provide this deeper understanding of the local context and and experiences uh to get that deep engagement we limited each of our groups to six percent participants and had uh facilitators for each of those discussion groups uh dr owens west was one of our lead facilitators uh in this endeavor and as i said uh these went up to five hours to provide ample time in addition to our in-person groups uh we also uh worked with the california teachers association and the department to hold a virtual uh focus group in the spring um and uh the design the the questions the protocols were built from the in person but obviously we had to modify slightly due to due to the nature of the virtual structure and again all the part participants were
140participating teachers either currently implemented or would be responsible for implementing or interested in implementing an ethnic studies so this gives you a sense of uh how widespread and how representative of the engagement was as i said we had four in-person sessions we held those in sacramento shasta county fresno county and los angeles county as i said we had one virtual session across all of these 19 counties were represented 35 school districts were represented and here's how it uh broke down so we had uh across all five we had 48 teachers we had 17 administrators you can see the counties that were represented it's important for us to gather information from across the state to really get a sense from our educators about the local context and the challenges they might face and and really what
141they wanted to share with the policy makers about how to make this successful and with that i'm going to turn it over to dr owens west as i said dr owens west was one of our lead facilitators for our focus groups dr owens west thank you the discussion and the focus group focused on three key areas with related to successful implementation connectional learning content knowledge functional strategies that are needed for effective ethnic studies implementation next slide please we provided the definition from the california history social science framework in order for the focus group participants to have a common language to use during their discussions please take a moment to read the framework definition okay in the focus groups we heard broad agreement from participants about what is needed for effective implementation we heard about what
142to teach in ethnic studies including relevance as well as high quality curricula how to teach ethnic studies including academic rigor and effective strategies and about professional learning learning for ethnic studies teachers and next we'll describe a little bit more detail about what we heard in these areas next slide please next so in the area of content participants emphasize that k-12 content should be challenging for students we heard that content should include the history of ethnic studies addressing its origins as a student-led movement in california and what ethnic studies is and is not the content should have academic relevance helping k-12 students to learn about their communities and histories and it should address student identity helping students to learn about themselves and student empowerment encouraging their voice we also heard that an essential focus of ethnic
143studies content is critical theory and critical framing which involves critiquing social political and economic issues they noted that k-12 ethnic studies differs from post-secondary ethnic studies in that it adheres to the california history social science framework is interdisciplinary across the social sciences and must be age and developmentally appropriate these k-12 educators emphasize that historical perspectives of marginalized groups are part of ethnic studies content further we heard that ethnic studies content should promote inclusion equality and justice participants emphasized local context for k-12 ethnic studies stating that local communities provide both a focus for ethnic studies and resources for ethnic studies content next slide please regarding instruction in k-12 ethnic studies participants indicated that content and instruction are closely aligned the focus group participants indicated that strategies need to be incorporated that would promote academic rigor such
144as youth participatory action research projects that involve analysis evaluation and creativity they also noted the importance of students engaging in discussions in socratic seminars about challenging content these teachers and administrators emphasized that instruction needed to be aged and developmentally appropriate in order to meet the needs of k-12 students and can be taught at all grade levels we heard for effective ethnic studies at k-12 levels instruction should reinforce content allowing students to engage in critical analysis around the topics of critical race theory critical literacy and critical media interdisciplinary strategies employing themes drawing from multiple subjects was also important and finally addressing the social emotional learning needs by providing appropriate instructional supports for students grounded in relationship building and building a sense of community among students in the classroom is paramount next slide please the focus group
145participants talked about the need for professional learning opportunities to help k-12 educators effectively deliver ethnic studies content and instruction they also pointed out the need for time for teachers to collaborate to develop curriculum and to share resources we heard that professional learning for k-12 ethnic studies educators should build their capacities to employ instructional strategies to specifically teach relevant ethnic studies content such as engaging students in participatory action research helping students stand their own biases helping students discover their own voice in addition building educators capacities to facilitate student discourse allowing students to escape to engage in difficult conversations and help students navigate those conversations the focus group participants also discussed that professional learning should address how to effectively engage communities by drawing on them for resources and building local support for k-12 ethnic studies next slide
146we asked the focus group participants what help he did and what could the state do to protective implementation of ethnic studies across k-12 grades they told us that the state could help by lending clarity to what k-12 ethnic studies is to provide guidance to districts and for implementation participants address the need for resources for teachers in different parts of the state and the role of the state in providing those resources for teachers next slide please again broad summary i'm sorry in summary again there was broad agreement among the participants across all focus groups generally we heard that the things that are needed for effective implementation of k-12 ethnic studies are the same as those needed for effective implementation of any k-12 instructional program specifically we heard that k-12 ethnic studies is important because of the
147diversity of the general population in california and the diversity of the school population in particular and california history and k-12 curriculum should be inclusive reflecting the state's diversity in k-12 studies students are challenged and students relate to the ethnic studies content and can see themselves teachers need professional learning to know content and for effective instruct and last the state guides the k-12 curricula and k-12 ethnic studies must be age and developmentally appropriate thank you dr coats uh turn it back over to you dr coats i believe you're on mute well there had to be one today right so thank you again to the comprehensive center we appreciate your partnership and i wanted to note that the focus group work and the comments and the feedback were all carefully reviewed and were reflected in the recommendations
148that went forth in the second draft that the instructional quality commission put forth for field review including things such as uh including ethnic extent that ethnic studies is presented in a way that is rigorous and relevant uh stressing the importance of inclusivity while acknowledging and challenging systems of power um they're highlighting the need to engage students in critical thinking while also empowering students to be civically engaged citing the importance of professional learning and administrative support in developing successful programs in ethnic studies and that in particular is one reason why the district implementation guidance chapter was developed uh the focus group participants also pointed out that ethnic studies in high school courses uh is not the same as it is it may be presented in in higher education and so we again appreciate the focus group
149reports as it was instrumental uh in in in the shaping of subsequent drafts i would also like to point out that during the extension of time the superintendent began his web series to continue to engage ethnic studies experts teachers local educational agencies and to lift student voice uh he also engaged with numerous communities regarding ethnic studies and all of the information received during the extension of time including the public comment the public comments informed the recommendations that the iqc considered during its august 2020 meeting and the superintendent has continued his commitment to ethnic studies and you can see the additional webinars that have been held on this slide and there are more to come at its august meeting the iqc reviewed and approved recommendations to the draft the iqc committed to anchoring ourselves in the
150legislation in the sbe principles a few highlights of the changes that were approved for the second draft are as follows one reflects the values and principles of the ethnic studies movement that started in california in the 1960s and continues today two reaffirms that ethnic studies is a discipline that allows students to explore the experiences of people of color in the united states three build out build builds out guidance for thematic instruction to help all students grapple with themes of identity history and movement systems of power and social movements and equity adds concrete connections to the hss framework and lass allows flexibility for schools to tailor a course to meet local needs these revisions reflect the original purpose of the legislation in the guidelines adopted by the state board the goal of the model curriculum is
151to provide a guidance document for teachers and administrators not to provide an exhaustive curriculum or instructional materials that cover every potential topic the instructional quality commission voted to send the second field review draft for public another public review period that took place during the month of september this then leads us to phase three in this phase of three phase three we have the second field review for public comment period and the november 2020 meeting a short but mighty time span the second field review received over thirteen thousand comments the iqc reviewed the public comments to the second field review draft at its november 17th through the 18th meeting during that meeting we thoughtfully deliberated on the public comment which resulted in over 200 changes to the model curriculum and additional lesson plans all of which
152were reviewed for alignment with the statute and state board of education guidelines ethnic studies is a course that focuses on the experiences struggles scholarship and contributions of people of color whose historically marginalized populations are inextricably tied to our state and nation's history but whose stories have largely gone untold in public school classrooms the iqc's recommendation to the draft ethnic studies model curriculum expanded resources that reflect california's diversity promote critical thinking and empower educators to lead courageous conversations that are relevant for students of all backgrounds these changes were presented in the third field review draft which the iqc recommended to the state board of education that meeting was designed to ensure consensus on the recommended changes at the end of that meeting with 16 yes and one abstain the iqc voted to recommend the draft to
153the state board of education following the final 45-day public comment period and this leads us to phase four so after the november iqc meeting uh the third field review draft was posted for a 45-day public comment period from december 7 2020 to january 21 2021 and then following the review period the cde compiled the feedback and subsequently posted its recommendations to that draft on march 5th 2021 and that brings us to today's state board of education meeting and then last but certainly not least one key date is march 31st 2021 the deadline for action on the model curriculum so what's inside so uh today so the this final portion of the presentation is to discuss uh the components of the model curriculum and while i'm not discussing cde recommendations in detail at this particular juncture
154on this slide i did want to call attention to uh this particular recommendation um to avoid any uh any uh confusion regarding the chapter names so the contents of the chapters are here on this slide and cg cde has suggested an ordering and name change to the chapters um to ensure that we are using language that is inclusive which is the intended purpose of the ethnic studies model model curriculum so at this time i will turn it over to commissioner reston to begin the presentation of the chapters thank you so the model curriculum begins with a preface that expresses the intent of the document referencing the original legislation of the state board's guidelines it also sets forth um the focus of the model curriculum which is a focus on the four foundational disciplines of asian
155american native american chicano latinx and african-american studies while per the legislation affording local educational agencies the flexibility to adapt the curriculum to address the demographics and diversity of their classrooms the preface is clear that this model curriculum should not be seen as exhaustive but rather guidance documents to pair with the existing state board of education adopted content standards and curriculum frameworks including the history social science content standards and the history social science framework and the california common core state standards in english language arts and literacy and history social science and science and technical subjects sorry i i butchered that title it's it's it's a handful and also the english language arts english language development framework and as well as the california english language development standards so the history social science framework in particular provides support
156for the implementation of ethnic studies including a brief outline of a 9th grade elective course in the field and the document overall emphasizes key principles of ethnic studies teaching and learning such as diversity inclusion challenging systems of inequality and support for student civic engagement now chapter one begins with a discussion of why we teach ethnic studies ethnic studies of course affirms the identities and contributions of historically marginalized groups in our society and help students see themselves and each other as part of the narrative of the united states in this way the focus on the four foundational disciplines benefits the whole further ethnic studies is not meant to gloss over differences it is designed to bring students and communities together by one addressing racialized experiences and ethnic differences as real and unique and secondly building greater
157understanding and communication across ethnic differences and finally revealing underlying commonalities that can bind individuals and groups together chapter one defines ethnic studies for k-12 using the definition of the 2016 history social science framework uh and provides the history of ethnic studies as described by members of the original movement and speaks to the benefits of ethnic studies which we discussed earlier in this presentation chapter one further emphasizes the danger of a single story and a step and emphasizes that each ethnic community has its own unique history struggles and contributions and that these are to be taught understood and celebrated as ethnic studies focuses on united states culture and history from the perspective of marginalized groups teachers are guided to present topics from multiple viewpoints and represent diverse stories and opinions within groups of course staying within
158the realm of inclusion and humanizing discourse and this chapter also states that resources should represent a range of perspectives and that lessons are structured so that students examine materials and come to their own conclusions the guiding values and principles including in this chapter were of course a matter of careful discussion given that this is a resource and not a comprehensive day-by-day package of curriculum the iqc ultimately recommended to keep the guiding values and principles and also reference them in the sample lessons so as to ensure that the ongoing development of ethnic studies courses teaching and learning remain true to the foundational values of ethnic studies and to assist with k-12 implementation of ethnic studies eight outcomes were added that emphasize various aspects of inclusion civic engagement and understanding of self and of others chapter 2
159provides district implementation guidance much of this chapter was developed based on the listening and learning from the focus groups as we know ethnic studies courses will look different across our state because they are largely based on local development and community engagement chapter 2 helps districts think through implementation including defining what ethnic studies means in their own districts based on their local context and considering plans for supporting instruction and course development from the iqc perspective this guidance for school and district leadership offered in chapter 2 is about highlighting the importance of alignment of purpose and strategy at all levels and creating the context for successful implementation and possible expansion of ethnic studies chapter 3 includes content related to development and ethnic studies pedagogy the purpose identity content and skills methods and in class community building it
160includes approaches to ethnic studies that includes standalone courses in the four foundational disciplines integrating ethnic studies into existing course grade level considerations and thematic approach to approaches to ethnic studies it also includes an introduction to ethnic studies course outline four themes including four themes which uh have been affirmed in our discussion they can also be used in standalone courses those are identity history and movement systems of power and social social movements and equity finally it includes lesson plans and unit plan lesson templates the content and resources in chapter 3 are designed to support all educators but we believed at the iqc that it will be particularly helpful for those of us who do not have a background in that experience now the newly named chapter 4 which was the appendix i'm sorry was appendix a
161in the third field review draft it contained sample lesson plans and we voted to expand this section of the document to include additional lesson plans that are more reflective of california's diversity and it's important to note that these are just samples there are windows view into what a lesson can look like in ethnic studies but not what they must look like local educational agencies can build upon these lesson plans the lesson plans do not represent a scope and sequence for any topic area and it's impossible for this model to include every possible iteration or option available so these sample lessons can spark ideas for how an educator may wish to approach a specific topic as their programs are developed and developed locally of course and in concert with the planning team and the local community
162i myself being a history teacher one lesson that i'm particularly drawn to is the one on afrofuturism which is an art form and practice that calls on artists to reimagine black life beyond the status quo and to explore the infinite possibilities of the world of tomorrow and i think this is this lesson in particular is a reminder that ethnic studies help students conceptualize imagine and build new possibilities for a post-racist society being that i teach at the alma mater of octavia butler this lesson is particularly close to home for me and um the lesson asks for students to engage in afrofuturism and reimagine their community's future which actually pairs well with the youth participatory action research lesson plan and that's something i've been doing for a few years now and in doing youth participatory action
163research that engages students in examining their own communities present through systematic investigation and this provides young people with opportunities to study social problems affecting their lives and then determine civic actions to address these problems and usher in a brighter and more just future for everybody five so for this chapter as recommended by the iqc it includes the six main sections that you see on this slide sample safe safe spaces and community building activities affirmations chants and energizers critical conversations resources resources for connecting ethnic studies to local demographics california museums and historical sites and other model curricula the sample lessons and resources in chapter 5 are helpful especially to new teachers who may not have previous teaching in ethnic studies and the lessons and units are all created to support teachers in chapter six the course
164outlines are selections of what currently exists from the uc csu a through g database and were developed by local educational agencies this chapter includes a variety of uc a through g approved course outlines in general ethnic studies as well as the four foundational disciplines the legislation encourages leas to continue to submit course outlines for the uc csu a through g approval so that those can also continue to expand and reflect california's diversity thank you so much commissioners not just for your time today but for your thoughtfulness throughout this project's development so cde followed the following guideposts when making revisions to the draft you see them here on the slide we accepted edits that corrected errors or inaccuracies including grammar clarified language without substantially changing the meaning and we rejected edits that substantially reversed or changed
165this decision that was discussed and voted on by the instructional equality commission and there we also we we had some discussion and review and so today there are just a limited number of changes to what the instructional quality commission recommended again utilizing these general guide posts for recommendations and so our line edits are noted in attachment 2 for you as indicated by this slide and and again in our very high level overview of our edits they were designed to clarify language to add resources to curate lessons to align formatting and to resolve accessibility issues we also have these additional minor recognition recommendations that are not listed in attachment to which brings us back to our recommendations to you today which is recommending that you the state board of education adopt the ethnic studies model curriculum
166with line edits described in attachment to as well as the additional recommendations as outlined on slide five as well as authorizing cde staff pending approval of the state board of education excuse me the state board of education's executive director to prepare revisions requested by this body and correct any typographical errors and non-substantive clarifying edits thank you i now turn it over to you president darling hammond thank you so much wow i am going to recommend that before we go to public comment we'll take a 30-minute break allow people to get lunch and a break but before we do that i want to thank all the presenters that we heard from for their knowledge and commitment to this work and to their lifetime commitment to human and civil rights i want to thank dr emmanuel rustin
167and all of the iqc members for their determination and stamina and guidance and in particular thanks for your reference to afrofuturism and octavia butler one of my all-time favorite authors i want to thank all the cde staff for their unbelievably hard work from state superintendent tony thurman to deputy superintendent stephanie grexson and especially our iqc and curriculum frameworks director dr shimeen coates plus all the many staff who supported wrote catalogued comments and persevered through this process um i do want to note in response to one of the questions that came up this morning that the governor's budget does propose five million dollars specifically for training and ethnic studies plus uh an allocation to the subject matter projects that do offer training and ethnic studies plus a specific mention of ethnic studies and the 250 million
168professional development a pot of money that has been proposed so there is a an express commitment to not only ensure that we get to a model curriculum but that we really enable people to learn it so it has been a journey this has been an amazing uh start to our conversation i do want us to come into public comment fresh and ready to listen and hear uh so with that it's about 11 16 at let's say at 11 45 we will read conorder and we'll be ready for both hearing from our liaisons and launching our public comment and of course asking clarifying questions of the staff and the committee as needed and with that don't go far don't turn off your don't leave the meeting just turn off your camera and your microphone all right
169thanks very much uh we need to reestablish our quorums so brooks can you please call the roll member burr president darling hemmed here member fatah here remember glover woods here remember mcquillen here here remember patillo brownson here remember rodriguez here number rucker present vice president strauss here member son here i have a quorum all right uh thanks so much we are going to open the phone line for the public comment queue and i would ask that we put up the public comments slide uh members of the public who will wish to provide comment can do so by calling the telephone number and entering the access code as noted on the slide we ask as always that all callers be respectful and comments must be related to the item before the board and while we're waiting
170for members of the public to call in i want to ask member global woods as our ethnic studies liaison if she has any initial comments uh and um then i'll ask our iqc liaisons if they want to add to those comments before we proceed to public comment so remember glover woods thank you president darling hammond and good afternoon to everyone i'm just very appreciative of the comments and the presentations that we were able to hear this morning i'd like just to take a couple of moments to reiterate some very key pieces as we consider the draft that is before us today um first and foremost again an extension of gratitude to all those who have contributed to the draft that is being presented to us we think about the thousands of californians that have contributed
171their thoughts their ideas via written or verbal feedback inclusive of those who will be sharing with us today again much appreciation to the iqc we were able to hear from three of the phenomenal commissioners of the iqc today and i do have to share with the board that again over 22 months three field reviews and four revisions for this document and the iqc has listened intently and had some very focused conversations to ensure that the draft was presented to us was in alignment with the field of ethnic studies as well as ab2 2016 and the sbe guidelines and again an extension of gratitude to the california department of education state superintendent tony thurman and most importantly director coats who has again spent countless hours to ensure that the document presented before us aligns to all
172of those important areas that i just shared just to reiterate again a few points that i think will be important for us to keep in mind even though this is considered the ethnic studies model curriculum it's not a curriculum in the general sense that many educators and parents and communities think of a curriculum to be this is a guidance document we heard that reiterated multiple times this morning this is a guidance document it's not a document designed for students it is designed to be a guide for local education agencies that would like to strengthen existing ethnic studies courses or to develop ethnic study courses themselves it's a very strong resource however there is no mandate that this resource be used in that development another piece that i would like to reiterate is that um the
173bridge that state superintendent thurman mentioned has been included with the sample lessons so that we are able to ensure that the draft has a sample of lessons that represent the diversity of our state while it's not all inclusive a lot of effort has been made to include as many voices as possible in this particular document because ab2016 requires that the ethnic studies model curriculum be written as a guide to allow school districts to adapt their courses to reflect the people demographics in their communities so we know again that this is a first step in conversations that will take place at the local level as they make determinations on their ethnic studies courses either the development or again extension or strengthening of existing ethnic study courses as i conclude my comments i would just again like
174to point out another area of the guidance line and the guideline says that the ethnic studies model curriculum shall promote critical thinking rigorous analysis of history systems of oppression and the status quo in an effort to generate discussions on futurity and imagine new possibilities and one thing that we know um and this has been historical discussions about race and ethnicity and the lived experiences of people in our country and in our state have always been difficult conversations their varying thoughts and ideas and that it has just been what is typical and what we know what we also know is that discussions and conversations around how the systems the policies and the practices that we have and how they've impacted people within our country those who have been marginalized underserved and the rest of the communities
175have been are very difficult as well but what we want to be able to do and this guide definitely provides an opportunity to do so is allow for students to engage in that critical thinking to engage in that rigorous analysis of those systems so that there can be a knowledge and understanding of the lived experiences not of just themselves but lived experiences of people where they may not have those same lived experiences and this particular document provides a very strong resource in which to enter into those conversations in the ethnic studies classroom lastly i will say and president darling hammond spoke to this right before our break that we know this is again a first step of many steps that will take place at the local level and that it's important that teachers who are
176teaching ethnic studies and who will teach ethnic studies are supported in being able to do so so just as we allow for professional development in areas of mathematics and science and english language arts and the like professional development for teachers who will be teaching ethnic studies is critical and the governor has allocated funding in his budget as well as the use of the effective educator block grant dollars can help to support in that regard so again just want to provide some of those framing comments to the board as we uh prepare to receive public comment and as we engage in discourse around this very thoughtfully developed document that has uh again as reflective of the tens of thousands of comments as well as the many months that have gone into the draft that we have
177before us today thank you president darlingham thank you and i'm going to see if vice president strauss and member rucker have any additional comments as our liaisons to the ipc um yes i'll make a few comments um just to support uh remember gloverwood's comments and just uh thank everyone who's been part of the process but particularly with this morning for um the superintendent thurman and his guests that set the context and for all the work that director coats and the team have done at cd and the state board to get us as far and it's been a lot of work getting here but i would just say and support member glover woods there's a lot of work ahead and so four years four drafts a hundred thousand comments and i think it's a lot better
178nothing's perfect but i think it's important to remember that this is a guidance document and that while it's not a mandate it's our hope that districts will take a look at their current coursework at future coursework and use this as a resource i think this um document that we see now is balanced it's focused with a lot of resources and is inclusive and that's really important um and all the edits are in alignment with the state board guidelines and guidelines of maybe 2016. i so appreciate the work of the instructional quality commission that helped guide the process you got to see some of our amazing leaders today in on iqc our new chair dr emmanuel rustin and dr deborah koster hernandez our vice chair and david pontai as a member they are incredibly valuable and
