California Parents Fume Over New ‘Ethnic Studies’ High School Course

Parents of Palo Alto public high school students are voicing their concerns over the school’s secrecy regarding a new mandatory ethnic studies course.

Parents are citing concerns about the district’s lack of transparency in creating the course, which will become available in the 2024-2025 school year and will become mandatory the following year, fearing it may contain politically biased and divisive topics, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Parents claim they have received little information about the course’s contents and the district has answered few of their questions.

“It would sure help if we as parents could see the curriculum,” Alan Crystal, a parent of an incoming senior in the Palo Alto school district, said according to the Chronicle. “A lot of what we want is just to see what’s being proposed, and to see the curriculum.”

Many parents fear the new course will contain politically biased content and create classroom division, pointing to a similar project by the University of California Berkeley which focuses on racial oppression and discusses Black Lives Matter protests against the police, according to the Chronicle. Parents pointed to the district’s apparent partnership with Berkeley in creating the program, but the district denies claims that the course will contain similar content, stating it is taking an “inclusive” approach to the course.

A petition proposed by Palo Alto Parent Alliance garnered 1,400 signatures demanding the school district be more transparent about the course and allow input from parents, according to the Chronicle. The group said they support the ethnic studies program but are upset by the district’s secrecy.

“We aren’t against ethnic studies,” Sarith Honigstein, a member of the Palo Alto Parent Alliance, said according to the Chronicle. “Our issue is with a non-transparent rollout.”

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom implemented a statewide mandate on ethnic studies courses as a high school graduation requirement in 2021, which requires schools to roll out courses starting in the 2025-2026 school year. The sample course outline contains topics such as Black Lives Matter, equity and systemic racism.

In 2021, Tennessee passed a law banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory in all K-12 schools, preventing racially divisive topics from the classroom. In the same year, the Florida Department of Education rejected the College Board’s AP African American Studies course for lacking “educational value and historical accuracy.”

Newsom’s Office and the Palo Alto school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.