179re reflect our state board advisory commission that really helps to guide all of our work in all of our frameworks so let me just say as the former high school principal of a very large diverse high school i i so understand the importance and benefit of ethnic studies for all students um but and also as a former assistant superintendent of educational services i understand the process that districts will now have to engage in as they move forward with this in order to write a course they're going to have to have an advisory group they're going to have to include teachers they're going to have to get community input they're going to have to look at the local context of their district um they're going to have to look at informing their board and going through
180a board approval process and then as member glover woods and our presenters from west ed said there's a huge amount of professional development that will need to be done to address content knowledge professional learning support and instructional strategies i'm so appreciative the governor's budget has professional development funds in it and i know that we will count on county offices and our subject matter projects to continue to support professional training for that but i do believe all students will benefit from this foundation of knowledge and i think it's important that we acknowledge the most amazing thorough thoughtful process to get us to this point so i look forward to hearing the public comments and the deliberation that will follow thank you thank you so much remember rucker thank you very much i need to begin by
181saying that as a person of color sitting on this diocese this has been a very important personal and passionate conversation that i've been privileged to be a part of um as a professional and as a person who has come through california public education i know that i stand on the shoulders of linda ruby earnest james dolores and fred ethnic studies is a class for all students to learn about the struggles and contributions of californians that many traditional history books probably overlook you know when i was in high school here in california i learned about the colonies and the 13 colonies in great britain and the triangle trade between africa great britain and the colonies that was anchored by the slave trade but it wasn't until i was a student at uc davis in the black
182studies department that i understood that the letters of mark that were issued by the crown in england to allow people we now call pirates to raid spanish ships turn those same individuals into criminals only because they began interfering with the slave trade that britain so greatly depended on i'm happy to know that this ethnic studies curriculum will be in place and i was uh inspired by dr webber to talk about the threat and the career and the sacrifice that many ethnic studies professors have made for a long time normally um during the april meeting i would talk about a a teacher who has inspired or honored me it's important for me today to remember the contributions of the black studies department at uc davis and including one professor named carl mack that's the department when
183i started at uc davis i started at the program there were 450 african-american students that who started with me as an undergraduate and four years later 65 of those african-american students graduated with me we were all bonded by the connection and support we received from those black studies professors and those program that program was the smallest department on the campus and we were just proud to see the word black studies on a building at the uc davis campus that we were attending in the aftermath of the bakke decision that program was not supported by the university and by the time i left that campus it was gone i suppose the bad news is it was gone the good news is carl mack became the superintendent in the del paso heights school district and years later
184he hired me and i began my public school career so if anybody ever wants to know where i came from the next time you see him you can blame him but those are my stories and my personal stories what i heard as the liaison for the history social science project and as a curriculum framework was being developed were all the personal stories that became very important to many different communities to represent to be understood and to be expanded into the history social science curriculum that conversation continues here what teachers need to know about supporting the learning of pupils of color how to communicate core messages in powerful ways that are going to influence the beliefs of students about themselves teachers have to know how to do that how to communicate to each child that he's
185valuable and important that he's capable in so many ways that he has potential i have to know if i'm that child's teacher how to communicate that child his impressive energy is an asset his creative ways of thinking about issues is a talent to be nurtured i have to know how to help this child understand and believe that he is loved and with my help there's so so much more that students can accomplish and that's the role and the passion that we hear in the conversations that we have received in the comments that we have already heard about the ethnic studies curriculum and i know that we are about to hear so i will stop making these uh i will stop my comment here by simply saying i'm i'm so pleased and so honored to have
186been able to work with the iqc and listen to the passion conversations and the impassioned work that the iqc members did to consider listen to nurture and figure out ways to incorporate all of the concerns and ideas into a unique approach to implementing an ethnic studies curriculum in california that will not only be truly historic but that will meet the benchmarks that we have come to define as the california way of patients persistence and most of all humility so uh thank you dr darling hammond and my members on the panel for allowing me to begin to give that statement and i look forward to the conversation we will have after the public comment thank you so much that's um great framing we're now going to open the phone line for the public comment queue uh
187members of the public wishing to provide comment may do so by entering the telephone number and the access code as noted on the powerpoint slide and i'll open the floor to public comment yes we we now have 136 callers on the line caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is maui suzukin i'm a parent and student of two students that were at centerfield high school and who have attended ucla and uc davis well i appreciate all the work that's been done to revise the fmc i would urge you to make certain needed further changes and resist pressure to make the curriculum worse as it would further systemic racism rather
188than uproot and eradicate it first please include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the real life experiences of jewish students and is being used by the byte administration the ihra definition does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into and is experienced as anti-semitism thank you your time is up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is lydia person i am a parent an attorney and i am married to a jewish man i oppose this curriculum i'm going to give you
189my conclusions first the department of education teachers school politicians have created a hostile environment for many students by the critical race theory you should anticipate civil rights lawsuits because this is a divisive agenda based on the color of skin it's causing emotional distress in students as it teaches hate um blame victimhood animosity guilt and helplessness and children who cannot help how they were born or the color of their skin you should anticipate a massive exodus from public schools and anticipate a decrease in support for public schools teachers teachers unions as a result of this curriculum this process was not balanced we voted on proposition 16 we rejected affirmative action and the department of education is ignoring um the last election thank you caller your time is up next callers please state your name and affiliation
190for the record your time starts now caller you're live hello my name is lisa aberbach a parent a californian and daughter of holocaust survivors well i appreciate all the work to revise the esmc i urge you to make further changes and resist pressure to make the curriculum worse first please include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the real-life experiences of jewish students and is being used by the biden administration the ihra definition does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into anti-semitism lastly please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking
191in chapter one and repeat them throughout the curriculum just like the language about values and outcomes we need critical thinking not one-sided political agendas and hate in our classrooms thank you for your time next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now yes hi my name is eric and i'm a parent of the student in california system well i appreciate all the work for the revised ears cm i i want you to make further changes and resist pressure to make the curriculum worse first i agree with the previous comments that the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject the pressure to remove it the definition reflects the real life experiences of students including my own and it's being used by the by the administration the irha definition does not
192prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that the hate speech about israel harms the jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show and the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric often crosses the line which it does with my students who have been made with hate in the schools because of that second fix the numerous problems with the new arab american studies lesson the lesson should not pressure students to do political activity or erase the unique story of jews of the middle east in color thank you caller your time has expired next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now yes my name is deborah barris i'm the parent of two daughters in the california public school system school system
193well i appreciate all the work that is done to revise the esmc i urge you to make further changes please fix numerous problems with the new arab american studies lesson the lessons should not pressure students to do political advocacy or erase the unique stories of jews in the middle east second please approve all changes requested by gemina and move their lesson to the asian american studies section as part of south asian uh the south asian community as they are the section rightfully addresses islamophobia but it's missing janet's crucial lesson about anti-semitism lastly please acknowledge criticisms of third world liberation front including its promotion of anti-semitism and celebration of brutal dictators like lenin mao and ho chi minh i urge you to make these revisions today for the sake of our students thank you thank you
194caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is chloe levion and i'm a student at ucla my parents escaped the iranian revolution to flee anti-semitism to the safety of the united states it was supposed to be different here however as a jewish college student i feared for my safety on campus i constantly got harassed and now that harassment has shifted to social media threats while i am grateful for the work that has been done to revise the esmc more changes are needed do not retract line edit 100. instead fix numerous problems with the new arab american studies lesson the lesson should not pressure students to do political
195advocacy or erase the unique stories of jews in the middle east approve all changes requested by jemena and move their lesson plan to the americans to the asian american studies section that section rightfully addresses islamophobia that is missing a crucial lesson about anti-semitism thank you for your time thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is scott shane i'm a grandparent of two school-aged kids from the san francisco bay area i well well i appreciate all the work that has been done to revise the esmc i urge you to make further changes first please fix numerous problems with the new arab american studies lesson the lesson should not pressure students to do political advocacy or erase the unique stories of jews in the
196middle east second please approve all changes requested by gemma and move their lessons to the asian american studies section this section rightfully addresses is uh is more phobia but is missing jimmy's crucial lesson about anti-semitism third pla please not acknowledge criticisms of the third world liberation front including his promotional anti-semitism and the celebration of brutal dictators like lennon mao and ho chi minh lastly please do not retract your time has expired next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is amina and i'm a student at san diego state university i'm a college student deeply concerned with the draft of this curriculum as many as you of you have
197claimed it is not aligned with the true values of ethnic studies it is watered down to cater to the interests of right-wing groups i am so disappointed with the empty promises and empty words spoken today given to us time and time again but i will not lose hope i demand that you reinsert the key terms critical to understanding these complex issues that stay true to the values and principles of ethnic studies i demand you reconnect the racist and colonial frameworks affecting these groups take action to ensure that california's children grow up to be anti-racist and informed take action to ensure that california's children do not feel discriminated against do not feel unheard do not feel the pain and shame i once did as people called my mother stand terrorists as people misunderstood and hated us
198and sure california's arab children don't feel erased and voiceless from this lacking arab lesson plans california teachers oppose this draft do not accept this draft do better and reject it thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is jaden and i am currently a junior in lausc i traced my jewish roots all the way back to iran which my parents fled after an increase in anti-semitism time and time again i have experienced hatred or biased comments for being a mizrahi jew my hope is that the esmc can help prevent this and act as a pathway to peace however i am concerned the esmt process is favoring certain groups over others recently there were many ethnic group studies added as subsections
199under asian american studies and the jewish community specifically the mizrahi community was not even though we also trace our ancestors back to asia do not retract the line edit hundreds as it would take away a voice we really need to fight the hate right now the ihra definition of anti-semitism is just in the appendix mentioned in germanic lesson plan which covers middle eastern jews like my family it's important to push for this to be in the main section to help battle ignorance and hate 68 of all california religious hate crimes target jews the solution is education it's more than fair to include the german lesson plan in the main curriculum to make a safer future for students like me thank you thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for
200the record your time starts now hello my name is leo acaba i grew up in sacramento public schools from k-12 and i am now an assistant professor in the college of ethnic studies at san francisco state university as an educator in the field of ethnic studies i urge the state board of education not to pass this version of the esmc the edits do not reflect the full ethnic studies that truly addresses systems of power and systems of oppression this is not about appeasing that we cannot add in everyone in this draft this is about addressing the deliberate watering down of the esmc this current draft does not align with all components all of its components of the original ethnic studies concept and correct and principles this draft also does not fully represent an arab american
201lesson plan inclusive of palestine written by arab american studies experts and educators this erasure is unacceptable in a document like this in its current state the esmc document is not ready to serve teachers in teaching of whole ethnic studies i therefore urge the state board of education not to pass this version of the esnc thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi i'm barbara wyndham a california parent the critical ethnic studies approach has corrupted the esmc forcing a narrow ideological agenda rather than fostering student inquiry please remove the critical ethnic studies lens from the guiding values and principles and the subsequent chapters of the esmc replacing it with a balanced constructive approach this isn't a question of if ethnic studies should be
202taught but how it should be taught the critical approach in the esmc fuels hostile racial divisions rather than finding common ground and judges students based on arbitrary skin color rather than their character fanning the flames of conflict and judgment among ethnic groups is an increasingly in an increasingly polarized country will have disastrous consequences for our children and for democracy ethnic studies could combat racism while increasing empathy and a sense of community if it was taught with a constructive approach like lausd please revise and remove the critical ethnic studies lens before approving the esmc as recommended by alliance for constructive ethnic studies thank you very much thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is justin belden i'm a proud israeli american and
203former member of ucla's equity diversity and inclusion student advisory board i want to share my appreciation for all voices that have elevated california's ethnic diversity for cbe i also want to affirm solidarity with asian americans and pacific islanders in this disturbing time and emphasize that we must oppose binaries in critical ethnic studies of oppressor and oppressed that are too often weaponized against asian americans and jewish americans when white supremacy and terror hits our communities this starts in the classroom we must instead support an equitable curriculum in constructive ethnic ethnic studies focused on joint solidarity between all marginalized communities not animosity between our communities asian and jewish integration and ethics studies is not an exception it is essential i affirmed support for the inclusion of both jewish lesson plans and asian american studies as we are
204a southwest asian community in origin do not retract line edit 100. thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now good afternoon my name is mandy diese i'm with the southeast asia resource action center i'm calling them to provide our support for the adoption of the latest esmc and this important resource to uplift the diverse experiences of our students and their communities southeast asian american youth in particular have unique experiences with intergenerational trauma and the school to prison to deportation pipeline caused by personal and refugee experiences with war genocide and displacement in addition to high rates of poverty and criminalization southeast asian american youth report invisibility bullying the lack of culturally relevant support in schools and classrooms as key factors to the marginalization so
205it's really critical to pass the model curriculum to take a step toward addressing these challenges and ensuring visibility and inclusion for our communities thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is rachel ravinsky i'm a mixed race asian american student at uc berkeley from los angeles i support take care as suggested edits to the model curriculum and the safe american arab american studies suggested edits for the ethnic studies model curriculum militant resistance and figures from communities of color like angela davis and yuri kochiyama must be included in the model curriculum our resistance will never be as violent as white supremacy so it's a myth that including these figures encourages violence when colonialism and imperialism are the most violent forces of
206them all imagine a lesson taught about the atlanta murders flooded with questions from students about both sides or this was just an attack on women not asian people this is not open discussion this is just harmful to asian students and it's exactly what will happen if the model curriculum allows any room for bigotry i urge the board to revise the model curriculum to showcase all forms of resistance from communities of color and stand firm against structures of oppression the way that the original fathers intended once again please incorporate care ads and save american studies suggested edits to the model curriculum thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is ryan simkins i'm a resident of anaheim california and i've heard a lot said
207here over the last several hours in fact one of the i believe the gentleman that wrote the bill he's got a picture of la raza in his background which means the race and so it's very important if we're going to speak about rape that we do bring the bible into the discussion before we took the bible out of schools we didn't have such issues we didn't have school shootings we didn't have mass shootings probably because we had the ten commandments that the children learned they learned how to pray they learned how to love one another and so when you think thou shall not kill out of school it's no wonder that we have mass shootings and we have so much division uh among the students so i think that's really the key is getting back
208to the biblical standard and the biblical standard teaches that there is one race and there is one god and we're all god's creation your time is up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is anna maya and i am a junior at bonita vista high school as a latin jewish woman with arabic and turkish descent i am well aware that my ancestry and culture is very diverse although i have close to never seen myself represented within a school classroom too many times do i get odd looks when i tell my peers that i am part arabic turkish latin and jewish they tell me it is impossible and that i do not look it so i must be lying although i am grateful for the
209work that has been done to revise the curriculum more changes are needed i urge you to include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the lived experiences of jewish students like me and is being used by the biden administration it does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world a definition of islamophobia is mentioned in the asian-american section of the curriculum and has every single right to be there therefore there is no reason why anti-semitism isn't just as important to mention i also urge you not to retract line 100 of the model curriculum thank you caller from the asian section of the curriculum next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record
210your time starts now i'm jody socklower a jewish teacher educator i totally support ethnic studies but this sad mishmash is not ethnic studies you have to vote no the cde and the board of ed have to stop letting pro-israel lobbyists and legislators police ethnic studies including jewish american studies in the aapi section the erasure of palestine and the deference to the ihra definition of anti-semitism which does equate criticism in israel with anti-semitism are clear examples of how much the cde has let the anti-defamation league the jcrc and the simon weisenthal center control the esmc the increasing violence jews face is not a result of bds or naming ilhan omar and rashida talaiba's leaders it's rooted in the white supremacy on which the u.s was built for all students including ashkenazi jewish and other white students
211learning the truth about u.s history doesn't create a hostile environment it's liberating respect our youth enough to give them the tools to work together to make the better thank you please state next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is liz lewis and i'm a modern u.s history major at uc berkeley i'm calling in support of critical ethnic studies and discussion of colonialism imperialism and white supremacy which the curriculum hardly emphasizes i'm alarmed about what the curriculum does discuss though i'd like to read a quote hearing two buses near the texas border stopped with vedo signs full of illegals which had a hundred dollars and were headed to the polls this was stated in 2018 by larry schweikart who is known for spreading information misinformation
212i wrote a patriots history of the united states this text is included as an excerpt in the sample lesson plan 26 for indigenous studies this is the same curriculum that many speakers this morning strongly endorsed as a black woman born and raised in california i am disappointed that people like this are included in the curriculum but figures like angela davis and yorikochiyami are not i urge the iqc to review the care and suggested edits made by a group of 400 scholars in the field that have been endorsed by the matriarchs for the third world liberation fund i'm disturbed about the comments today that i've used the word anti-semitism to disrespect the bypoc activists of the 21st of the 20th century can you call her thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for
213the record your time starts now hi my name is joyce reynolds and i am a california voter and parent please revise and remove the critical ethnic studies lens before approving the esmc i support ethnic studies and believe ethnic studies when taught constructively as in the los angeles ethnic studies curriculum can build empathy and understanding while combating racism unfortunately the proposed esmc is based on critical ethnic studies which pits students against each other by defining them as victims or oppressors based on the color of their skin please use a constructive ethnic studies approach and reinstate the los angeles curriculum as a resource for teachers in k-12 education it is imperative that students are exposed to multiple perspectives taught to think critically and form their own opinions esmc's guiding values and principles must be revised to reflect
214a diversity and viewpoint and open inquiry and discussion not the current political indoctrination approach thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is amira jarmakani i'm president of the arab american studies association a professor of women's gender and sexuality studies at san diego state university and a parent of three children who attend california public schools i wholeheartedly agree with dolores huerta shirley weber and others that it is time to introduce ethnic studies in k-12 curriculum but this version gutted of its anti-racist decolonial liberatory tenets doesn't serve anyone the model presented today shamefully censors lessons that mention palestinian americans and this act of censoring represents the predominantly white right-wing interests that have helped shape this latest draft while experts in the field are
215ignored ethnic studies has always had the fight indeed shirley weber mentions that scholars used to be warned that it would sink their careers to be in it few scholars understand that experience better than critical swanna scholars who have been censored for decades for incorporating analysis of palestine in relation to structural racism and u.s imperialist legacies don't censor us now reinstate the model that ethnic studies scholars and educators originally next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller go ahead you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record the time start your time starts now hello my name is iman and i'm a member of american
216muslims for palestine's bay area chapter i'm speaking today to ask the state board of education to vote no on the current ethnic studies model curriculum the last draft of the curriculum was so deficient that the entire advisory committee and designated writers of the original esmc requested that their names be removed from the document the curriculum needs to be rewritten by ethnic studies educators of color to reinsert arab american studies including lessons on palestine within asian american studies section of the esmc with pedagogy developed by arab american educators that's true to the discipline of ethnic studies the decision to purge american studies from asian american studies marginalizes arab american history and arab people and perpetuates the shameful history of islamophobia and anti-air racism in this country all students of color deserve to see themselves in the
217school curriculum and understand their histories and have lesson plans which are anti-racist do colonial and liberatory please don't know and ensure that the curriculum is rewritten to include arab american studies thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is sophia armen and i am a scholar of southwest asian north african american communities um specializing in armenian american studies the voices of our media americans have been erased from the ethnic studies model curriculum even though we've submitted over 9 000 comments in this process we've been engaged for over two years armenian american studies must be included in the main curriculum under asian american studies together with all west asian american studies item 09 attachment 2 must be rejected it's actually offensive
218at this point because we've been engaged so much this draft is not ready you all need to consult ethnic studies scholars who specialize in studying west asian communities as a racial group within the u.s part of the problem that keeps happening is that many of you are falling into the traps and tropes that our students face and we have experts in the field who know how to do this reject item 09 attachment 2 this draft is not ready you need to hear the calls of our communities we will not be erased any longer thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi um my name is samir i'm a recent graduate of the university of california riverside and a member of the palestinian youth movement
219i'm calling this afternoon to encourage the board to vote no on the current ethnic studies model curriculum growing up in the gateway cities community of montebello i was the only palestinian in most if not all settings and i grew quickly accustomed to being the chief spokesperson for the community at large defending it under assault from right-wing talking points and racist slurs without even knowing much about my own community as a result of this there was a disconnection from my community and a lack of awareness where i even came from for most of my life only being revealed and snippets thrown about in dinner table conversations from the few living family members ethnic studies must be preserved and protected to give students the power to fight back against and assault their identities and their communities and
220empower them to go beyond the defensive posture i was used to growing up we need an ethnic studies curriculum that is truly decolonial anti-racist and liberatory and to not allow the true discipline of ethnic studies to be washed away right-wing thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is cindy chamban i call on you to reject the current version of esmc and make sure that ethnic study educators are the ones to rewrite it ethnic studies is oriented towards teaching the history of u.s racism colonial conquest and enslavement and its impacts on others who live in or have immigrated to the united states as the original draft referenced palestine and israel's settler colonial policies there has been a backlash from several jewish zionist organizations
221it is highly unusual for the jewish caucus of the california state legislature pro-israel interest groups such as adl jcrc and the simon wisenthal center to be involved in the shaping of the ethnic studies curriculum one cost is the loss of the writers of the original draft who are experts in the field of ethnic studies another cost is the loss of the entire concept of ethnicity thank you caller your time's up thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is ellen brosky vote know in this curriculum because it doesn't meet ethnic studies standards anti-racist jews oppose the hijacking of the curriculum by anti-palestinian zionist organizations an ethnic studies educator eloquently stated these groups don't want students to learn about systems of power and oppression because
222they themselves feel threatened by the loss of their own power jewish studies does not belong in aapi studies arab american studies does belong because the study of colonialism and its impact on immigration to the united states is central to the principles and pedagogy of ethnic studies zionist organizations have worked overtime to censor ethnic studies educators who correctly included information on israel's oppressive settler colonial policies toward palestinians because a decolonially anti-racist curriculum challenges zionism's racism and their power to control the narrative about israel thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is celine cassini and i'm a member of the palestinian youth movement i'm calling today to urge the sbe to vote no on the current esmc as it does not meet
223the standards of es or demand day of 2016. it is completely unacceptable for the cde to allow predominantly white right-wing interest groups to define ethnic studies such groups should not be able to override the work of actual ethnic studies scholars in determining what should be incorporated into the esmc ethnic studies emerged as a discipline in order to resist the history of u.s racism colonial conquest and enslavement however the cde enlisted non-ethnic studies scholars and writing institutions and as a result has completely sanitized and watered down the curriculum to exclude an analysis and critique of racism and other systems of oppression this draft is not ethnic studies multiculturalism is not ethnic studies we demand a true ethnic studies curriculum that is anti-racist anti-colonial and liberatory we demand the esmc be rewritten by ethnic studies educators of
224color to re-insert arab-american lessons including palestine within the asian american studies section of the esmc ethnic studies scholars agree that it is impossible to understand arab-american issues without understanding palestine so then where would the exclusion of palestine leave arab youth it's crazy thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is thomas from saryan dolan and i'm a proud armenian-american descendant of armenian refugees in california a member of the next generation of ethnic studies scholars the voices of armenian americans are being erased from the ethnic studies model curriculum even though we have submitted over 9 000 comments in this process armenian american studies must be included in the main curriculum under asian american studies together with all other west asian american studies the
225status of the bridging section is unclear and must be clarified to the public and added in the main curriculum the sbe and iqc must bring in ethnic studies scholars who specialize in studying west asian communities and all west asian american communities as a racial group within the united states we will not allow our histories and struggles to be ignored especially in the state with our largest community in the u.s this moment of crisis demands that we dramatically reimagine our collective liberation and sharpen our vision to see that the struggle is not only global but it must be radically inclusive thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live oh hello hello my name is liz jackson i'm a jewish parent of
226two children in california public schools and an attorney with palestine legal i urge the state board of education to reject this curriculum and vote no i want to speak specifically to the ihra definition it needs to be removed completely it is a censorship tool by design that promotes ignorance and classifies essentially all criticism of israel is anti-semitic the ihra definition endangers jews by distracting us from white supremacist hate but you know worse it routinely is wielded as a censorship tool in our schools my organization has fielded over 1700 calls since 2012 of students and scholars and community members who have all been censored harassed falsely accused of anti-semitism because of their advocacy for palestinian rights and they wield the ihra definition as the tool to make these false accusations so it is time for ethnic
227studies but it is not a so-called good start to have a curriculum that excludes arab american studies and reifies censorship tools next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is hayek manassian i'm an armenian-american student concerned about our erasure in the curriculum throughout my education in the california school system i was always so disappointed to never find my background represented and personally have had to deal with the racism on many occasions as a result of ignorance on who armenians are the voices of armenian americans are being erased from the ethnic studies model curriculum even though we've submitted thousands and thousands of comments in this process obviously this is something our community is not okay with armenian american studies must be included in the main curriculum under
228asian american studies together with all other west asian american studies item nine attachment two must be rejected we are not included even though we have been saying the same thing and all these comments for these two years the spe must bring in ethnic studies scholars who specialize in studying west asia communities as a racial group within the united states we will not be erased our histories and struggles are often ignored but we are we won't allow them to be in the state with our largest community in the united states thank you thank you next call or please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is dr susie bhajian i'm an academic k-12 educator syrian armenian immigrant a third generation refugee an english language learner and an elected member
229of the south pasadena school board i'm here to represent the armenian school board association comprised of elected school board members across california we are and have been from the beginning strong supporters of a critical anti-racist and decolonial california ethnic studies model curriculum but we are here today because we are concerned that armenian americans are being erased from the model curriculum even though we have submitted over 9 000 comments in this process armenian american studies must be included in the main curriculum under asian american studies together with all other west asian american studies item nine attachment two must be rejected the sbu must bring in ethnic studies scholars who specialize in studying west asian communities as a racial group within the united states we cannot be erased any longer many armenian american students are immigrants refugees
230children of immigrants and english language learners they have been subjected to racialized and discriminatory practices next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is larry hendell and i'm a member of jewish voice for peace the current draft of the esmc does not meet ethnic studies standards or the mandate of ab2016 you should vote no as a jew and particularly upset over the 18-month effort of pro-israel anti-palestinian organizations such as the jcrc adl and weizenthal foundation to remove arab american studies from the curriculum and i'm greatly disappointed in the cde for rolling over in this regard arab american studies must be strengthened and considered a bona fide part of asian american studies with its lesson plans prepared by american ethnic studies educators and the palestinian narrative
231must be included the latest idea of adding jewish studies to asian american studies frankly is a joke and it is a racist trivialization of ethnic studies last do not include the ihra definition of anti-semitism in the esmc thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is larry christian i am president of kurama a non-profit in san diego that focuses on issues of the arab and islamic world this proposal capitulates to political pressure groups and in so doing offers a misleading narrative on arabs and arab americans it is colonialism redux its refusal to address arab american identity while propounding the unprecedent unprecedented proposition that jewish american studies are part of asian american studies is a modern day rerun of the history of
232the arab world from the belford declaration to the league of nations mandate to the present day occupation of palestine it is bad historiography and is antithetical to the principles of ethnic studies adopting it would be an embarrassment for public education in california and a betrayal of the courageous students whose sacrifices led to the creation of modern ethnic studies don't do it thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now i'm down in the app and i retired from the beginning of every single year and here and remembering we're screaming caller we seem to have some technical difficulties please call back next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller here hello yes caller you're live am i live yes
233please go ahead oh okay i'm rhonish ball california educator of 35 years parent and grandparent this curriculum is based on critical race theory which is discriminatory martin luther king said a person should be judged on the content of his character not on the color of his skin according to the california education codes instructional materials must not contain any matter reflecting on persons on the basis of race and educators must promote harmonious relations in the classroom and not foster discriminatory-based bias on the basis of race there are many white students coming from other countries should a poor white boy whose family emigrated from russia and who lost family in the holocaust be judged as having white privilege i urge the board to adopt a constructive ethnic studies model rather than the critical ethnic stuttle studies model
234that is there currently thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is matt honey can you hear me yes we can please go ahead okay thank you so much my name is nas hamid i'm calling from irvine california i'm here to support the api school board members association's position that the sbe approved the esfp today while we understand that it is not perfect we also know that history is living and there will be opportunities to incorporate changes when implementing locally the aapi community consists of about 50 ethnic groups with over 100 languages thus the breadth of sample lessons in the aapi section of chapter 4 is critical for the relevance of the esmc in local communities with the rise in
235anti-asian violence in xenophobia now is the time to say yes to enabling our students to build bridges and connections through ethnic cities i also highly encourage you to add lesson plans for the pakistani american and bangladeshi american ethnic studies community thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now and then we compare them we're live we sort of give an explanation hello yes there seems to be some background noise yes my name is cynthia chen ati school board members association president and also a board member of los gatos saratoga union high school district recently our board has approved one semester ethnic course requires chemtron students and teachers this course is the introduction to the experience of ethnic communities that are rarely represented in textbooks it
236also examines race ethnicity nationality social economic and cultural groups in the united states the course equips students with the critical lens to see the world and then trace india by understanding system and power as rude american society and motivate students to actively engage in our democrat democracy for the same reason i urge the state board of education approve esmc today thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is kathy mcknight i'm with citizens for parental rights and um the efmc directly violates california's constitution and the education code therefore the board should not even consider approving this curriculum article 1 section 31 of our constitution says that the state shall not discriminate against or give preference to any individual or group on
237the basis of rage color or ethnicity edco section 220 says the thing however the curriculum portrays anyone with light skin as being part of an oppressor group how does this promote harmonious relations is required by edco 233.5 ec 51501 says the board cannot adopt instructional materials that reflect adversely on anyone based on race ethnicity or religion the asmc discriminates and reflects adversely on a large number of students and their parents legally the sbe cannot approve this curriculum and our state and our students don't need to be further provided thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is ali si tulu and i'm a pacific islander advocate living in monterey california i'm urging the state board of education to not pass this
238version of the smc because it has not been fully inclusive of the contributions of arab american educators well we're happy that our pacific islander lesson plan has gone into psmc we're very concerned that our brothers and sisters in arab american studies have not been consulted by the cde and any lesson plans inclusive of palestine has been erased the status quo today is that we yield power to dominant culture the education system builds upon that has promoted the society we're seeing today one that is currently terrorized by white supremacist racism the historical whitewashing of our education has contributed to the racism and systems of oppression that we're fighting to undo and walk back today you must make sure this guidance document provides an accurate and proper guidance that includes all people in california and that must
239include what arab american educators have contributed next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is nora russo i am an attorney in los gatos i am the proud daughter of holocaust survivors from greece who survived the war in greece and immigrated to the united states in the 50s i would like the lesson in the proposed lesson plan on jewish americans i would like to add that jewish americans emigrated from western europe as well as eastern europe i am sick of comments that suggest that any criticism of ethnic studies come from quote white right-wing activists or that jews have tried to erase arab americans from the curriculum that is not true the lesson seven on redlining says nothing against the nothing about the practice as employed
240against jews it's a lost opportunity my own my husband's own family was restricted from where they could live in new jersey in the 1960s i urge that lesson to be amended finally not all arabs thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is jasmine amin and i'm a persian jewish student at beverly hills high school unfortunately anti-semitism has always been a part of my life from having someone break into my place of worship and vandalize it or having a random person spit on me because i was speaking in hebrew and called me a dirty jew well i am grateful for the work that has been done to revise the esmc more changes are needed i ask that you please do not retract line
241100 and include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the lived experiences of jews of jewish students and is being used by the biden administration it does not prevent criticism with israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harm's jews in california and around the world i'm a strong believer in the power of education should children learn about the history of the jewish people and the way both the holocaust and anti-semitism have impacted us as a thank you caller i believe there will be a significantly lasting paul your time is up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is leah renson and i'm a california parent the critical ethnic studies approach has corrupted the esmc
242forcing a narrow ideological agenda rather than fostering student inquiry please remove the critical ethnic studies lens from the guiding values and principles and the subsequent chapters in the esmc replacing it with a balanced constructive approach there is some evidence that well-designed ethnic studies curricula have positive academic and social outcomes for students the curricula in these studies had nothing to do with critical race theory or critical ethnic studies ideology would serve to divide children rather than fostering understanding across differences it is not necessary to sacrifice inquiry or impose a political ideology for ethnic studies to have a positive impact on all students the only exploration allowed in the current esmc is within the framework of critical ethnic studies ideology never questioning its dogmatic underpinnings please revise and remove the critical ethnic studies lens from this model
243curriculum before approving the esmc thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is the policy and advocacy manager for the sacramento valley and central california chapter of the council on american islamic relations the united states largest muslim civil rights organization over 25 offices across the nation i urge you to vote no on this proposed curriculum and advocate for the inclusion of arab american studies under the category of asian american studies before any true progress is made as the author of a highly regarded bullying report and a partner with the islamophobia studies center in berkeley as well as the representative of almost 1 million mrs in california i'm surprised and concerned that organizations like ours were not consulted by either the iqc or cde when
244it came to revising the originally recommended model curriculum i was also concerned that the experts that were responsible for the original proposed curriculum pulled their support for the revised model as an alumnus of uc berkeley's african-american and african diaspora studies program i worked with other scholars in the field of ethnic studies to determine ways to ensure our most vulnerable communities and their children can see themselves in their school curriculum many have said in response to arab american studies next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is fatima i'm a member of the palestinian youth movement based in southern california as well as a recent graduate of uc irvine i'm calling today to oppose the current model of the ethnic studies curriculum the current model waters
245down the guiding values that ethnic studies has historically ridden itself in by discarding anti-colonial anti-imperialist and anti-racist frameworks in case we have planned multiculturalism that does not criticize power critical terms such as revolution capitalism right wing and even ethnic studies have been removed from key sections arab history has been marginalized and dismissed and palestine which plays a central role in arab history has been wiped off the geographic map while systemic racism is mentioned there are no lesson plans around it the lack of critical analysis in the last draft is so great that the entire advisory committee and the designated writers of the original esmc requested that their names be removed from the document it is also especially telling that the veterans of the original 1968 third world liberation front and black student union strikes that
246led to ethnic studies as a discipline spoken out in opposition next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now can you hear me yes please proceed caller okay my name is akil gopal i'm a member of jewish voice for peace la and i think it's extremely ironic that you spent the last couple hours patting yourselves about on the back about inclusion when you're purposefully excluding palestine and then you've been finding yourself on the back you're speaking truth to power when you the iqc are that power have been ignoring palestinians speaking truth to you this modern curriculum is fundamentally not ethnic studies which is about anti-racist anti-colonial and anti-capitalist education with youth and what it is is actually colonial multicultural propaganda so i immediately demand that you include palestine and
247arab american studies in asian american studies where where it belongs and then you restore the original guiding values of ethnic studies that actually made it the academic discipline it is today and re-insert the key terms and definitions of ethnic studies including capitalism and ethnic studies which you actually deleted in some places from the curriculum so what's happening right now is actually a complete shame and a sham and uh i don't know next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller or you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello post during campbell african-americans we're added at hbcu and parents for children in california public schools these comments illustrate what will be the results of your program or division not
248unity or empathy you must vote no today these new species covered by emotions to create a program goal so as titles after study supports the for profoundly on divisive education prejudicial concepts and indoctrination and cultural marxism as represented by the comments with orwellian you see ethnic studies like anti-racist and other modernly invented terminology actually thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller here live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is regina waldman i am a jewish woman from the southwest asia and the president of gemini jesus indigenous to the middle eastern north africa anti-semitism in libya forced my family to escape to the united states i'm concerned that the lesson titled anti-semitism in
249jewish middle eastern america is the supplemental bridge lesson but the lesson on islamophobia is placed in the asian studies section do not please do not retract line edit 100 from slide 55 and show equity and fairness and move the anti-semitism and jewish middle eastern american lesson to pair with the islamophobia lesson as equally important jews of the middle east and north africa are recognized as asian and we belong in the asian section please include our lesson in the asian studies and please include the definition of ihra thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is rama awad and i am a community advocate with the arab community center in san diego i work with a community base of arab immigrants
250and refugees here in san diego and we have thousands of arab youth and public schools here i find the current version of the ethnic studies model curriculum deeply concerning because it does not include lessons that are reflective and inclusive of their lived experiences our students all students but especially our arab youth and students of color need and deserve a curriculum that sees them and equips them with the knowledge of racism and systems of oppression which affects their everyday lives claims that education on palestine or racism or colonialism is divisive or a quote unquote spreads hate speech as a denial of historical facts and the realities of minority communities in the u.s that being said i urge the state board of education to vote no on this current ethnic studies model curriculum and i urge for
251the rewriting of this curriculum so that it includes arab american studies within asian american studies and so that it aligns with the guiding principles of ethnic studies thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is deanna darueda i'm a first generation college graduate and proud alumnus of latinx studies at san francisco state's college of ethnic studies i encourage the board to vote no on the current model curriculum because it does not not because of the zionists and white supremacist false narratives given by previous scholars but because this curriculum has been defaned of its foundational liberatory and decolonial tenets like critical race theory and analysis of global racial capitalism particularly alarming is the erasure of arab american studies from the model curriculum
252i cannot advocate for an ethnic studies curriculum that represents my neck community yet marginalizes the experiences and contributions of arab and muslim diaspora communities furthermore all the jewish folks that called in have proven the urgent need for the inclusion of arab american studies in the mortal curriculum anti-zionism and critique of brutal israeli occupation of palestine is not anti-semitism and their gross assertions illustrate the dire need to set the record straight for future generations of california students i demand that the zionist ihra definition of anti-semitism not be included in that jewish american next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live hello yes you're live go ahead hi my name is javar i'm a member of the arab resource and organizing committee in the san francisco bay
253area and i'm calling to say that you must vote no and reject the current curriculum and rewrite the curriculum to include arab american studies in asian american studies this is a watered-down conservative draft that panders to right-wing and zionist organizations and you're deleting palestine and silencing palestinian voices so you'll be guilty of really taking the right-wing side taking the zionist side in this critical moment in history and i think you all should take a hard look at yourselves when you use these words of inclusion in instead of liberation and really understand that you guys are at a critical moment where you cannot continue to silence palestinian voices and i think palestine is the major issue here so that's what we want to see is that you rewrite this draft to include palestine um yeah and
254i i keep hearing inclusion instead of liberation you guys have defanged is is a great where you guys are saying next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is ha tran i'm a california parent and an asian america i have concern regarding the critical ethnic studies students should not be identified as victims or oppressor based on the color of their skin all of us including students are born unique when the students are being labeled we declare their growth and make them not accountable for their action it also would cause division and vulnerability labeling student is equivalent to main calling name calling has not been used and should never be accepted in school please remove the critical ethnic studies before approving the esmt i hope you
255all will do the right thing for our students remove critical ethnic study thank you for your time thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes hi my name is skyler clark and i'm uc berkeley student i'm calling in support of the care ed suggested edits to the model curriculum in order to remain true to the core values of ethnic studies by openly discussing the legacies of racism and systems of oppression i also wanted to respond to claims mentioning institutionalized racism as divisive or that it puts students as victims and oppressors acknowledging racism and its effects is not racist and this claim is an attempt at erasure feeding white guilt or exaggerating bypass victim narratives is not the goal of ethnic studies it helps
256white students situate our histories understand white privilege and also learn to become better allies of like five hot communities white students might have uncomfortable moments but discomfort encourages growth reflection and transformative academic engagement and it also encourages by fox students to take ownership of their histories and become more empowered to actually be liberated by this curriculum so please encourage and incorporate these edits in order to remain true to the values of critical ethnic studies thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now first honor to the first nations of california california department of education and all present my name is alfa sateefano and i am a product of hayward unified school district i urge that you do not pass the current draft of the
257ethnic studies model curriculum it does not censor black indigenous and native narratives the cde's vision is quote all california students of the 21st century will attain the highest level of academic knowledge applied learning and performance skills end quote the highest level of academic knowledge requires curriculum that reflects our time i urge to re-answer arab american lessons including palestine with content and pedagogy developed by arab american educators applied learning requires schools to be the space for analysis and all critiques of all systems of oppression i urge that all original guiding values thank you caller your time is up be restored next next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is gabrielle dimick and i am a uc berkeley graduate student graduate i would like to start
258by saying that eli wiesel holocaust survivor says that it is memory that will save humanity and this is essential when we're considering an ethnic studies curriculum it's absolutely imperative to include the truth of history of colonialism slavery genocide of native americans and continued erasure and abuse and white supremacy to heal as a country all students must learn about the truth this empowers and is necessary to connect i support care edge edits the model curriculum that promote critical ethnic studies and conversations that include the truth of the history of the united states thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is joanne donsky i'm a california parent and retired educator i support ethnic studies but the critical ethnic studies approach has
259corrupted the esmc forcing a narrow ideological agenda and predetermined answers rather than fostering student inquiry critical ethnic studies actually invert traditional american ideals of individual merit opportunity and success it interprets all social interactions through the lens of oppression if america's traditional narratives were designed to encourage social mobility and prosperity esmc's proposed marxist narratives are designed to encourage intergroup conflict and perpetual upheaval in existing institutions that's clear in student assignments such as grafting a manifesto of demands for the third world liberation front the smc is not in the interest of ordinary californians of any ethnicity please revise and remove the critical ethnic studies lens thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is simine osmond i'm the government relations coordinator for the council
260on american islamic relations um the san francisco barrier office i'm a mother of a high schooler and a middle schooler and like many parents of children who face islamophobia and xenophobia and bigotry i was truly looking forward to my children learning about ethnic studies that would that would reflect their history and background and because i recognized the transformative transformative effect of ethnic studies unfortunately the current draft is strict from its original model that included arab american studies in palestine this removal marginalizes arab history and arab people the current draft lacks analysis and critique of racism and other systems of oppression i urge the state board of education to vote no on the current um on the current model it needs to be rewritten by ethnic studies educators of color to reinsert arab american studies lessons
261including palestine within the asian american studies section of the ethnic studies model curriculum with the content developed by arab american educators and i want to reinsert the key terms and definitions aligned next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is penina ilberg schwartz and i'm a white jew daughter of rabbis a member of if not now vote no on the current esmc it must be rewritten by educators of color to reinstate arab american lessons including palestine within asian american studies and to restore the original principles of ethnic studies the current revision totally erodes these principles as a white jew who grew up in california public schools i heard my story often it was not the same for fellow students of color so the revision suggestion
262that ashkenazi jewish experience fits into asian american studies is deeply misguided as jews we need to contend with the real anti-semitism embedded in white nationalism but we can't listen to the false definitions the curriculum suggests by referring to the supposed leadership of the abl a group that targets social justice movements and does not represent us and the ihra definition which equates and does equate criticism of israel with anti-semitism this is so harmful to palestinians and other students of color including jews of color whom the curriculum should support it's harmful to any student asking good questions about israeli violations of palestinian human rights these revisions only push a right wing agenda and silence critique the right thing and vote next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my
263name is armit sahakian um i represent the asa western region the largest nonpartisan army in the mexican grassroots organization and as a sibling of also uh my brother and sister who are in california public schools i'm calling to tell that um you know i'm deeply concerned that the army and american experience is being erased from the ethnic studies model curriculum even though we've submitted thousands and thousands of comments in this process uh their american studies must be included in the main curriculum under asian american studies together with all other west asian american studies the status of the bridging section now named sample lessons is unclear and it also must be clarified to the public and edit in the main curriculum the sb mastering in ethnic studies scholars who specialize in studying the west asian communities
264as a racial group within the united states we cannot be erased our histories and struggles are often ignored but we won't allow them to be in the state with the largest army american community in the united states thank you very much thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is love aloxia and i'm a pacific islander ethnic studies educator that was fortunate to take ethnic studies in high school with kenoita educational partnerships in san francisco in these radical spaces i learned more about ethnic studies which in its origins addresses how black indigenous and communities of color experience white supremacy and hetero patriarchy on and from stolen lands this is why i urge the state board of education not to pass this version of
265the esmc one the full document is not ethnic studies it needs to realign authentic ethnic studies guiding values and principles and include key terms that were removed such as revolution capitalism and systems of oppression too it does not include an arab american lesson plans written by arab scholars that engage content on palestine which should not be excluded if we think about the terrorism that recently happened in georgia climate change police brutality and racialized experiences due to closes the context of a multicultural education is not going to provide the critique for our youth to address these issues please reconsider how you have privileged certain voices in this process and pass a real liberatory anti-racist ethnic studies model curriculum thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now
266hi can you hear me yes please go ahead my name is tammy kim vice mayor for the city of irvine and managing director of the korean american center we've seen an alarming increase of anti-asian violence including the massacre of asian women in atlanta and we continue to be viewed as perpetual foreigners a solution to eradicating violence against asian americans and other people of color is through comprehensive ethnic studies the aapi curriculum provides the knowledge for students to begin to understand our diverse communities and our asian american contributions to the fabric of this nation it is critical to move forward with the pisma's position to approve the ethnic subtle model curriculum today so that more districts can implement ethnic studies locally let's use this as an opportunity to empower our students by giving them the tools
267they need to build connections and to be catalysts of anti-racism and social justice thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is vegeta with the army name national committee of america western region although thousands of our community members submitted their comments on this armenian americans are still being erased from the ethnic studies model curriculum i urge you to reinsert armenian american studies in the draft and then be included in the main curriculum under asian american studies within the west asian american category i also urge that the cde consult with ethnic studies scholars who specialize in armenian american studies item 9 attachment 2 should also be rejected the status of the bridging section which is now named sample lessons is unclear and should be
268clarified to the public and added in the main curriculum armenian american students deserve to see their histories reflected and uplifted in their classrooms so i'd like to see a more inclusive vision thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller are you there next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is i'm a student from uc berkeley i strongly support the care ed suggested edits for the ethnic studies model because we rarely learn about asian stories of resistance let alone how american colonialism and imperialism has prompted our migration patterns and the ongoing fight against deportation discrimination and other forms of anti-asian violence the only exposure i had to the history of my own
269people of the american occupation and colonization of the philippines was exposure that i had sought out myself we never discussed the impact of the model minority medicine school which erases the struggles of the asian community if we want to give our students the agency to actively work against racism we need a critical ethnic studies curriculum that names and combats the origins of this racism that includes colonialism imperialism and white supremacy thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes my name is marcos aguilar i'm mateuali mexicano an indigenous educator in los angeles and i'm a co-founder of anawa kal-mek world school of community-based indigenous
270peoples k-12 school in l.a i've had advocated for and redefined ethnic studies since 1988 including through a two-week hunger strike to demand the creation of what is now the chicano and chicano latina latino studies department at ucla as a student activist i was willing to sacrifice my life alongside dozens of other students we knew because we knew that the live public education was that it could be more complete more correct and more advanced without us and i've taught native american and chicano studies in public schools since 1994. i urge you to create ongoing protocols that respect the rights of indigenous peoples to free prior and informed consent regarding this model curriculum as drafted and as implemented as an indigenous educator i know that in its current form it will continue to perpetuate deculturalization and assimilation
271upon indigenous children and youth i uplift american indian study center director dr shannon speed's letter to you by way of context thank you also next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record please state your state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is nora abdullah and i work with arab youth throughout the san francisco bay area largely displaced by u.s wars and who face anti-arab racism in their schools by teachers and students alike the state board of education must vote no on the current esmc's instead the esmc needs to be rewritten by ethnic studies educators of color to re-enter arab-american lessons including palestine within asian-american studies and restore the guiding values and principles of ethnic studies as a working-class palestinian whose family was displaced by racist
272israeli policies i am disappointed that pro-apartheid groups like the adl and jcrc have been centered in this process while we have been sidelined arab americans and palestinian americans deserve to be recognized vote no because this draft is not ready and re-center ethnic studies scholars and educators thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now yes hi my name is stephanie hansen i'm a mother of three school-aged children in orange county california i'm strongly opposed to adding this ethnic study framework and curriculum for k-12 and including it as a high school graduation requirement as educators you are tasked with teaching our children how to learn and think for themselves not guiding them what to think educators have no business teaching critical race theory creating social justice environments
273in classrooms and using biased harmful material the state board of education touts diversity and inclusion yet is taking a path that fuels racial tension and discrimination further dividing our children and this nation this radical curriculum is inflammatory traumatizing indoctrinating and dangerous you are transforming california schools into factories for far less winged political activism and not even touching base with the the religious aspects of this children chanting to ancient gods and it's beyond disturbing i urge you all to reject this curriculum and vote no thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now just a moment i've been waiting for an hour and a half um thank you so much the religious element of the ethnic studies curriculum which with direct appeals to asset gods
274is almost certainly a violation of the first amendment establishment clause public schools are prohibited from leading state sanctioned christian prayers they must similarly be prohibited from leading state-sanctioned chance to the aztec god of human sacrifice my name is colleen meyer i am on the board of south coast republican women's federated i am a product of public schools all the way through uc with my bachelor's degree in ethnic studies in the year 2000 i support ethnic studies but not in this form you must remove the chanting to the aztec gods thank you for your time thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is miriam and i'm a south asian immigrant student in california ethnic studies been taught constructively as in the lausd
275ethnic studies curriculum can build empathy and understanding while combating racism which is great and understanding our dark history is important as well but unfortunately the proposed gsnc is based on critical ethnic studies which pit students against each other by defining them as victims or oppresses based on the color of their skin and i've seen firsthand how this ideology divides and tears people apart and establishes new hierarchies no better than before don't push this version of the curriculum in the name of progress when it represents me in my community of victims and as being less than to avoid this please replace the critical approach was a constructive essay studies approach and reinstate the lasd curriculum as a resource for users i want an f6 student studies curriculum that inspires students not and doesn't make them feel
276guilty for things they have no responsibility for um please don't corrupt the valuable teachings of ethnic studies and the pride it can give to all people of all colors in their heritage thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is remo i'm a recent graduate of ucla and a member of the palestinian youth movement i'm calling today to urge the board to vote no on the watered-down ethnic studies model curriculum as a palestinian growing up in the california public school system i never learned anything about my ancestral homeland except that the topic was too taboo to touch i never learned anything about the roles
277that imperialism capitalism or islamophobia played in producing the conditions for palestinians around the world today i'm disappointed that the current heavily sanitized iteration of ethnic studies does no more justice to the arab american students of tomorrow than it did for me and i grew up without ethnic studies we demand an ethnic studies curriculum that is true to the original guiding values and principles which are anti-colonial anti-racist and liberatory you must not let yourself be bullied by right-wing pro-israel interest groups who are poor critical thinking as they have admitted today the curriculum needs to be rewritten to re-include arab-american lessons including palestine within asian american studies please do better thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is jeremy ann a
278filipino american former preschool teacher and member of daly city for black lives this draft is not ethnic studies i urge the state board of education not to pass this version of esmc this draft does not fully represent an arab american lesson plan inclusive palestine written by arab american studies experts and educators this erasure is unacceptable in a document like this i also want to name the inequitable process that this has been having people wait on a call for more than an hour and a half for public comment for three plus hours for presentations and your lunches and charging per minute is unacceptable we have jobs people to take care of and it's very infuriating that through all this we only have a minute shame on you we have mass shootings not because bible battles aren't
279taught in schools it's because white supremacist culture and violence is not enabled but embedded in our system thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now yes hi hello my name is been a black woman my entire life as well as a resident of santa clara county ethnic studies was supposed to be about making space for communities whose knowledge has been erased ignored and excluded not being some quack ideology that is based on social vengeance disguised as social justice it is not okay to pass something that represents my community as victims just to save you past something if you want to prevent representing people of color as less than then you need to remove the critical ethnic studies approach and replace it with a constructive approach
280our children students and community members deserve to have california's leaders stand up against this left-wing politician politicization of education under the current esmc curriculum racism is being normalized and our children are being indoctrinated we're supposed to be making progress not a return to the pre-civil rights era please revise and remove the critical ethnic studies blend before approving the esmc thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is rosa kim i'm a korean american educator and also a school board member for the fremont union high school district we've seen an online increase in anti-asian violence and xenophobia for the past year i believe that one solution to eradicating violence against asian americans and other peoples of color is through comprehensive ethnic
281studies curriculum it is critical that the state board of education approve the esmd today so that more districts can implement ethnic studies locally the more our students understand about marginalized groups the more inclusive our community will be now is the time to empower our students by giving them the tools they need to build connection with our diverse community thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now oh hi this is jill silverman a san francisco parent of two while i strongly support ethnic studies the current critical ethnic studies approach harms the model curriculum forcing a narrow ideological agenda and predetermined answers rather than fostering student inquiry
282please replace the critical ethnic studies lens currently in the guiding values and principles and the subsequent chapters of the model curriculum and replace it with a balanced constructive approach to be very clear a constructive approach would include the inspirational stories of heroes like fred koromatsu it would promote racial justice and fight all forms of hatred it would include the many brilliant contributions of blacks asians latinx and native americans it would do this without setting students against one another it would do this without promoting violence for one political viewpoint please revise and remove the critical ethnic studies lend before approving the model curriculum thank you so much for your consideration thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes caller you're live it's david mullins
283calling i'm a resident of california and i would want to ask why would california's education department want to replicate the same bias that marginalized groups have been subjected to for over 200 years in california redirecting hatred will not make that hatred go away and the people who are calling in whether they are pro-arab or pro-jewish or pro-armenian almost all of them are telling you the exact same thing do not adopt this version of the ethnic studies program last but not least the only beneficiary of the current critical ethnic studies program will be the charter schools in california and it's hard to understand why california's department of education would want to adopt a program that will further weaken california's public school system thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for
284the record your time starts now my name is laurie myers and i'm a california teacher i agree with shaneen coates that we need to end hate karen koromatsu about teaching respect and dr asante that we should see people as human beings with no racial ladder but this won't happen when the esmc is based on critical race theory is a key framework and pedagogy smc does not present critical race theory as one tool to examine race it's presented as the only tool listen to the originator of critical race theory derek bell who says that whites continue consciously or unconscious do all in their power to ensure their dominion and maintain their control will this pedagogy end hate and teach respect does this pedagogy see people as humans with no racial ladder no as we see in
285real classrooms and more and more lawsuits this pedagogy causes division and discrimination trustees please review the hss framework that says ethnic studies must help students to respect cultural diversity and see the advantages of inclusion and then remove critical race theories that keep pedagogy from the esmc our students and ethnic studies thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is angela de ramos and i am representing the california teachers association cth strongly supports ethnic studies but we have concerns with the document that's in front of the board today the mono curriculum needs to be one that teachers can use meaningfully intentionally and effectively our practitioners are concerned that there's insufficient guidance for educators to develop an ethnic studies curriculum especially if they've never taught an
286ethnic studies course before there are still many gaps in the document including dilution of content limited portrayals of events in history inequitable representation of the four ethnic groups and a lack of coherence for a tk-12 curriculum based on the concerns outlined in our letter ct is unable to support the approval of ethnic studies model curriculum thank you for your attention and your diligence to thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is max i'm an educator from los angeles the esmc covers the origin story of ethnic studies the third world liberation front or twlf that movement fought for a just cause including communities of color and their stories in our education system and yet there's another side of the story the esmc doesn't
287cover the leadership of twlf promoted anti-semitism they celebrated dictators like mao and lenin whose actions killed tens of millions of people and led many more to flee to this country my own family suffered for decades under the anti-semitism of the soviet union the regime that lenin created the esmc should not be blind to the story of my family and so many other americans who suffered under similar regimes there's a simple way you can help schools avoid replacing one set of uncritical narratives with another wherever the esmc discusses twlf make sure to cover not only its contributions but also its very real laws movements can often do have good ideas about some issues and bad ideas about others students deserve to learn about that complex reality thank you caller next call or please state your name
288and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is david room i'm a father of three girls from irvine and while i appreciate all the work to revise the esmc i urge you to make further changes and resist pressure to make the curriculum worse please include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject the pressure to remove it this definition reflects the real life experiences of jewish students it doesn't prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california second please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking in chapter one and repeat them throughout the curriculum just like the language about values and outcomes lastly please do not retract line edit
289number 100. and one more thing um each group of people needs to be able to tell our own story so the people at gemina have come forth with their own story please make the changes requested by jimena and include and again include the ihra definition of anti-semitism um last if we characterize people as oppressors and vilify them that way it lays the foundation in children's minds for hate and that can lead to tragedies like the holocaust so please next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello can you hear me yes please proceed hi my name is arshia musti i am an educator and a family extended family in california i'm here to support the api school board members association's position that the sba approved the esmc today
290while we understand that it is not perfect we also know history is living and there will be opportunities to incorporate changes when implementing locally the api community consists of about 50 ethnic groups with over 100 languages thus the breadth of sample lessons in the aapi section of chapter 4 is critical for the relevance of esmc in local communities with the rise in anti-asian violence and xenophobia now is the time to say yes to enable enabling our tools to build bridges and connections thank you paul thank you next time please please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live my name is charles taubman and i am a california grandparent and
291voter please remove the critical ethnic studies limbs from the guiding values and principles and the subsequent chapters of the esmc replacing it with a balanced constructive approach we have two choices we can divide and tear down or we can unify and build up we can use critical ethnic studies and to find each other as victims or oppressors or we can apply constructive ethnic studies and highlight role models from the core ethnic groups inspiring students and fostering pride in their heritage let's educate not indoctrinate please remind revise and remove the critical ethnic studies lens before approving the esmc thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is the government and legislative affairs manager for care california the largest muslim advocacy organization
292in the nation and i'm calling to urgently request that the state board of education not approve this version of the ethnic studies model curriculum the reality is that this is simply not an ethnic studies curriculum and that has been illustrated by the ethics studies experts in the california department of education have brought together and initially asked to create this draft who later then requested that their names be removed and continue to have that request so this is not ethnic studies and since it goes out of its way to exclude folks like palestinian-americans who make up one of the larger populations of air of americans in california it doesn't actually meet its mandate or its intentions that have been illustrated earlier during the speeches previous and so it's for those reasons outside of the many others
293that have been illustrated by my various colleagues here today that you do not pass this forward as it simply excludes folks and doesn't meet its mandate and is not ethic studies as illustrated by the very experts please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is joe better with the promised institute for human rights at ucla school of law i work with local land-based tribes in the large native american and indigenous population of la california assembly joint resolution 42 endorsed the principles of the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples this board must embrace those principles including the free prior and informed consent of native american and indigenous peoples many native people i work with have critiqued the lack of tribal consultation in this process and i
294endorse a new provision explicitly mandating tribal consultation the current esmc has succumbed to pressure to eliminate a native perspective in the model curriculum which is troubling and harmful to native peoples if the board moves forward at a minimum it must adopt recommendations put forward by the native community such as the inclusion of a complete list of california tribes amendments to the references to the model curriculum on human rights and genocide and inclusion of a full lesson giving historical context to the native american genocide this would begin full incorporation of the native perspective through tribal consultation prior to any implementation to do less would advocate this body next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now yes i'm lauren smith santa rosa can you hear me yes please proceed okay
295uh the resistance to openness in the projected ethnic studies curriculum as evidenced by the governor's initial detail highlights the one-sided resistance by the closed eye in this camp a plea for holocaust observance and the dangers of anti-semitism cannot be isolated from the actual history of the creation of israel ethnic studies of where the celebration of israel's independence day against the palestinian nafta it should include the preceding events of the 1800s to 20th century highlighting western intervention in the middle east the beginnings of the zionist movement and true exposure of the recognition subsequent um decision thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is
296dr financinatovo a product of the california public school system from grade k all the way to 20 and i am an educator right now at the college of san mateo as an educator in the field of pacific islander studies i urge the state board of education not to pass this version of esmc this is not about appeasing that we cannot add everyone right now or this is the beginning and this draft this is about addressing the deliberate watering down of the esmc this current draft does not align with all components of original ethnicity concepts and principles which are founded in naming and critiquing structures of oppression such as capitalism and white supremacy this draft does not fully represent an arab arab american lesson plan inclusive of palestine palestine written by arab american studies expert and
297educators this erasure is unacceptable in a document like this in this current state this asmc document is not ready to serve teachers in teaching a full ethnic studies curriculum i therefore urge the state of board of education to not pass thank you caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is sarah kim i'm an educator and founder of tv next representing asian and korean americans in california as a korean american ethnic studies very important only if it's taught without political propaganda and without working students the the critical ethnic studies must be revised further because it still forces a narrow ideological agenda and predetermined answers rather than fostering students inquiry multiculturalism is not a big study teaching to honor aztec god and human sacrifices are certainly not
298ethnic study so please remove the critical ethnic study lenses from the guiding values the principles and the subsequent chapters of the esmc replacing it with a balanced constructive approach i'd like to see an ethnic studies curriculum that inspire students not evoke feelings of guilt or helplessness or anger toward each other the esc the esmc should foster inquiry not indoctrinate fight racial not define people by the skin color unite and inspire students not to buy them and should never evoke guilt anger and hopelessness thank you please revise and remove the next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi this is angie thaw i've got a phd in ethnic studies i'm
299a former school board member we need to be clear to school districts across california that ethnic studies acknowledges differences by race and the experience of native american african-american asian pacific american and latin american communities the four core groups when students have school lessons that acknowledge racial differences that they have experienced it has a profoundly positive impact on increasing student success the staff edits that say that jewish american studies as part of asian american studies is not fair to either jewish american studies or asian american studies the lesson plans that are not about groups dealing with racial differences belong somewhere else in the california curriculum the fox news article does not belong as part of the ethnic studies curriculum thank you so much for all your valuable work and making sure that the four core groups
300are the central piece of ethnic study thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller here live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is victoria i'm a former teacher from colombia who moved to california as a young adult approving this narrow ideological agenda because it is a starting point is wrong the pushback is not against ethnic studies per se the pushback is against the critical ethnic studies approach being used especially since there is another more positive approach i ask that you remove the critical ethnic studies lens from the guiding values and principles and the subsequent chapters of the efmc
301replacing it with a balanced constructive approach we should not lead the nation in teaching violence we have given copious feedback to all graphs regarding the critical ethnic studies approach which have gone unheeded a critical ethnic studies approach narrows the focus of ethnic studies to the victim oppressor narrative while ignoring essential contributions of the core ethnic groups both political and non-political that would inspire students and foster thank you very much caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record please your time starts now thank you caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi yes you're live please proceed hi is that me yes it's you oh okay great hi my name is marge sussman i'm a member of jewish voice for peace and i'm here to
302urge you to vote no on this version of the ethnic studies model curriculum it is not ethnic studies one of ethnic studies core values is decolonization this calls for teaching about the role of colonial conquest in the u.s and in other parts of the world and how that impacted indigenous people previously as slaves africans and later immigrants to the u.s every arab country has been affected by european colonialism as well as by harmful u.s policies this is why arab american studies including palestine belongs in the ethnic studies curriculum within asian american studies as a u.s born white jew i don't support jewish american studies within ethnic studies and can't even imagine how the people who created this current curriculum including jewish american studies within asian american studies the ihc thank you caller your time's up
303next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is claire diane and i've worked as a specialist in education for more than 12 years and i'm a mother my ancestors have been in the middle east in between expulsions and slavery for over 50 generations my family came to this country to flee persecution only to be met with the murder of my great-grandfather in a hate crime since then in california my children myself have experienced anti-semitism directly and via social media causing great harm california's hate crimes toward jews stand at about 68 of all religious-based hate so it makes sense to include anti-semitism and jews under the core groups i encourage you to reinstate the ihra definition of anti-semitism into jemena's lesson plan i'm not interested in the
304racing era of americans from the esmc i'm not interested in erasing anybody now there's a second lesson planned for the arab community most currently have you noticed how many folks have spoken to exclude anti-semitism and jews this is exactly a reason why anti-semitism and jews must be included hate is hate haters are common and educated next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is sarah levin and i am the executive director of jemena jamana exists to protect the heritage and the rights of the one million misrahe jewish refugees from the middle east and north africa and their descendants 200 000 of whom live here in california given that middle eastern jewish communities comprise one of the largest southwestern asian communities in california and continue to
305be targets of rising anti-semitism it is perplexing that islamophobia is defined and addressed throughout the asian american studies section of the curriculum but anti-semitism is not along with 15 000 members of the jewish community i request that the lesson plan anti-semitism and jewish middle eastern americans be moved to the asian american studies section of the curriculum i implore the state board to treat our jewish communities equally to other communities from southwest asia it is in this vein that i am asking you not to retract line edit 100 from slide 55 that was presented to you today thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is christian shin and i am a korean american college student in california and a product of the
306californian public school system we have seen an alarm increase of anti-asian violence and xenophobia because as asian americans we are viewed as perpetual foreigners a solution to eradicating violence against asian americans and other peoples of color is through comprehensive ethnic studies the aapi curriculum provides the knowledge for students to begin to understand our diverse aapi community and our contributions to the fabric of this nation it is critical that the state board of education move forward with the api school board members association's position to approve the esmc today so that more districts can implement ethnic studies locally let's use this opportunity to empower our students by giving the tools they need to build connections and be a catalyst for inclusion and social justice thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the
307record your time starts now hello my name is jamal khan a parent from san diego from my experience systematic systemic racism is the result of cultural dehumanization and programmed ignorance by approving a model curriculum persian the arab lessons plan including palestine the board unwittingly perpetuates the anti-arab islamophobia and ignorance why a parochial special interesting groups targeted the removal of a plan prepared by bonafide educators from the esmc draft the powerful and well connected must not define educational priorities for our children formalizing the marginalization of the arab american story will indulge our sons and daughters knowingly or unknowingly in the bigotry that breeds islamophobia and anti-semitism i urge the board not to promote thank you your time's up it's called the board please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi
308this is john windham a california parent the critical ethnic studies approach has essentially corrupted this curriculum it forces preset answers rather than having students research and think for themselves and it picks certain narratives to highlight while ignoring those that don't match its predetermined conclusions the critical ethnic studies approach should be removed from the guiding values and principles and from the balance of the curriculum students should be exposed to multiple perspectives taught to think critically and form their own opinions based on the diversity of facts and opinions please ensure a more constructive and balanced approach to ethnic studies in california public schools lead the critical approach to college electives rather than forcing it onto our high school students thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record place your time
309starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi can you hear me yes please go ahead hi great hi i'm dara i am a california resident i am a mother mother-to-be i am a wife of a israeli immigrant who comes from misraki heritage which is of yemen i'm also a daughter and and a sister and i am my own person i came through k through 12 in public school in california in the bay area and i have always wanted to send my children to public school as i find the diversity to be very enriching and very important for a child's education unfortunately if anti-semitism is present in our public schools i'm afraid i will have to take a second job to shield my
310children from what could be very dangerous i'm hearing on this call talks of of zionism and uh pro-whiteness of these pro-israel groups which is so offensive given the jewish experience the this draft of the emc thank you please state your name and uh affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes you're live please go ahead hi my name is hi my name is natalie r batman and i'm a junior at mountain view high school here in the bay area i'm a daughter of soviet jews and i spent my whole childhood hearing stories from my parents about the rampant anti-semitism in the soviet union anti-semitism that was no doubt encouraged by school curriculums and by teachers who propagated the same marxist ideals that persist in the ethnic studies model curriculum while i'm grateful for
311the work that has been done to revise the ecm scene more changes are needed i urge you to please reject demands that you remove language that encourages critical thinking instead of one-sided political agendas in the curriculum it is crucial to include guidelines that will help prevent hatred and bias in our schools and repeat them multiple times throughout the curriculum critical thinking and objectivity are the only things capable of keeping hate and anti-semitism out of our schools please don't let my parents experiences become my own thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is laurie fong a chinese-american teacher representing the api california school board member association i was a high school principal a teacher and i'm now school board president
312in santa rosa it's imperative now that sbe passed the s mc as a student growth in california and as a teacher i'm embarrassed and saddened that i did not learn nor teach this it is necessary to have a strong resource for teachers to use to enrich the curricular written preparers path ones that do not represent all of our current students the recent anti-asian violence has been one manifestation of keeping acid groups the other and allowing even promoting siloam experience and zero understanding of each other's histories and lived experiences at ms huerta miss weber and ms cormont who pointed out this model curriculum is due it is time it is necessary and is a step in the right direction for california school please adopt it now to empower school districts and teachers to be agents of
313inclusivity it's not perfect it's a start we must start thank you thank you caller next caller please state your uh name and affiliation for the record your time starts [Music] now youth movement i call on you to vote no on the current curriculum and to reinsert american lessons including palestine within the asian american studies section of the esmc with content and pedagogy developed by american educators and which is true to the discipline of ethnic studies palestinian and arab americans like me experience anti-arab racism and homophobia and the current whitewashed racist and offensive curriculum will only continue to harm arab american students the cbe's decision to purge over american studies from the asian american studies uh asian american studies runs against decades-long tradition in asian american studies and ethnic studies and is shaped and supported as
314shaped in supportive of experts in the field these actions marginalize arab history and arab people they ignore the fact that palestine is an intrinsic part of arab american history are calling you again to re-insert our american lessons including palestine within the esmc and i also call on you to include armenian american history in the main curriculum thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello can you hear me yes please go ahead caller hi i'm rebecca hitchcock a former san mateo foster city school board member and i'm calling today as an early education professional lifetime supporter of building a better tomorrow by educating our children today and to support the asian american and pacific islander school board members association's position that cde approved the
315ethnic studies model curriculum today it's essential as children learn about the richness and diversity of the aapi community which consists of over 100 languages and 50 ethnic groups california's curriculum needs to be representative of our communities thus the breadth of sample lessons of chapter in the aapi section is critical for the relevance of the esmc the longer we wait to approve and adopt in the an esmc the longer we wait to heal while we know it's not perfect we also know that history is living and there will be opportunities to incorporate changes when being locally implemented let's step in the right direction by adopting now making these imperative resources available to our educators empowering them to be agents of inclusivity so more school districts can implement ethnic studies and move california school districts and our
316culture towards a more inclusive and respectful caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is christina smeltzer and i'm a mixed-race asian-american resident from san luis obispo california and a student at uc berkeley i wholeheartedly support the adoption of the ethnic studies model curriculum but the current draft is insufficient i instead support the care at dentists the goal of critical ethnic studies curriculum is not to be decisive divisive but transformative through exposure to narratives and knowledge which are normally suppressed engaging issues such as white supremacy or systemic racism is only divisive if you choose not to recognize the legacies of oppression which are being discussed the goal of
317critical ethnic studies is not to place students into fixed social roles in fact is quite the opposite the very word critical already implies that students are expected to think about how their identities situate themselves in society today that they can change from what their ancestors roles in society were in order to build community and dismantle oppressive systems thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is joshua washington executive director of the institute for black solidarity with israel um it is mind-boggling to me that there are many of us call who are calling for the original esmc draft to be reinstated as it is a gross misrepresentation of history including much of the arab studies portion that misconstrues historical truth and will miss
318the centuries-long arab slave trade of africans the black american part of the curriculum also dismisses dr king as weak and docile and erases others like him including thurgood marshall by arresting rosa parks this is by design of critical race theory and critical ethnic studies furthermore it is angry to hear how many on this call are equating a historical teachings about jews in israel to palestinian human rights it isn't human rights to malign demonize any race the indigenousness of the jewish people that is not ethnic studies and it has nothing to do with human rights the first strap needs to stay dead in its current draft needs to be completely revamped to reflect on much more than much more by diversity of thought lastly the ihra definition of anti-semitism is not a sensitive tool no more
319than the civil rights school was a censorship tool next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes caller you're live please go ahead hello my name is linda liebus and i am a california voter the critical ethnic studies approach has transformed the esmc it favors a narrow ideological agenda and predetermined answers rather than fostering the student's inquiry the esmc should foster inquiry not indoctrinate it should fight racism not define people by skin color unite and inspire students not divide them and evoke guilt and helplessness please take out the critical ethnic studies lens from the guiding values and principles and the subsequent chapters of the esmc and replace them with a balanced constructive approach which we all agree we need and want thank you thank you caller next
320call or please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi everyone thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today my name is gabby i'm a moroccan jew and a current student at a university in california i also have a younger sibling in a california high school while i'm grateful for the work that has been done to revise the esmc more changes are needed please include the full ira definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the list experiences of jewish students and is being used by divided administration it does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that he speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world also please do not retract line edit number 100. i ask that you make
321important changes to ensure our experiences are represented in the esmc please ensure curriculum that my sister and her fellow students can learn from and that these americans in california residents can all be proud of thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello hi my name is elon abbey and i'm the first generation of iranian refugees in california to paint people of jewish descent as a privileged white class although they are on the receiving end of the most ethnic hate crimes is a joke when jews demand as they be represented by the widely accepted ihra definition of anti-semitism who are we to deny them and yes singling out the sole jewish state is a representation of centuries along racism as a first-generation american
322of iranian immigrants i fight for the rights of our jewish asian arab and armenian brothers and sisters while in middle school in california my peers and i studied two units which is four chapters on islam this includes two projects and two essays on learning muslim prayers in history we learned of no other religions to act as though arab history is being unrepresented in this model is untrue and many anti-semitic callers are painting a false dichotomy between the inclusion of jews and the representation of arabs these two populations are not mutually exclusive similarly by the governments of the pa and hamas which kills gays subject against women and glorifies martyrs as pink for youth for the sole purpose of killing jews as uncle as quote unquote liberators you're working to shoot and radicalizing an entire generation
323while ignoring the place of weaker jews and middle eastern norway thank you caller your time is up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello can you all hear me yes please proceed hello everyone my name is yasmin abed and i'm i'm an ethnic studies graduate in the advocacy and campaigns coordinator coordinator with the arab resource center in san diego where we work with thousands of arab families in youth i'm calling in strong opposition of the current model ethnic studies curriculum ethnic studies was the only space on campus i was heard and seen as a palestinian student but let's be real here the most recent draft is not ethnic
324studies it's a whitewashed version of ethnic studies that's made to ensure zionists don't get uncomfortable by the bloody history of zionism actual ethnic studies curriculum centers folks of color and talks about capitalism enlightenment and solar colonialism as tools of oppression those are key terminologies to ethnic studies they're not optional please make sure to re-insert these um terminologies and we demand that you vote um you vote no on the current proposal and re-enter arab american lessons including palestine within the asian american studies section ethnic studies curriculum thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is zach blemenstein i'm a law student at berkeley school of law i am yet another jewish american here to say that the jcrc and the simon weisenbaugh center do
325not speak for me i strongly urge the board to vote no on this curriculum this ethnic studies curriculum has made a mockery of the original mandate in a b 2016 seeing as the entire advisory committee requested their names to be removed ethnic studies and its very foundations involved resistance to u.s colonial conquest and the legacy of slavery yet this curriculum seeks to erase those very narratives most notably by erasing the struggles of arab americans and palestinians a lot of people here have expressed concern about the atlanta shooting but what does this even-handed diversity rhetoric do it means that we can have a black secretary of defense calling for increased belligerence against china and a jewish secretary of state saying the same we need to understand the struggle of asian americans against u.s imperialism and the
326role that it plays in growing white supremacy next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is anahidoshagan i am a first generation armenian-american great-granddaughter of armenian genocide survivors product of the public school system attorney and mother of four children including two middle schoolers i am also a board member of the armenian national committee of america western region i'm grateful for all the work done by the cde to include ethnic studies in the model curriculum as a former public school student i did not learn armenian history i want to ensure this changes while the ethnic studies curriculum is critical and empowering to some it continues to ignore and marginalize armenian history and fall short the armenian americans are being embraced from the ethnic studies model curriculum even
327though we have submitted thousands and thousands of comments to the cde armenian american studies must be re-inserted in the draft and be included in the main curriculum under asian american studies with the west asian american category the status of the bridging section is unclear and must be clarified for the public and added in the main curriculum the cde must consult ethnic studies scholars who specialize in armenian americans your time is up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now yes can you hear me yes please proceed yes hi my name is michael ehrenberg i'm a businessman and someone who advocates for equal rights again uh towards all people as a jewish guy living here in southern california and the son of a holocaust survivor surviving the nazi death
328camp i stand for all people to be educated by facts and i think that the critical ethnic studies program as it stands now actually creates division um and pits ethnic groups against each other i was delighted of course to learn that the california education code the state board of education uh re had started to rewrite some of these uh some of these statements and i also believe that no discrimination should be tolerated based on religion or nationality i implore you to also include california's middle eastern missouri jewish communities to the southwest asian communities calling your time's up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is lada kaswani i am the executive director of the arab resource and organizing center i urge you all to
329not adopt this curriculum and follow the lead of legal organizations and experts in affirming that this draft does not meet the mandate of ab2016 it is not an ethnic studies curriculum and is not written by experts today cde has put on a production to mask over the mass opposition to this curriculum shame on all of those who have enabled racist anti-arab tropes to dominate the discussion in order to justify redefining ethnic studies if 77 of california students are in fact students of color why continue to center whiteness and allow white right-wing interest groups to shape this curriculum this is an insult to the legacy of 1968 strike veterans that is why they oppose this curriculum as do experts like cornell west and angela davis you have erased us oh and displaced us um absolutely relegated
330us to an appendix and then whitewashed the entire curriculum you've allowed next week please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now speaker you're live next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is bella adegar and i'm a sophomore at brentwood school in los angeles california i strongly support a curriculum that represents the experiences of different communities and i'm grateful for the work that has been done here but i'm here to share more concerns about some of the problems that still remain number one i ask you to please move jimena's lesson plan about anti-semitism to the aapi studies section and approve all changes requested by jimena second please do not retract line edit number 100. third please add the ihra definition
331of anti-semitism to the curriculum anti-semitism is a real and harmful part of daily life for jewish students and this needs to be put to an end as a first generation american my parents and grandparents faced persecution in iran and were forced to flee from the country due to their religious beliefs they experienced anti-semitism in the classroom and in daily life and were forced to live with these horrific experiences of being called pigs and dirty jews from a young age i think we've seen enough people today putting down the jewish community and this is hate we need to end which is why we need the ihra your time's up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now um hello my hello my name is nadya and i'm a member
332of the palestinian youth movement i'm calling sergeant sd to vote no on the current smsc it is completely unacceptable for the cde to allow predominantly white right wing interest group to define ethnic studies and you've heard this time and again on this phone call i've been on the entire time and waited a long time to get these comments as has so many who i know are dropping off because they don't have the time to sit and wait uh for you to call on them nor can they pay the fines or the cost in order to sit here minute by minute this is not accessible whatsoever ethnic studies emerge as a discipline in order to resist the history of u.s racism colonial conquest and enslavement into central bipop communities who have been most impacted the cde
333enlisted non-ethnic studies scholars and succumbed to pressure from right-wing institutions and as a result have completely sanitized the curriculum to exclude any analysis and critique of racism and other systems of oppression for shame we demand a true ethnic studies curriculum as anti-racist anti-colonial and liberal thumbs up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello can you hear me yes please please proceed hi my name is sarah furuka community advocate the advancing justice asian law caucus and a mentor at the arab resource center in san diego the current version of the esmc is not ethnic studies there is a lack of analysis and critique of racism and other systems of oppression how is ensuring that the historical truths of this country such as racism white supremacy divisive our
334students need to understand the historical reality of our communities this is why i asked the state of board of education to vote no on the current esmc and instead have it rewritten by ethnic studies educators and reinserts arab american lessons including on palestine restore the original guiding values and re-insert key terms and definitions aligned with ethnic studies scholarship thank you and have a good day thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now shows like how smaller are you there okay all right and the next one called is caller following claim supported or not supported based on information in the bar graph and the claim is banned members spent next caller
335please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi can you hear me yes please proceed hi my name is elena ginawabi i'm the administrator for care san diego please vote no on this draft i can tell you from the numerous calls i received from work people call me and for various reasons such as islamophobia xenophobia racism hate and violence all of them are correlated to one thing their identities have been eliminated our narratives have been hijacked and our dignities have been trampled by right-wing white supremacy like the ones you have heard in support of this draft i urge you to please reinsert the arab arab american lessons include palestine within the asian american studies sections of this ethnic studies model curriculum with content and pedagogy developed by arab american educators
336and true to the discipline of ethnic studies i really really thank you for giving me time and i do encourage you to please re-read everything that we have worked on and support our community don't trample our identities our dignities or hijack our narratives this is very important to us because we're exposed to violence and so much hate you have no idea the aapi are one of the people who experience this next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi i'm mariah and i'm an apocalypse latina student at ccss for critical pacifica studies please vote no on this draft what is being offered disregard the fundamental orientation of ethnic studies it lacks the analysis critique of racism and other systems of oppression and it does not fully represent an
337arab american lesson plan inclusive of palestine written by american educators throughout this meeting i'm hearing this framework is meant to serve our educators as a blueprint on how to run the curriculum however this draft is providing directions on how to sanitize and protect white supremacy and i'm hearing that this curriculum is not appropriate because it will encourage hate for this education to be valuable and unifying courses need the critical study runs to engage all students in constructive learning and invoke feelings from the atrocities i have inspired white supremacist culture and white violence is not only embedded but especially deliberately enforced when you leave historically oppressed people out of your curriculum this education needs to be honest and completely truthful of lived experiences of all time your time's up next caller please state your name and
338affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes please hello can you hear me yes we can hear you please proceed hi sorry um my name is jennifer holden i'm a parent from marin county a proud zionist and a daughter and granddaughter of north african jews while i appreciate all the work to revise the efmc i urge that you make further changes and resist pressure to make the curriculum worse first please include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the real-life experiences of jewish students and is being used by the biden administration the ihra definition does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show
339that the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into anti-semitism on a more personal note my family was forced out of their arab and muslim majority home and no other arab or muslim majority country would welcome them because they were jews israel is a welcome home to jews of color like mine second please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking thank you so much your time's up thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is jonathan and i am a parent of two i had my own facts to bring today but i think the previous callers brought me more than enough evidence as you have heard multiple times many people are advocating for the ihra definition of anti-semitism
340to be included in the main section of the esmc a section a section present in the gemena mizrahi section i have heard people calling us truth wise powerful controlling right wing this is absurd this is the ignorance that leads to anti-semitism grouping jews under stereotypes this is why we are pushing for this to get approved jamanna is jews from the middle east i can show you my skin there is no white we are pro-israel because we are jews not because of the color of our skin not for our controls but personally i support palestine i want a resolution but for this to happen we need both palestinian and israel perspectives not just one zionism is not anti-palestine as some say but instead just promotes the idea of a home for jews and apartheid in israel
341is not possible there are arabs in the israeli government once the other side realized there would be more equality of perspective they now want to cancel this draft critical thinking that means equality of perspectives please no stereotypes no thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now kyle are you on the line hi my name is may i'm a civil rights activist and educator a mother of three children currently the california public school system a product of the school system myself i'm a woman of color a minority a refugee and yes a jew over 60 percent of your constituents your students are non-arab with the majority being refugee jews of middle east and north africa over 200 000 of them live in our state jews are only
342two percent of the population you have subject to over 68 percent of all ethno-religious hate crimes making them making us the number one targets of ethno-religious crimes we make up one of your largest percentage of your constituents yet we were given zero representation within the main body of your curriculum and we're left to be once more marginalized and left in the margins in the back in the addendum section how is that fair how is that just when every day jews are in pain and cannot walk outside without being persecuted jewish students cannot go to school and they have to hide their identity next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi this is clayton reines i'm from mission viejo i got three kids in school i am a
343product of the california school system as well so uh it was brought to my attention some of the critical race theory parts of this this really this program that are the most troubling and really it ties back to the origins the critical race theory and i challenge the board members really think about how they how they interpret really the civil rights movement of the 60s which has been invoked by other people speaking here as well so uh in looking at the work from derek bell alan freeman and kimberly crenshaw who really did mapping the margins it really culminated in richard delgado's work critical race theory and introduction it says and i quote unlike traditional civil rights crt questions the very foundations of the liberal order including equality theory legal reasoning enlightenment rationalism and the neutral
344principles of constitutional law my challenge to you is do you really reject the liberal order the foundations of the liberal order do we reject equality are we rejecting thank you caller your time is up thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now i'm luna martinez a berkeley law graduate and attorney at the center for constitutional rights i want to urge the board to resist the conservative forces pushing aggressively for the current curriculum people today have called the curriculum a good start but i asked the board to consider it good for whom not for the other american voices and histories the curriculum races not for palestinian students targeted by the same groups pushing this curriculum not for muslim students already facing state repression who won't
345see themselves reflected in the study materials no the curriculum is only good for the right-wing actors that benefit from silencing these vulnerable voices and it contradicts the principles and mandate of ethnic studies under ab2016 i urge the board to receive pressures to carry water for reactionary groups like the adl whose agendas stand out odds with the anti-racist pre-colonial and libertarian mission of ethnic studies for these reasons the board must reject the curriculum thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now you haven't done anything so far oh hi uh yes i am uh dr roberto hernandez i am the current chair elect for the national association for chicano and chicano studies and while i respect the work of the assemblyman alejo on that goddess
346here i actually worked on the very first iteration of ab100 that preceded uh the model curriculum uh nevertheless i i'm here to urge you to vote against it this current version does a disservice to ethnic studies there is no critical ethnic studies and constructive ethnic studies there's only ethnic studies as created by ethnic studies scholars over the last 50 years and a celebratory multiculturalism that is what we're hearing touted as this uh constructive ethnic studies moreover it's important to note that ethnic studies is not about the history of groups it's about prosperity racialization and domination next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now i'm danny asness retired public school teacher of 20 years member of quit queers for palestine and a jewish anti-zionist urging you to vote no
347on this current version of ethnic studies it is not a liberatory ethnic studies curriculum as queers we know the importance of fighting the attempt to silence our voices and our support for intersectional liberation arab american lessons including palestine must be reinstated into asian american studies as an educator i know that all our students would benefit from a critical analysis of racism as they seek ways to affect systemic change equating anti-semitism and hate speech with criticism of israel and support for palestine is bad pedagogy and undermines the original intent of ethnic studies vote no on this ethnic studies thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now
348hello my name is louise lipsy i am a grandparent of several grandchildren here in california school system i am extremely concerned about the growing anti-semitism that is occurring in all the schools in in the state and i really call upon you to please include the full ihra definition anti-semitism and please approve all the changes that gemini have made and do not retract please line edit 100. i urge you to make these changes appreciate all the work you've done but please let us not create more division this and more hatred and more anti-semitism let's work constructively to have critical thinking and positive ethnic studies that promotes positive feelings among students and does not create more hate and is not creating more anti-semitism in the school system we've had too much already and it's time to move
349forward and eliminate this and go forward in a more inclusive manner that will include all next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes please crusade my name is a palestinian muslim arab american student i'm a youth leader at iraq to speak to the speaker from ing you said this isn't about marginalized groups it's about all american perspectives from my understanding as a student one of the main purposes of ethnic studies is to avoid using a racist colonialist american perspective for more than 10 years that i have attended school in america every history lesson or description of ethnic of ethnicity was an american perspective one that described us muslims and arabs as a darker future people the american perspective will always be one of stereotypes and uses
350a white savior complex to the board the american studies of the american arab american studies of the curriculum should center arabs our perspectives our narratives and our histories of resistance also please include palestine ethnic study centers those who have been pushed aside like palestinians it makes that inca intentional choice to center those voices those voices because if you don't then you won't i think you can adopt this curriculum next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live hello this is amy yes please go ahead oh hi my name is amy kuh and i'm the api director for csba northern vp for episma i urge you to adopt the esmc today while we understand that it is not perfect there will be opportunities to incorporate changes when
351implementing locally the aapi community consists of about 50 ethnic groups with over 100 languages thus the breadth of aapi sample lessons is critical for the esmc's relevance in local communities i'm a fourth generation san franciscan and my first memory of racial bullying was at the age of five when a group of kids circled me in a swimming pool and said chung king like it was ringing around the posie i fear for the safety of my elderly parents when they walk the streets of san francisco and my in-laws vietnamese refugees who live in sunnyvale asked whether they should get pepper spray for protection with the rise in anti-asian violence and xenophobia now is the time to say yes to enabling our students to build bridges and connections through ethics next caller please state your name and
352affiliation for the record the time starts now hello yes please hello can you hear me yes my name is leon kim and hello my name is miyan kim dason korean school principal in san diego california i have a third year teaching experience and two children and two grandchildren ethnic studies is very important for the students to understand systems and power at the root of american society and to motivate them to actively engage in our democracy i'd like to support the api school board members association's position that sv approved the esm today the aapi community consists of about 50 ethnic groups with over 100 languages thus the breadth of example lessons in the aapa section of chapter 4 is critical for the relevance of the esmc in local communities with a rise in anti-asian violence and
353xenophobia now it is time to prove enabling our student to build bridges and connections through the ethnic studies thank you very much thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes please go ahead hello can you hear me hello my name is daniella hello my name is daniela schwartz i am a jewish mexican-american and a product of the california school system um i would like to request that the the school board please adjust the ahr the ihra um definition of anti-semitism and please in um implement all of the suggestions taken um requested by the jimena organization as a jewish mexican-american um whose ancestors fled genocide and persecution both from europe and from northern africa i request that you please include these uh that you
354please include these edits into the into the curriculum and um and please allow everyone to be inclusive i'd also like to add that over 50 of the population that exists in israel today are refugees from northern african and europe countries ole miss rocky next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is amy i'm a resident of california and the comments over the past few hours seem to be a bit of evidence as to how much division ethnic studies creates but having a more robust history as mentioned by few speakers is great the smc is not that and i respectfully ask that you reject it esmc is loaded with marxist ideology already sowing deep division among peoples and generally mark and generally malign people of european
355uk descent european uk cultures and christianity this does not heal societies or build community as previous members of the public have stated the esmc also includes chants that appeal to various gods including an aztec god of human sacrifice and cannibalism if prayer is no longer allowed in public schools how is this okay this would train christian and jewish children to violate the first commandment and commit a horrible offense against almighty god on our previous speaker this morning equated conservatism with racism and white supremacy however a conservative or someone of european descent or a christian does not make someone a racist or a white supremacist conservatives identify with many different races and cultures as new christians thank you for your time and please reject the essay thank you caller next caller please state your name and
356affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is ernie nishi i am an abc school board member tonight county distribution member and um everything else i'm here to support the api school board association position that sbe approved as espn now you can't hold back every delay means another generation will witness more intolerance more cases for kids more treating african-americans as others and more asian hate my mom was a victim of this she was incarcerated for no reason because she was the other person my daughter is never going to get to see this tuition because frankly she's going to graduate out we can't let this delay anymore more delaying more hurts we need to start thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now
357caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now so how do we do next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now callers just a reminder if you're waiting on the line to speak you're only allowed to speak one time for one minute next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi i'm julian the executive director of apt we wrote a letter asking for state leadership to stand up to the typical power dynamics of influence to ensure the authenticity of ethnic studies to combat systemic racism and to create a state system of continuous improvement two days ago eight people six of whom were asian americans were murdered in three different locations in atlanta
358on june 17 2015 nine african-americans were murdered in charleston on october 27 2018 alum jews were murdered in pittsburgh the common thread is that all these murders were conducted by white men acting on white supremacy we need to acknowledge and critique these realities based on race the marginalization of people of color in our education curricula train most americans to not see people of color as equals our education system owes a debt to students and people of color to be seen heard and valued ethnic studies is supposed to elevate the narratives of the marginalized to map the legacies of racial injustice when the current esmc dilutes the naming of systemic racism white supremacy and exclusion of people of color it inc it continues to advance whitewashed narratives while failing to advance all of your time's up
359next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi can you hear me yes please proceed i'm an educator in socal i use an alias because this space is not safe anyone who speaks critically of israeli colonialism and its institutions according to the ihra definition of anti-semitism are witch-hunted and are targeted on the blackmail website canary the current draft contributes to an already dangerous education environment for bypass and palestinian students as an indigenous palestinian semite the european supremacy movement co-opting the submedical identity like the mizrahi continue the cleansing of my community through this new corrupted curriculum erasing indigenous levantine
360semites and fueling identity politics in support of genocidal israeli apartheid and even the armenians from the curriculum is a form of zionism from the region carried out in this new corrupt draft of the curriculum that pro-israel groups perpetuate fate decision makers should not fall into the chaos of internal identity politics of the pro-ethnic cleansing zionist community that's hiding behind multiculturalism while they scramble to rescue israel's reputation as it comes under investigation for war crimes this is all connected and all very scary that is not the role of the state support the original draft of ethnic studies reinstate everything thank you caller your time's up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record callers uh we still have a number of people online once again if you've already spoken please disconnect from the
361phone line next call yes go ahead i'm a mother of three in the public school system and it is um as a daughter of a a granddaughter of a holocaust survivor and two parents israeli parents one my father was born in palestine i find that this ethnic studies is very um doesn't tell their site from a personal aspect and it's um i'd also really like to have the definition of anti-semitism that was adopted by included and i feel that every nation has a voice and that narrative is not there when you don't have the ability to have critical thinking and that is where it comes to indoctrination as opposed to uh education so if we can please make sure that those voices are heard your time's up next caller please state your name and affiliation
362for the record your time starts now hello is that me that's you you're next right all right um i want to say that the ethnic studies model curriculum needs to be rejected it's formed with critical race theory and it's marxist tactics that separate and get out and demonize a race to sign the oppressor role too this is completely divisive and there are many state and federal laws that are being violated with this curriculum and we're not going to stand for this you're going to have so many lawsuits it's never going to even get off the ground so i think you need to stop wasting california's tax money and time with this radical indoctrination attempt thank you thank you so much speaker next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts
363now speaker you're live next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now speaker you're live next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now as a parent of an african-american child i do not want my child being taught that he is a victim any psychologist will tell you labeling will frame that child's future likewise white children should not be taught that they are evil because of the color of their skin that is racism clearly this will foment racism create further divisiveness and create a generation of individuals who hate themselves and harbor grievances towards others reject it outright thank you thank you so much for the call next caller
364please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now i'm paul kouyovsky the model curriculum is still infected with critical race theory the belief that every person interaction and institution must be viewed through the prism of race teaching this neo-racism is harmful for many reasons here's one in 1967 three percent of u.s marriages were interracial marriages 50 years later the percentage of interracial marriages had risen to 17 in california almost 25 percent these millions of mixed-race couples have had millions of mixed-race children many of them are in california's schools thus california's children increasingly know other multiracial children or are themselves multi-racial but just when this is liberating them from the constricting racial boxes of the past critical race theory would drag our children back into those mental cages please don't inflict critical
365race theory on our children thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello yes please hello my name is laura messian and i'm a teacher i'm also the descendant of turkish and persian jewish refugees my brother-in-law was present when the poway synagogue was attacked and he could have been murdered simply for being a jew murdered by a white supremacist so please move both the middle eastern jewish american lesson and the armenian-american lesson into the main asian studies unit please place the analysis of anti-semitism along with islamophobia this is equitable and inclusive covering one and not the other shows bias as jews and other middle eastern people have been and continue to be excluded marginalized silence stereotyped and scapegoated specifically in the time of rising hate
366crimes directed specifically at american jews we cannot afford to sideline anti-semitism which affects all jews simply because of one's opposition to israeli policies or because one erroneously considers some jews white critical caller foreign conflicts next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi can you hear me yes go ahead and proceed hi thank you my name is erican i'm a city college of san francisco student and daughter of vietnam war refugees i'm in full agreement with all the previous speakers that are denouncing white supremacy and i'm here in solidarity with the arab american students asking that the state board of education must vote no on the current efmc instead we are asking for them to reinsert arab american lessons including palestine within the asian american studies questions curriculum
367restore their original guiding values and principles that make ethnic studies the academic discipline it is today and re-answered the key terms and definitions on ethnic studies scholarship and pedagogy the anti-asian sentiment in me for being anti-racist has been central to currently we address violence but upon our communities upon history and critical analysis through education especially public education can you imagine what creating a forward picture of ethnic studies is on curriculum being the entry point where our youth can do to influence not just how someone thinks but how they act please think about the current events that unfolded the violence has to end and i fully believe as a student next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller are you available hello hello can you hear me yes
368hi wonderful i just wanted to ask all of you kind people who have done for hello yes caller if you have uh a secondary device with the meeting please turn down the volume we're getting a lot of feedback okay give me 10 seconds to take care of that okay um is this better yes thank you your time starts now okay thank you so much um i really wanted to ask all of you who are in positions of power and this is a very powerful position that you're holding to really consider your legacy do you want to perpetuate more hate or do you want to create more unity i hope you will do everything in your power only to bring about good for the state of california and love and appreciation for one human being to
369another and the best way to do that i think is to foster unity and not divisiveness and so please please do put the anti-semitism alongside islamophobia that's where it deserves to be and please also eliminate all anti-israel sentiments in this curriculum thank you so very much next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is velma maya i am a freshman enrolled at bonita vista high school in san diego california although i am grateful for the work that has been done to revise the curriculum from its original drop more changes are needed i urge you to
370include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects lived experiences of jewish students like myself and is being used by the biden administration it does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world the definition of islamophobia is mentioned in the asian-american section of the curriculum and has every single right to be there therefore there is no reason why anti-semitism isn't just as important to mention i also urge you to not retract the line edit 100 of the model curriculum keep the jews at the asian section of the curriculum please make this change these changes for the sake of california students thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the
371record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is allison bill i'm calling on behalf of viet rise and orange county as a community organization of vietnamese refugees child refugees and immigrants we stand in solidarity with palestine and unequivocally calling you to vote no on the current esmc we're calling you to vote no because esmc needs to be rewritten by epic studies educators of color 2 1 reinsert arab american lessons including palestine within the asian american studies section of the ethnic studies model curriculum with content with content and pedagogy developed by arab american educators and true to the discipline of ethnic studies palestine is an intrinsic part of arab american history and has been central to the international perspectives at the
372root of ethnic studies as a discipline from its roots in the late 1960s second restore the original guiding values and principles that make ethnic studies the academic discipline it is today and third reinsert the key terms and definitions aligned with ethnic studies scholarship and pedagogy and correct erroneous information about ethnic studies ethnic studies is necessary to fight against white supremacy and institutionalized erasure of all our new times socially oppressed people next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello can hear me yes please proceed hi my name is tracy law i'm a vietnamese american and director of an organization named viet ryan's in orange county california i'm calling to urge you to vote
373no on the current curriculum and for it to be rewritten by ethnic studies educators of color with the rise in anti-asian violence served into our communities one of the biggest reasons why this bias continues to happen is a racial lack of education and true histories of our communities of color his current draft perpetuates an incorrect and dangerous version of history that will not prevent further violence and be complicit in the history and the erasure and violent attacks in our communities it is islamophobic it is marginalized arab history and arab people and it is anti-black on behalf of my organization i'm demanding that the ethnic studies curriculum be rewritten to insert arab american lessons including palestine within the asian american studies section of the curriculum a call needs to restore the original guiding values and principles
374that make ethics studies academic discipline it is today and i call on you to reinsert the key terms and definitions aligned with ed studies scholarship and pedagogy anything less would be an attack on our communities and urge you to vote no thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello can you hear me yes please per se my name is mahmoud arakat and i'm an arab resources and organizing youth leader i'm a senior at westmore high school and as a palestinian i believe in dignity and liberation of all oppressed people this curriculum goes against all of that the curriculum doesn't center the experience of youth of color it completely erases arab and palestinian history the critical edge of ethnic studies has been sanitized by removing
375critical ethnic studies terms such like revolution right wing capitalism and even ethnic studies from key sections palestine is an interesting part of arab american history and has been central to the international perspectives at the rule of ethnic studies as a discipline from its root in the late 1960s the actions of the cbe marginalized arab history and arab people the actions mere the racist policies of the trump administration and the shameful history of anti-air racism thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now yes go ahead please hello yes can you hear me yes we can okay
376just go ahead all right my name is jasmine and i'm a teacher and a parent from irvine the aap i community consists of about 15 ethnic groups with over 100 languages that the breadth of the sample lessons in the api section of chapter 4 is critical for the relevance of the esmscmt in local communities with the rise in anti-asian violence and xenophobia now is the time to say yes to enabling our students to build bridges and connections through ethnic studies i highly encourage you to add lesson plans from pakistani american and bangladeshi american ethnic studies and into the main curriculum under the asian studies and i i feel that all ethnic groups should be included otherwise it's not a complete one so thank you for listening thank you caller next caller please state your name
377and affiliation for the record your time starts now once again callers if you are on the line this is the public comment line please hang up and listen to the webcast if you just would like to listen to the the meeting uh next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is sally tamayoli i organize san francisco students rising and i'm a student at city college of san francisco i'm a proud asian-american product of public schools in california and my aunt fought for and implemented the college of ethnic studies at sf state in 1969. we see what happens when history is not taught from the standpoint of the systematically oppressed we get something like the attacks on the dc capital on january 6th while i personally see
378that day as a funeral for white supremacy i know it derives from generations and generations of people in america told a very different narrative a lie in their schools about the history of genocide imperialism and slavery and who was responsible for those atrocities and that oppression maintain ethnic studies as a pedagogy of the oppressed vote no on this version of esmc i'm also in a thread with 100 other people on this call we're timing ourselves and know you're cutting us off so please stop that it's deeply disrespectful to the democratic process thank you caller uh again callers we appreciate your patience there have been many people wanting to comment so thank you next call or please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is tony ubaldi i'm president
379of vallejo's unified school district i urge the state board of education to approve ethnic study model curriculum today to benefit all students in california ethnic studies course is designed to give high school students an introduction to the experiences of ethnic communities that are rarely represented in the textbooks it is also a compelling way to examine race ethnicity nationality social economics and cultural groups in the united states the course equips students with critical meds to see the world and their place in it by understanding systems and power at the root of american society and has a goal to motivate students to actively engage in a democracy to the ethnic study course students are supported to discover and use their own power for the benefit of not only themselves but also that of their community and society
380at large i urge the state board of education to approve the ethnic studies model curriculum today thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi there my name is paulia lavi and i'm a student residing at california and ucla and i just want to say no to the ethnic studies curriculum because it creates a complete erasure of jewish identity with a lack of representations i just want to say that it should be going under asian studies next to our arab brothers and sisters i feel as though there is a lack
381of just word on judaism and israel and the indigenous roots of our people and we're extremely scared on campuses right now because the main consensus is anti-zionism and anti-semitism has become the norm and i just want to say that it's making me scared it's making other students scared and it's as early as middle school that people are being taught these values that are just anti-semitic and anti-israel which subsequently creates anti-semitic rhetoric on campuses just disguised as progressivism please do something about this please as a jewish student and a colored person i have no space thank you caller your time stop thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is and i serve as the policy and advocacy manager at carela i am
382calling for the board to reject the current escsmc because of the erasure of palestine and arab american studies i urge the cde as palestine and the arab american studies within the asian american curriculum plan i also urge that the curriculum be created by ethnic studies experts once again i urge the board to vote no on the current esmc thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is lisa and i'm a student at ucla i'm calling for the board
383to vote no on the ethnic studies curriculum jews are minority and anti-semitic acts continue to rise my jewish ancestors in history should be included as well first please include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it second the hr the ihra definition does not prevent criticism as israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into anti-semitism lastly please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking in chapter one and repeat them throughout the curriculum just like the language about values and outcomes we need critical thinking not just one-sided political agendas please make these revisions today for the sake of it thank
384you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is and i'm a persian american and i'm standing up for the rights of our ethnic people to be valued as an ethnic ancestral minority who took place in judea and erasing this only warps the truth uh jews are subject to higher than normal ethnic racism and by targeting this and trying to make it a false dichotomy between arabs and jews is hurtful to peace so we need to wake up and smell the truth thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello can you hear me yes please proceed my name is farida erakat and i'm a former student at uc irvine
385and a member of the palestinian youth movement we must vote no on the current esmc curriculum which constitutes the censorship and whitewashing of the history of arab americans which is reflected in part by the erasure of palestine from the curriculum within the asian american studies section of the ethnic studies model curriculum removal of terms such as capitalism and revolution reflects the clear desire to ignore the systems of power and control rooted in white supremacy and colonialism that are inherent in our society this watered-down version of ethnic studies effectively silences students of color and deprives them of their rights to learn and actively engage with their histories which reinforces the status quo of white dominance the argument that critical race three creates buys possible environment for white students urges us to ignore infrastructural racism and power
386imbalances at the expense of students of color in order to preserve these inequities and ignore the reality that history is already biased in favor of these oppressive structures in crafting the curriculum the fde must enter the voices of arab american educators by utilizing content pedagogy developed by them thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello uh do you hear me okay yes my name is alan fisher i live in san mateo county my two sons now in their thirties are graduates of california high schools i have carefully read the latest draft of the esmc i commended substantial improvement over the initial version but i am concerned that its goals still reflect the under underlying ideology of critical race theory and critical ethnic studies
387i value an ethnic studies curriculum that exposes students from various backgrounds to the histories and personal stories of their peers to enhance mutual understanding in our diverse state and as chapter one states to help build bridges of intergroup understanding however the chapter goes on to list six goals that are heavy on jargon and go beyond teaching concepts to the promotion of race-centered activism in a way that magnifies differences among groups i understand the impatience to finally approve a curriculum but getting this right is more important than getting it today please replace the ideological agenda of critical ethnic studies with a more balanced approach next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi can you hear me yes next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record
388your time starts now yes hi my name is arshia musti i'm an educator i thank i really thank the school board members for doing what they're doing the aapi community consists of more than 50 ethnic groups with over 100 languages thus the breadth of sample lessons in the aapi section of chapter 4 is critical for the relevance of esmc in local communities i highly encourage you to add lesson plans for pakistani american and bangladeshi american ethnic studies we need to be all inclusive to do justice to this program thank you very much thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi can you hear me okay yes please pursue thanks thank you hello my name is marianne mejia leone i'm a first generation hispanic american
389a mother of a child in california also previously a teacher now work for a corporation i would like to strike this down and please vote no i believe this is a sham it's very shameful it's clear indoctrination this is a this has a marxist narrative to it moving our country closer to a communist country so again i would request that you please vote no do not adopt this thank you for your time thank you speaker next speaker please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi there my name is kate chavez and i'm a hispanic jew i attended an la usd school and i'm a proud first generation product of the california state university system first i'd like to say thank you for positive steps however there are still shortcomings
390um please include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the real life experiences of jewish students and is being used by the biden administration the ira definition does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into anti-semitism second please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking in chapter one and repeat them throughout the curriculum just like the language about values and outcomes lastly please do not retract line edit number 100 please make sure these revisions happen today for the sake of all of our students thank you so much thank you caller next
391caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is danny wellman and i'm a parent of two jewish students enrolled in california high schools in san diego and very grateful for all the work that you have done but there are still more changes that need to be made i urge you to include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressures to remove it this definition reflects the lived experiences of jewish students and is being used by the biden administration it does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california around the world a definition of islamophobia is mentioned in the asian american section of the curriculum and has every right to be there therefore there's no reason why
392anti-semitism isn't just as important to mention i also urge you not to retract line edit number 100 of the model curriculum please make these changes for the sake of california students thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is carla schick i'm a jewish queer educator for over 30 years i along with thousands of community members the men that you vote no on this current watered down version of the curriculum this version bears no resemblance to ethnic studies it is like a body that has been operated on by a doctor and returned with its heart cut out the removal of key ethnic study guidelines and of key vocabulary such as racism and the inclusion of a definition of anti-semitism as criticism of israel
393underscores how right-wing zionist organizations took control of a public public process cutting out ethnic studies experts and communities of color a pedagogy of hope presented by powell ferry will give two to those facing racism and colonialism to find a path to liberation thank you arab american studies with palestine is an essential part of a resistance marriages to colonial injustice and violence thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is jennifer carlin and i am a senior in a california public high school and i urge um for the ethnic studies model curriculum to protect jewish students and do better to address the history and persecution that the jewish people some have faced to prevent it from happening on a daily basis as i
394have a friend in the pala and the california public school system who was called anti-semitic slurs in 2021 and the administration did nothing about it how can we prevent bigoted anti-semitic attacks like this if we do not first acknowledge it in the classroom and teach it anti-semitism can only be stopped if we addressed it in its totality therefore include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and approve all changes requested by jimena to include the lesson plan in the asian american study section and do not retract line edit 100 protect jewish students in all ethnic minorities and do not let history the history of my people repeat itself for the sake of california students i urge you to do this thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record
395your time starts now hi good morning uh i am kiyomizoki a first year student at uc santa barbara um my parents were both immigrants who left iran about 36 years ago under strict religious persecution and the same thing happened to my grandfather iraq um i've seen anti-semitism come across my path and so many of my friends and family have and all i ask is that this curriculum makes all students feel inclusive and feel like they belong to the world in california and that all ethnicities are being understood and uh heard um so with that i ask that you approve all changes requested by gemina and move their lesson plans to the asian american studies section that section rightfully addresses the lobophobia but sadly it doesn't give you the crucial lesson about anti-summit system additionally i
396ask that you do not retract the line edit to number 100 um and lastly i ask you to include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now oh hi my name is sharina adegar i'm a mother of four children in the la unified school district quite frankly i'm appalled to hear all the anti-semitic rhetoric i've been hearing all afternoon i cannot believe my ears i'm calling today first please include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this pressure is unwarranted this definition reflects the real life experiences of jewish students and is being used by the biden administration the h the ihra definition does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms
397jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into anti-semitism second please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking in chapter one and repeat them throughout the curriculum just like the language about values and outcomes we need critical thinking not one-sided political agendas and hate in our classrooms lastly please do not retract line edit number one hundred please make sure that these investments every time your time is up next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now my name is melina faraduni i'm a student from woodland hills california and the child of immigrants from
398iran while i appreciate all the work to revise the esmc i urge you to make further changes and resist pressure to make the curriculum worse first please include the full hra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the real life experiences of jews students and is being used by the biden administration the ihra definition does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into anti-semitism second please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking in chapter one and repeat them throughout the curriculum just like the language about values and outcomes we need critical thinking not one-sided
399political agendas and hate in our classrooms lastly please do not retract one edit number 100. please make these revisions today for the sake of our student thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is elena maya and i'm a parent of two jewish students enrolled in california high school in san diego although i am grateful for the work that has been done to revise the curriculum form its original draft more changes are needed i urge you to include the full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the lived experiences of jewish students like me and is being used by an administration it does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that the hate
400speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world a definition of islamophobia is mentioned in the asian american section of the curriculum and has every wrinkle single right to be there therefore there is no reason why anti-semitism isn't just as important to mention i also urge you not to retract mine edit number 100 of the model curriculum keep jews the asian section of the curriculum please make this change these changes for the sake of california students thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is lara kaswani and i'm a faculty member in the college of ethnic studies i would just like to say that this is an insult to all the legacy of the 1958 strike veterans that
401is why they oppose this curriculum as do all writers of the original ethnic studies model curriculum and experts like cornell west and angela davis as arabs as people of color you've erased us displaced us relegated us to an appendix then whitewashed the entire curriculum you've allowed those who have historically benefited from racial hierarchies to define a discipline intended on eradicating racism i hope none of your children have to experience what we as arab youth as arab communities have witnessed today including people of color they are way too smart for this nonsense and deserve better thank you thank you next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hello my name is sarah sanergosa and i'm a pacific studies ethnic studies educator in san francisco fortunately due to language removal
402and the drift from essence studies guiding principles this current document in its entirety is not ethnic studies to remove critiques of systems of oppression including capitalism and to silence palestinian histories and content among other changes that are reflected in this draft demonstrate a lack of commitment to ethnic cities as a field its history its power its possibilities there is growing evidence that essex studies courses have positive impacts on student outcomes thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is kayla liberson and i am the project manager for the san diego jewish teen initiative while i appreciate all the work to revise at esmc i urge you to make further changes and resist pressure to make the curriculum worse first please include the
403full ihra definition of anti-semitism and reject pressure to remove it this definition reflects the real life experiences of jewish students and is being used by the biden administration the ihra definition does not prevent criticism of israel it simply acknowledges that hate speech about israel harms jews in california and around the world regardless of what you may hear today polls show that the vast majority of jews agree that anti-israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line into anti-semitism second please keep all the guidelines for critical thinking in chapter one and repeat them throughout the curriculum just like the language about values and outcomes we need critical thinking not one-sided political agendas and hate in our classrooms lastly please do not retract line edit number 100. please make these revisions today thank you next caller please state your name
404and affiliation for the record your time starts now hi my name is mohammed erica i'm a junior at valhalla high school and a contributing writer at arab america organization as a palestinian i believe in dignity and liberation of all oppressed people this curriculum goes against all of them secure the curriculum doesn't center the experience of youth of color it completely erases arab and palestinian history the critical edge of ethnic studies has been sanitized by removing critical ethnic studies terms like revolution right-wing capitalism and even ethnic studies from key sections palestine is an artistic part of arab american history and has been censored for the international constructive at the root of ethnic studies as a discipline from streets in the late 1960s the actions of ce marginalized arab history and arab people their actions marry the
405racist policies of the trump administration and the shameful history of anti-air racism thank you thank you caller next caller please state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now caller you're live hello yes your life caller your time starts now hi um i i just wanted to comment about the the this whole curriculum and everything california k-12 schools are failing and academics also i know this the um ethnics is important but this seems like very bad timing to forces on the american people american and california parents especially are waking up to what is going on so just to let you know that and we don't need our kids to be taught how racist our country is or is not it's not the role of the school system thank you next caller please
406state your name and affiliation for the record your time starts now this concludes public comment thank you so much before we launch into board discussion i think we need to take a little bit of a break uh get ourselves refreshed so that we can engage with all of our brain uh it is 3 25 let's take 15 minutes and come back at 3 40 and we'll start our board discussion at that time 3 40 yes fifth does take a 15 minute break i see you at 3 40. all right we are back and i want to thank all the stakeholders who took time to call in today uh we've heard many many views about the curriculum um most of the comments i'm so i'm so sorry to interrupt but i i believe we need to
407reestablish the quorum oh thank you let's reestablish our form thank you member bern here president darling hammond here number fatah here hamburglar woods here remember mcquillen here member novel here member patilla bronson here remember rodriguez here remember rucker here vice president strauss here here terrific um i was about to say that you know we've heard many questions and comments about the curriculum many of which were considered by the iqc and by the cde staff and i'm sure they would be pleased to answer questions that you may have about specifics that were raised in the comments i've heard a number of people say don't pass the ethnic studies curriculum yet but i will remind everyone on the board that we have a statutory expectation that the curriculum will be adopted in whatever form it is to
408be adopted by march 31st so there is a time frame that i wanted everyone to be sure you are aware of i also just like to start us off with a couple of comments you know the passion that we hear about this topic illustrates why ethnic studies is so important much of what we hear is the quest by each person and group for a sense of belonging and acknowledgement an affirmation of personhood and of the struggles each has been through belonging is the most fundamental human need and that is part of what ethnic studies offers it's a way to acknowledge the experiences of individuals within their cultural context and to embrace rather than fearing or punishing diversity at the same time ethics studies demands that we understand the forces that stand in the way of
409our shared humanity so that we can address them uh we need the more complete study of our history that ethnic studies provides and the attention to inequality that it stimulates and this is where the issues we've been hearing about regarding a critical race theory come in this is a concept that is often misunderstood as creating divisions among groups or setting people against one another that is not the point or the goal of critical race theory which as i reread the document i realized was never defined in the document so i'm going to offer a definition critical race theory emerged from critical legal studies that have examined how racism has been embedded in our laws and policies it refers to critical thinking about race not to criticism of specific individuals based on their race an article
410published by the american bar association this year defines critical race theory as a practice of interrogating race and racism in society critical race theory recognizes that race is not biologically real but is socially constructed and socially significant it acknowledges that racism is embedded within systems and institutions that replicate racial inequality codified in law embedded instructors and woven into public policy uh because there is so much misunderstanding of the concept i will ask that this definition be added as a footnote to the ethnic studies model curriculum text at the first place where it is mentioned so that at least we'll have a common understanding of what is meant by criticality if we use this analytic lens we can see how inequalities we still struggle with in our own field of education have been constructed and we
411can take steps to address them for example even after the horrific institution of slavery was ended which affected both african americans and native americans in california the legacy of discrimination persisted in jim crow laws and school segregation that affected all people of color across many states including our own uh while we all know about the brown versus board of education lawsuit mendes versus westminster was brought here in california in the 1940s when silvia mendes was turned away from a california public school that identified itself as serving whites only represented by thurgood marshall who later litigated brown vs board of education a lawsuit addressed legalized segregation in four los angeles school districts in but even when schools were officially desegregated de facto segregation continued reinforced by segregated housing and lending practices also encoded into law and
412policy the setting of school district boundaries and the unequal funding system that spent more money on the education of students in wealthier districts than on those serving concentrations of students of color and despite decades of equity litigation in which some of us on this board participated it was not until 2013 that governor brown proposed and the legislature enacted a more equitable funding formula that begins to redress these disparities across school districts that are so tightly tied to race and still to this day california schools are the most segregated in the country with respect to latinx students and the second most segregated with respect to african american students the 17 percent of schools that are more than 90 percent low income in this state are on average also more than 95 percent african-american and latinx and
413in these schools the remaining students are almost always native american and pacific islander students these schools also have four to five times as many uncertified teachers as schools that serve few students of color they are among the schools that were most likely to lack computers and connectivity when the pandemic hit they've also been among the schools for many years with the least access to a through g courses high status stem opportunities including computer science and quality facilities and while we hear concern every year when test score data come out showing disparities a critical look at law and policy shows how these differentials have been embedded in housing zoning and school assignment policies that have exacerbated segregation while funding formulas grant allocation rules and the ways in which we recruit pay and treat teachers have distributed
414resources in ways that take advantage of this segregation to maintain inequality the same inequalities have been rooted in school systems that have allocated different curriculum opportunities to different students since i'm sad to say stanford professors elwood coverley and louis turman an early eugenicist and iq test developer declared that different races would have different levels of intelligence that should be handled by creating different opportunities to learn that are now codified and tracking policies with which i've struggled for my own children who often found themselves to be the only black students in honors classes after they've been initially denied entrance to them and i expect to continue the struggle with my grandchildren when they get to school so critical race theory allows us to look for the root causes of these stubborn inequalities and address them so
415that we can finally make progress toward the inclusive equitable society we desire it is not a means to demonize any individual person or race but a way to find the roots of inequality and correct them seventy years ago in the height of the mccarthy era w.b du bois wrote of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for five thousand years the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental the freedom to learn has been bought by bitter sacrifice and whatever we may think of the curtailment of other civil rights we should fight to the last ditch to keep open the right to learn and that is what this conversation is about how do we ensure the right to learn for all of our children in ways that move us increasingly
416towards the inclusive diverse society that is a california for all and that moves us beyond uh the places where that promise has been denied with that i do want to open up board um conversation on this topic i know that our members of the cde staff and of the iqc leadership are still here with us if there are specific questions as well as commentary and looking in the participant queue i see that member rucker is ready to launch the conversation followed by member son you are on mute patricia you're talking to myself first of all dr darlingham and i wanted to thank you for taking the time to make the opening statement that you just made because i also noted the number of times not only today but in previous conversations both with the iqc
417and here at the board that we have heard this critique about the role uh and the definition of critical race theory or how it was being interpreted in the uh in the draft curriculum so i'm glad to see your suggestion about crafting this definition into the content however i i think that it's more important not to have it just not to just have it in the content as a footnote it may be important for that content to be added as a direct part of the main content itself either as an introduction or in the opening chapter but in the or in the opening explanation about the intent of this where it's appropriate i think a footnote becomes just that a footnote and it doesn't help us to refine or resolve this very critical dispute i
418also think it's important to recognize that while as we go forward on this you know in my family we have this saying that iron sharpens iron just as a one man sharpens another i think that that's what this conversation has done and that's what this conversation is about and in many ways the conversations and the dialogue and the discussion and the testimony we've heard is an explicit example of how critical race theory works is the conversation because it does these things and allows people to have these conversations to agree not just to agree to disagree but to really take a look at what their stance is why it's there and how to resolve those conversations and concerns so i think it's very important for us to have this discussion it's very important to look at
419this document as a living document to understand our intent and to move forward with the effort to create this opportunity and this very important policy thank you member son thank you i just wanted to comment that i was very inspired by the distinguished guests at the uh very outset of this uh item who spoke they very passionately and articulately um told us the urgency or provide the urgency the urgent need the intent and the purpose of the effort here so while the legislation requires us to adopt a quote ethnic studies model curriculum any teacher or educator will tell you that this document isn't a curriculum per se that's right guidance it's a collection of sample lesson plans upon which local agencies schools and districts can develop their ethnic course studies courses or not so i
420do feel comfortable supporting the staff's recommendation on on this item and also i i would uh agree with um president darling hammond's suggestion of adding that footnote on the critical race theory definition thank you i'm going to ask the staff to put that on paper if we want to see it at some point as we get closer to a vote remember glover woods thank you president darling hammond and as i stated a little earlier anytime we have conversations about the lived experiences of people of this country and in our state and how we've been impacted by policies and systems and practices those are difficult conversations um to be had but they are important conversations that must take place and the the the guidelines do ask and request and demand that students have opportunity to engage
421in that rigorous analysis of those systems and of those systems of oppression so i also applaud and thank you for bringing forward the definition so that it could be clearly understood what it is and what it is not one other piece i do want to add and i think we would be remiss if we don't continue to emphasize this is that the ethnic studies model curriculum is a first step in conversations that should be engaged in at the local levels we've heard on very fast comments not just in today's game but i know past iqc meetings on where there are some desires and some needs and i would encourage those conversations to continue at the local level so that as courses are developed they are representative of the demographic communities um in which those leas
422do serve and again this is the first step there is a lot more to be done but i think we need to continue to move forward in this very important work thank you member nava just a couple of comments and a question for shanine first of all uh shanina i'd like to thank you and the cd staff for an intense and laborious work on this uh ethnic model curriculum because it's um it's been a labor of love on your behalf and that behalf of your team and i know that um there's been many hours put into this and i appreciate that i i also want to recognize and appreciate all our callers and what was very clear is that we all have strong beliefs and convictions about ethnic studies what it should be and what
423it should not be and such is the dilemma for california when we're trying to design and provide a balanced reflective model curriculum that meets the needs of all people in the california that being said uh it is a model of which i appreciate dr koramatsu's comment at the beginning of our session today where she commented that this is a model that will continue to evolve and i appreciate superintendent's statement about the magnitude of this project and board member glover woods about the time and energy that's been put into it and so i see this as a conversation that will evolve over time and that i also believe we could continue to work on this project for many many years to come and never come to complete consensus and agreement in the state of california about
424what ethnic studies should be with that also i'm going to support this shanin the the question i have for you is around the critical thinking and i heard that come up in several uh calls that there's a belief that critical thinking element is only highlighted in chapter one so with respect to that question could you expand on that in just a bit sure so in terms of critical thinking it's actually um woven throughout so uh for i'll give a couple of examples we have in chapter three is where we introduce the four themes um sample themes and within that we have various questions they're open-ended questions designed for student inquiry and for and again critical thinking throughout the draft we also have some concrete connections back to the history social science framework again including open-ended
425questions and the ability of students to for example look at primary resources primary sources as well as to to connect um the narratives of a variety of ethnic groups and identities and then additionally each of the lesson plans that are in chapter four connect directly to the history social science framework shifts as well as the english language arts english language development standards and again the lessons are developed and shaped in a way to promote critical thinking as well so it is it is laced throughout essentially the document is what i hear you saying so i appreciate that okay um member mcquillen yes thank you it's been a long day i just want to thank the staff also for their dedication to this item it's it's been more than meaningful to be a part of it
426and give input to this this particular item i'm one of the newer members on the board and i just have to say that it's been very meaningful and the opportunity that this ethnic studies guideline provides for our students throughout california to understand each other and many of these students will be our voting members and our our adults very soon out in the community and we want a better understanding in our community of each other and of the different people throughout the world so i want to thank director coats for her work on this and what helps me on this item is it is a guide it's not mandatory um leas and each region can develop their own program that reflects their community i like that part of it and can add to it we have
427very diverse uh communities throughout california and we need those programs on ethnic studies to to reflect the communities that they're in so i really like that part and i my heart goes out to all the callers i wish they had more than one minute to share out but of course we would have been here all night long if that was true so i appreciate all the patients and all the callers who were frustrated with the one minute timeline so again thank you and thank you to all the staff i just like to add a thank you to you member mcquillen for participating in the educational series of seminars that were you know developed to help people understand the history and roots of ethnic studies so we appreciate you representing us in that really important part
428of the process uh vice president strauss so i just want to follow up on the comments that were made for throughout this entire process we've had thoughtful written comments amazing public comments lots of units and lessons being submitted lots of groups helping us to look at a variety of resources and i think we're a lot better off than we were when we first started this process many years ago but we know as member mcquellen and everyone has said that this now moves to the local level for really how to address ethnic studies at the local level with the local context and i think it's so clear from all of our keynote speakers that we had this morning about how important it is to understand the context of each group and the challenges of each group
429we heard it passionately in our speakers today with lots of emotion worried for their kids worried for their community and we have a responsibility to support the educators who will be charged to deliver this curriculum so i appreciate that governor newsome has a proposal for investment in teacher capacity training professional development and continued work to help provide resources and support and really how you engage in these really challenging conversations in classrooms and schools so i i think it really is representative of our diverse state and the challenges of our student population that we as public school educators and leaders provide the resources the guidance and the flexibility for local districts to address the challenges that they see as they help craft coursework that will support their students so i just want to thank um the
430cde team particularly and the state board staff that supported all the vetting of the hundred thousand comments of all the lessons and resources we know we have a lot more work to do but i feel like we've heard a lot of voices and can ensure that we are committed to continuing the work forward to provide the right support so students get thoughtful dialogue and deeper critical understanding in their classrooms as high school students thank you thank you and i will note um before i call the next couple of folks that the department has put together a resource website that will allow folks to get access not only to more lessons that have been submitted but also to um places that do this kind of work routinely teaching tolerance um facing history and ourselves and other
431curriculum sources that will help the process that you described eileen in in local communities remember patio bronson and then i think i saw member fatah with his hand up did you still want it up okay remember patio bronson i also wanted to join in the chorus of thanks to um the civil rights heroes who joined us at the top um i i feel like whenever we get to see dolores huerta it is a good day um and to also just recognize how fortunate we are in california in some ways to have some of the leadership that we do that is homegrown um and able to help us chart a path that really i think in many ways is charting a path not just for california but for the rest of the nation um the the
432number of states that are looking to us to actually launch this and launch it well i think um is significant um and that's a responsibility that california has always i think um stood up to that uh moment and and actually met that moment um also tremendous thank you to the staff to the many committee members who volunteered countless hours to contributors from our own california community but also from across the country who also clearly were taking an interest in contributing and to the many folks who clearly not only had a a labor of love but also patience to join us for public comment um today and in in past iterations i was definitely struck by the numbers that that were described earlier of what the path of this document has been of four years four
433drafts and a hundred thousand comments it has been a democratic process small d democratic process um that definitely i think indicates both the importance of of this work but also really the tenderness and closeness to person um that this work actually brings up um i also just very much want to align myself with the comments that our board president offered at the beginning around the importance of actually helping people understand what critical race theory is and is not um and how much it anchors first and foremost in a notion of critical thinking which is something that we should be aspiring for our kids to do in every subject matter not uniquely or pigeonholed in critical race theory it is very much i think the process of interrogating assumptions and also of ensuring that um the
434the history of our present and of our past that we're telling ourselves is not so surface um and uncritical that we both erase and make invisible just you know immense parts of our civil society who have contributed to making our present day um the last thing i just wanted to comment on that is just that this work has been described as as being aimed at dividing us and i think it's really important to be very transparent that addressing structures of systemic inequality is ultimately about uniting us and putting us in better connection to one another rather than actually trying in any way to distance us um the last thing i'll just target back to is at the beginning of the meeting i think secretary of state weber very appropriately commented that the perfect should not
435be the enemy of the good i think this is a good document to begin with and california has to start this journey and i have every hope aspiration and expectation that successive versions of this will be better they have to be better because we will have lived experience at how how the river meets the road and how locals will implement this um and how we'll come back in subsequent iterations and i look forward to this being a journey of progress rather than assuming that everything is bottled in a frozen moment um and that will we have no aspiration to be better in the future thank you member fatah and then member rodriguez thank you president darling hammond um i just wanted to first and foremost thank shanin and the team the iqc and superintendent thurman's
436office for really setting the stage of today's discussion i think it's one that's really been a long time coming and one that we all really were excited about coming into this board meeting and i also wanted to extend a great thank you for all the public comments we heard from um extremely and incredibly passionate young people and and peers who um really stepped up and wanted to see change in their education system from all the way back last year when we first saw this ethnic studies model curriculum brought before us um and just really quickly to echo what uh board member patio bronson just said and what we heard earlier from secretary of state dr shirley weber i think that this really sets the stage for today's ethnic studies model curriculum as voltaire once said
437we ought not let the perfect be the enemy of the good and i believe that today's ethnic studies model curriculum truly is good and i believe that when leas adopt it it will be great and that's something that i truly look forward to i also believe that it's time for us to move forward in approving this item because every moment in which we sit here and discuss it is a moment in which we are not providing students with the option or even the opportunity to be introduced to ethnic studies um through this model curriculum through their lease and it's something that we've been just tirelessly working on to develop over the past um the numbers of years and i think that the spirit of today's proposal is to provide just a collection of ideas and
438samples that we hope will get the conversation started at a local level about ethnic studies racism and the lack of acknowledgement we collectively as a state have had for the generations of marginalized individuals who have contributed so greatly to shaping the society we live in today and so i stand for us taking this incredibly important first step and i stand for the fact that we are not mandating this for school districts but are rather guiding school districts and um and not like i uh i stand by this thanks remember rodriguez yes thank you so much uh fellow members for all of your comments um i echo everything that's been said and and feel tremendous gratitude to dr coates and the iqc team for all of the work that you've done and of course he hasn't
439barked all day and now he's going to bark because he agrees well and um i want to also acknowledge the callers because as you were speaking i our shared humanity was just really i was really touched by everything that you were saying because i know what it's like to be excluded and i know what it feels like to uh to to want to um you know just voice like please uh you know let's all let's all be a part of this and so i heard you and uh i also really support um the you know the the comments that have been made about moving forward uh and i want to say that this morning as we were listening to the uh incredible team that came forward to talk about the uh you know the this
440ethnic studies curriculum and and how their support of it i was reminded of a great friend of mine and mentor jimmy cannon who was a jazz musician and jazz teacher in hope arkansas and jimmy moved out to where i live to become a band teacher and a lot of students didn't want to didn't want to be in his class because he was black and this is in the 70s here in california and so jimmy in addition to being a great friend of mine was also an amazing teacher who built the great spartan band that was recognized all over the world actually and the day before the friday before i was going to become a teacher i asked him i said jimmy do you have any advice for me and he said every child has something
441beautiful inside of them a good teacher can see it a great teacher can show it to them and as i was hearing the speakers this morning i thought this ethnic studies is the mirror it's the mirror with which is teachers we're going to show our students all of the beauty all of the cultural beauty that they have the humanity and create a place for them to speak to each other and to listen to each other so thank you so much thank you a member burr you are on mute sorry um thank you uh president darling hammond um i just i didn't want to leave out my uh wishes of appreciation and gratitude for all of the work done by shanine and her team the iqc our partners at wested all of our state board staff
442as i said to vice president strauss this has been an incredibly heavy lift and i just want you all to know how much we appreciate your diligence your persistence uh over these last several years actually that it took us to get here uh the other thing i just wanted to reinforce this notion that this is not mandatory i know we've heard some of that in the public comments i've seen some of it in some of the press reports uh which are as we all know are not accurate but it's certainly much needed as everyone has already said i don't need to reinforce that or repeat that i also wanted to just make sure that we nested this and a lot of the other work that's been done by shanine and her team and the iqc
443and that's the adoption of the history social studies framework the the ethnic studies model curriculum does not exist in isolation but it is a supplement to what i think is a really robust history social science curriculum framework that's also available to districts to use so i will just close by saying both how proud i am and how humble i am to be part of a deliberative body like this that spends the amount of time necessary and dedicates the amount of resources needed to create a model curriculum that is the first in the nation thank you very much all right i think we've heard from everyone and remember rodriguez your hand is still up but i'm assuming that that's just because it didn't come down okay very good well i think at this point we can
444entertain emotion um do we have emotions i'd like to make the motion if possible remember glover woods please do i move that we adopt the ethnic studies model curriculum draft with the recommendation from the cde with the line edits and also recommend that the state board authorize the cde staff with the approval of the sve executive director to prepare provisions correct typographical errors and non-substantive clarifying edits do we want to include linda's um yeah thank you so much yes and with the inclusion of the definition of critical race theory as was shared at the beginning of our conversation i will second that thank you very much and i know remember fattah had his hand up to uh would you like to third it i'll third it okay uh well is there any further discussion of
445the motion hearing none i will take a roll call vote amber berg aye president darling hammond aye member patal i remember glover woods yes member mcquillen yes remember rodriguez yes remember rucker yes vice president strauss yes amber son hi motion carries unanimously thank you and thanks to all who helped us get to this place we appreciate it all the staff the members of the iqc we just and the members of west ed's team and others who are here to help us celebrate this moment with your indulgence we're going to power on ahead we have one more item actually two items but they may not take us as long as the last one uh and so we're going to go ahead to item reopening item one to take action on the preliminary report of actions draft
446february 2021 meeting minutes and to report on our liaison assignments so the public comments slide can go up there it is and while we're waiting for any members of the public to call in do i have a motion from a board member to approve the february 24 2021 state board of education draft preliminary report of action meeting minutes remember rodriguez and is there a second a second i'll let the folks watching figure out who was first there uh and um are there any public comments on the minutes there are four people i'm waiting to make public comments i do not know if it's on this item so so we're taking comment on the minutes of the february meeting no this is not item 10. thank you caller caller please state your name and affiliation for
447the record you have one minute are you there caller maybe people realize they're not so interested in caller please state your name and affiliation for the record you have one minute are you there caller i'm guessing people are in line for item 10. okay that is the end of public comment okay uh so we have a motion and we need to take the role pardon me president darling hamilton hold on just one moment we had an issue where the whole phone line dropped we need to just hold on one moment okay caller please state your name and affiliation for the record you have one minute are you there caller that's the end okay thank you uh so we have a motion we have a second and uh is there any further discussion of the motion
448uh we can call the roll call vote member i president darling hammond hi member fatale i remember glover woods yes member mcquillen yes member novel i remember patilla bronson yes remember rodriguez yes remember rucker are you there vice president strauss yes remember son yes motion passes thank you uh now i'm going to invite uh state board members to report on any liaison activities that are not related to any items on our march agenda and i'm going to begin by calling on board members in reverse alphabetical order based on last name so remember son you know that puts you up first all right thank you very much so you uh the charter items and the assessment we covered at this meeting so uh we don't need to go over that anymore just wanted a quick report
449that the california workforce pathways joint advisory committee uh we did have a meeting set for tomorrow which i'm very relieved to say that it has been canceled and our next meeting will be in may cde has had some staff changes and we expect to continue our work on the california plan for career technical education terrific vice president strauss um yes so um i have uh some activities to report first of all for iqc both member rucker and i are liaisons to iqc so i just you um we had an orientation for our iqc with a new member danae popovich who's a principal in arcadia unified um and we elected a new chair who you saw today dr manuel rustin and our new vice chair dr debra costa hernandez so you got to see them today
450you'll hear some more in a minute the california subject matter project has a concurrence commission which are all the leaders of the subject matter projects and they met on january 27th to talk about professional learning um and we recommend we welcomed iqc commissioner christina andre as the representative from iqc2 the concurrence commission the concurrence commission talked about maintaining expanding capacity to provide quality services right now and i just want to share one particular excitement that actually started yesterday the subject matter project and the california state leadership academy csla so it started um yesterday on how leaders can foster equitable access to inquiry-based instruction so it'll have six synchronous workshops and three asynchronous presentations with individual coaching very very exciting um as well um and then they're also working the subject matter projects with sacramento county
451office on the distance learning project which you'll hear at our may meeting the um on february 8th the teens in government in westchester had a panel finding common ground uh dr deborah duardo who was the la county superintendent myself and zade fattah our board student board member were on this panel i just would say you've heard how articulate zade is he represented us so well and i hope he'll share a few in his comments about that panel we were very very fortunate to have his voice um at the state level the special ed advisory commission axi met on february 17th and 18th um looking at their commitment to have a coherent approach to assistance to lease we heard that some in the plan that was presented as part of our agenda and west ed did
452a really wonderful presentation on special ed funding and findings in california all the different levels of the system and economies of scale very thoughtful and really focused on differentiated funding and looking responsive to the particular populations our cpag our california practitioners advisory group met on february 19th we didn't have an accountability item this meeting based on the three-day meeting but you will hear in may about the growth model we had tremendous support it's five years of work that the cde has been doing and we are one of the last two states to adopt the growth model it's really strong there's a broad level support and you'll hear more about that in may and finally on march 4th and 5th the california collaborative on district reform had a two-day meeting with state policy and district leaders
453on how to accelerate learning to promote equity and the challenges in the midst of the pandemic so very thoughtful oh actually i had one more i'm sorry um the quantitative reasoning steering committee which is part of csu and looking at the fourth year math requirement which can be met by a quantitative reasoning class as a senior or a computer science class is going to have an independent research to look at this process to see if it would be helpful to student is it helpful we discussed the shortage of math teachers and staffing as a challenge csu is committed to doubling their output of math science teachers understanding the challenge to meet this the csu trustees is committed to this although they haven't changed the title v regulations yet and one exciting thing is to know
454that there's a mathematical reasoning with connection mrwc a fourth year math course taught online but um by 162 certified teachers in 72 schools that we believe will be helpful and it's a collaboration with higher ed and k12 so very exciting to hear about this i'm sure you'll hear more as we deal with the math adoption going forward and that concludes my liaison report thank you member rucker thank you very much i want to begin by just talking talking about the african-american advisory committee i want to take advantage of the context of the conversation we had today to remind this board that we once had an african-american advisory committee i believe we urgently need to find a way to resurrect that panel from laws to implement the williams settlement to the bill that created the ethnic
455studies curriculum that we approve today and even now with av 1361 and bill addressing preschool and child care suspension and expulsion california legislature has examined multiple facets concerning the issues of equity rates and the controversies of the disparate impact and unintended outcomes of public policies and that affect communities of color in this state so as this work continues to unfold we've made a commitment to the department to the community and to the schools that are going to be implementing this ethnic studies curriculum i think we need this is an opportunity to again emphasize that there's a need for this advisory panel and it has never been more important than the conversation today has demonstrated concerning the math framework i'm happy to announce mathematics framework out then out for a 60-day public comment period that was
456one of the actions from the last iqc meeting um 2021 provision includes current research based on new learning and mathematics such as data science and categories of investigation the revision details effective strategies such as the integration of standards for mathematical practice understanding and learning the math progressions identifying pathways for studying and thriving in mathematics i believe the research cited and the framing language around it will help our local educators as they learn to improve math outcomes for all students and especially those that have historically struggled to successfully access math content and skills grounding in this work and research and best practices is very important the educators who do choose this framework and i do want to remind you the framework is not mandatory the use of it is voluntary educators who do choose to use
457this framework to guide the development of their courses and pedagogy will rely on this information when weighing options around issues such as the middle school courses and the high school pathways i also want to remind my colleagues that the early math conference has been set for june friday june 25th i know my colleague eileen strauss participated in the conference last year and i'm looking forward to supporting the department staff in the for the state board and the department staff and as they do the work to put this uh conference together this year i don't want to steal their thunder by previewing some of the presenters but probably in may i actually will uh the i'm also the liaison for the california state council for the interstate compact on educational opportunity for military children we've had
458several meetings this year and since our last board meeting since january 2021 the california compact has conducted multiple trainings and increased outreach to stakeholders and increased their transparency in the work that they do to support military children who are military dependents and attending our public schools the national director in fact has commended california as recently as march 12th stating that california has led the nation in creating model practices and in creating plans that other state councils can use to observe the way california is bolstering and supporting their work one of those examples is the way that we're conducting training on an ongoing and consistent basis to support the contacts and the agents in the program who work with the schools and the military families who are transferring into our state or leaving our state they
459have conducted trainings on compliance committee at matters a town hall on the pandemic and its impact on schools and they've also conducted two very specific trainings for liaison officers to help them understand what the how their work and interagency activities with the schools can look there are a number of links that are already available on the web compact website so i invite you all if you're interested to see that work to visit their website and then finally i'm going to report briefly on my involvement with the national association of state boards of education they have a whole child study group on february 19th the study group met to focus on teacher preparation it was an opportunity for members across the state to reflect on opportunities to partner with state education agencies and educator preparation programs
460to revise their licensure standards we discussed state actions to address the impacts of cobit 19 on teacher preparation programs last march when our schools closed a lot of people just assumed that we would return that didn't happen so while we understand the problems that created across the board for k-12 education and for businesses and employers there were over 80 000 candidates in california who were enrolled in teacher preparation programs that's a workforce in many states approximately 26 000 of those candidates were in their final year of their preparation we were asked to california when i say we were asked to speak briefly about the letter that had been prepared jointly by the department the state board of education and the commission on teacher credentialing which offer guidance to the field particularly teacher preparation programs and
461the districts where we send to student teachers to address these massive concerns and so we focused on the key points of effective practices how to keep the pipeline moving and how to concern encourage pre-service programs to find effective and creative ways to place student teachers in situations where they can learn and get the most out of their placement now it's a good thing that um board member ting sun announced that our meeting for the uh workforce pathways is canceled tomorrow because tomorrow the nasby study group will be meeting the focus of that meeting is on service learning uh in california service learning is a teaching and learning strategy today elementary middle and high school stu schools across california do participate in service learning with the support of state federal and district funding it is worth
462noting that the calserve initiative which was originally signed into law in california is no longer monitored or supported here in the department so it will be very interesting to hear a national perspective on service learning activities and i'm looking forward to being able to report about that at the next board meeting that concludes my report thank you remember rodriguez yes thank you and thank you member rucker for mentioning the teacher preparation because i'll um expand a little bit on what you just said so as you know the commission on teacher credit sorry i did mean to steal your thunder i'm sorry oh no it's okay it was a good segue um the commission on teacher credentialing works arduously to ensure that all california students have the best prepared teachers february's meeting was no exception here
463are some highlights a concern exists that current teacher candidates haven't benefited from in-person teaching and have experienced gaps in their pla in their preparation in order to be classroom ready so to address this issue ctc staff convened a collaborative group in june of 2020 comprised of commission staff a commissioner representatives from major stakeholder groups such as teacher prep programs induction program leaders axa and cta to develop guidelines to address the issues that new teachers will be facing which are beyond the scope of the ctc so the recommendations made by this group were presented at the meeting they noted that to address the critical needs brought on by the pandemic and to ensure the success of all teacher candidates it will take all stakeholders to make a concerted effort to support the candidates along every step
464of the process specific guidelines were recommended for preliminary programs induction programs employers site administrators human resource personnel mentors and other veteran teachers and the commission the role of the site administrators and the induction coaches will be crucial in this process and it's you know very detailed uh the report that was presented and you're welcome to take a look at it i won't go into it here additionally governor gavin newsom has proposed one-time funds to help support teacher recruitment with the proposed expansion of the teacher residency that um president darling hammond mentioned i believe it was yesterday or the day before classified uh school employee credentialing program as well his proposal includes ctc administered grants for teacher residency programs which support locally sponsored one-year intensive mentored clinical teacher prep programs dedicated to preparing and retaining teachers
465in high need subject areas in high need communities in the realm of child development ctc has been working with the field to implement the provisions of the preschool development grant renewal on a statewide basis the governor has established a coalition to develop a master plan for early childhood education currently the master plan has identified four policy goals that set high standards create cohesion fill gaps and foster sustainability the master plan provides a detailed roadmap of implementation steps and agencies responsible throughout the ece system for each of these objection objectives commission staff will be moving uh the following work in the area vc during 2021. lastly there was a robust discussion about the bilingual authorization it lasted two days it was actually tabled for the following day that's how robust it was uh and while commissioners
466didn't vote they did direct staff um commission staff to continue the work with the bilingual panel to address clinical practice requirements for current credential holders and this is a segue into as i'm also the english learner liaison to the board and i wanted to share some very exciting work happening to strengthen educators ability to support english learners through the statewide system of support the regional el specialists they've worked to curate resources for the field on an integrated and designated eld these resources are a hub for educators as they navigate eld supports in a distance learning environment and there are also seven geographic lead agencies which offer generalized continuous improvement supports to the county offices of education within their region and lastly the arts education instructional materials adoption virtual review training will take place the week
467of monday april 12th through 16th and i plan to make a few of those meetings uh hopefully all of them so thank you that concludes my report terrific thank you member patio bronson i i just want to actually start by reflecting how delighted i am to hear board member rodriguez name the early care and learning master plan that's so exciting to hear someone else on the board talking about it here actually i think there's been three mentions so i'm just over the moon um so actually i'll start there and i'll the um early childhood policy council has also met to dig into the master plan and again the components i think that have the most overlap and connective tissue really with the state board's work obviously are the components that deal with school districts county
468offices of ed and transitional kindergarten one of the major tenets of the master plan that was announced in december was a universal pre-k program and to eventually have a targeted preschool program also for three-year-olds it starts with this idea of expanding access to all four-year-olds and starting to expand access in the highest need high poverty elementary schools as dictated by lcff so bringing again these systems that have really historically been more in parallel and actually starting to interweave both systems of targeting priority and also cohesion around how professional development and teacher training works also notably in in the governor's budget that was uh announced in in january there are proposals um also to support expansion of transitional kindergarten um and also workforce development grants um both of which align very much with the earlier comments
469um the last thing i'll just note on that is that subsequent to the early learning or early childhood policy council's meeting on that where there was a discussion of both the master plan as well as the budget that was proposed and the beginnings of discussions with the legislature also we have now had the federal relief package passed which will drive about 3.8 billion dollars to california's early childhood system um in addition to um all of the funding that will go to traditional k-12 functions and leas as well as all of the pandemic relief required for contact tracing and testing and everything else related to health notably that 3.8 billion has quite a bit to offset both challenges to the child care industry but also includes child care development the child care development block grant from
470the federal government which becomes available for school districts early ed programs and also has a segue to the tk side of the world um i will also add on to board member rucker's presentation about the whole child policy study group um and and say what she was too modest to say which was it was a really uh lovely moment also both to hear board member rucker's presentation but also really to hear the degree to which other states are watching what california's model has been um we're heartened to actually see some of the leadership and ongoing support for partnerships for teacher training programs and also a desire to see their states actually follow the same the last thing i'll um end with is just to support um to voice support for the proposal that board member
471wreckers suggested of uh reinvigorating an african-american achievement committee um i i feel like there's been a number of board items in um uh this board agenda that have um touched on some of the gaps that we are seeing across multiple issue areas um certainly in the ethnic studies conversation but also in the literacy conversations around how do we do better um and how do we consert our focus to do so thanks and uh i was so engaged with the uh conversation i forgot to look at my list remember navajo you are up next no worries um so i will build on much of what was part of day two which was the uh supporting inclusive practices project that you heard about it was such a joy to hear such a robust conversation around students with
472disabilities so i'll highlight a couple of resources and professional learning opportunities that are priorities right now for the ccee they have just recently highlighted five resources around supporting inclusive practices for educators two of which i'll highlight one is this disability collective came out with resources that focus on literacy and inclusive environments early learning and positive behavioral intervention and supports you also heard a little bit on day two about captain and marin county selpa created a back to school padlet to support students with autism which is available both english and spanish and the padlet includes guidance documents um that are curated around evidence-based strategies for families and educators which i think is just a tremendous a tremendous effort that was made by the marin county cell phone captain to get that those resources out a couple
473of professional learning that i'll highlight cc is now packaging every friday resources to support lease as they re-engage students for in-person instruction those resources you'll find on the website and also the they have a new partnership with the american federation of teachers under share my lessons dot com where they have 25 i believe new items that were posted to support educators as in around various topics they also have free professional learning that is important to note coming in the next couple of weeks you have assessment for learning in extraordinary times as a topic supporting student interactions with complex texts hybrid and online classrooms and what educators and school leaders can do now to accelerate learning and lastly at our last board meeting on on february 4th we thanked sandra lyon superintendent of palm springs who
474has served graciously the students of california and the state of california for over 30 years she will be retiring from her position and so that'll vacate a position on our board we will be looking for replacements i also want to commend cde and cce for their continued collaboration for the students of california and coordination of resources thank you that's terrific remember [Music] thank you i don't have a lot to report on i'm i'm happy the cte joint workforce task force is not happening tomorrow also that's good news um the past couple of months in in giving input to the ethnic studies curriculum i've learned that there's a couple of new proposals coming down the coming down the line it was so good to see assemblyman ramos this morning one of those is coming from his
475office to add additional curriculum to various grade levels on american indian history and culture that's being proposed that's coming down and then the second one is on school attendance we know our american indian student population has a quite a history of missing school and high percents of absenteeism but there's a proposal coming out from uh assemblyman i think it's deal assembly woman from the first district on school attendance where uh it's kind of an oversight in the ed code where american indian students are not given an excused absence for attending ceremonies or cultural events this new legislation will uh try to you know correct that that uh oversight um it's coming it's new got a ways to go yet also so a couple of new things and that's all i have to say thank you
476thank you so much um remember glover woods thank you president darling hammond um i don't think i need to give any report on the ethnic studies model curriculum i think we're all caught up to speed on that one i just wanted to share in relation to the world languages instructional materials adoption and that work continues to be underway the last week in april will be the um reviewer trainer training and it will be held virtually so that work is progressing as well and i'll have more for you our next meeting thank you terrific thank you member fatah yeah thank you president darling cammond um i think i'll start at the top based off of what board member strauss was talking about a little bit earlier um i participated with board member strauss um at the
477uh uh i guess i think it was called finding common ground panel um it was with the westchester family ymca's teen and government leaders um la county office of education superintendent debo eduardo um eileen and myself and there we discussed everything from school reopening to student leadership and the importance of risk taking and just trying things for student leaders another thing to i guess report on is that i've accepted the position of hosting the 2021 at 100 academy for student leaders which is a three-day virtual conference held from june 21st to 23rd and it's bringing together 400 plus california students education policy leaders and ed tech entrepreneurs um so i'm super excited about that because it will really help put california students in the same room with california experts and education leaders who really have
478deep experience in context and can kind of serve these students and give them um an interesting perspective to learn from um also on monday i'll be at the nasbi 2021 legislative conference for the national association of state boards of education um speaking on their panel voices from the field perspectives from teachers students and families on education the pandemic and then just in other news my school and school district recently returned back to campus yesterday which is incredibly exciting we're currently in the hybrid model and i also recently my school district also approved and began the process for having a student member sit on our board of trustees next year which is something that i petitioned for during my junior year so super exciting um and with that that concludes my uh my report thank you
479i will keep my report short um during the period of time from november until uh just this last month i have um you know worked on president biden's transition team and um to make um member patio bronson happy again the plans for federal investment in early childhood education dovetail nicely with the master plan in california to get to universal pre-k for three and four-year-olds as well as uh substantial investments as you already noted in um child care and early uh early learning um the um one of the happy moments for me in the last couple of weeks was when the uh american rescue act was indeed passed because it was something we worked on quite a lot in the transition and that will be sending about 15 billion dollars to california for not only you
480know ppe and ventilation support and other things that enable reopening schools but for educator stabilization we have severe and growing shortages in california as do other parts of the country uh remember rodriguez mentioned the you know way in which there was disruption in the teacher pipeline coming out of last year and into this year so that will provide resources for things like recruitment and retention of teachers or residencies among other things that have become an important part of california's approach it will provide opportunities for learning recovery and acceleration and i think one of the interesting things for our state will be figuring out how to use the summer to create joyful active engaging reattaching experiences for students and then on into the fall so that we can accelerate learning and then finally there's a lot
481of resources for social emotional supports mental health supports and community schools which may reinforce the efforts we're making in california to create sort of a an integrated set of wraparound services that really enable kids to have all that they need to be ready to learn each day so um i look forward to you know our efforts here to figure out how to take advantage of those investments that can make a huge difference i think in our educational system and remember burr you get the last word cleanup hitter quick things one i just want to reinforce what my colleague and co-liaison on accountability said vice president strauss we did have a robust discussion with staff about accountability and the growth model um and decided it probably wasn't a good time to talk about it this morning
482but it will be up in may and just wanted to commend to everyone's attention a very thorough memo that's posted on our website it's a february memo about the growth model so encourage you to take a look at that before our may meeting and um refresh your memory about where we are over the last several years um and just to close with as the historian of the group and in my former role as executive director of the state board did oversee the work of the african-american advisory committee they did complete their work and they actually issued a set of recommendations which were quite helpful we turned those recommendations over to then superintendent torlakson and the department of education for implementation so just a little heads up stephanie it might be helpful to at least dig
483those out because i think again i think there were some very helpful things there and see what happened with those and that might be a good springboard for a next iteration of work thank you terrific thank you um and now we're going to take up agenda item 10 which is general public comment public comment is invited on any matter that was not included on the printed agenda and we will open up the phone line for the public comment queue members of the public wish you to provide comment may do so by calling the number on this slide and using the participant access code please remember to turn down the volume of your computer or live webcast to avoid background echoes and is there any public comment yes we have people waiting for public comment thank
484you caller please stay your name and affiliation for the record you have one moment for one minute your time begins now are you there caller sorry okay i'm here so hello my name is jonathan pratt i am a 9th grade student from wilmington california i am autistic and have an iep an individualized education program a student unexpectedly who has an iep i would like to say that i support the plans made to address the outcomes of students with exceptional needs across the state but i am concerned about students not being included in these plans as part of stakeholder engagement i am aware of work groups and other stakeholder groups that are meeting to discuss issues that are important to students with exceptional needs yet these students are not included to agree outcomes to students with
485exceptional needs student feedback must be included in decision making for idea students acceptable needs are part of the iep team to the best of their ability the state should recognize the voice of students with exceptional needs in the decisions about the decisions being made about their education and the support that they need to reach their potential see us hear us in a clue in the conversation thank you thank you caller caller please state your name and affiliation for the record you have one minute your time begins now are you there caller caller we are live now if you have a public comment please make it now that concludes our public comment okay thank you uh with that i will hereby adjourn our march 2021 state board of education meeting at 502 pm uh thank you
486all and i look forward to seeing you at our may 2021 meeting we did it