The Los Angeles Unified School district board voted Tuesday to make an ethnic studies course a graduation requirement, beginning with the class of 2019.
The board’s vote came following a raucous rally outside the district’s headquarters by students supporting the requirement.
“I often feel that we feel oppressed because all we learn is the white man’s point of view of history, and sometimes that does not, like, teachers don’t express it like the way we want it as people of color,” student Cindy Reyes told ABC7. “We want to learn our side of the story as well.”
The board’s motion, which was introduced by board members Bennett Kayser, George McKenna and Steve Zimmer, calls for a phasing in of the requirement, beginning with a handful of schools in 2015-16.
The curriculum, a one-semester course, will become a graduation requirement for all district schools by 2019.
The board also called for the creation of an Ethnic Studies Committee — including students, scholars and teachers — to “advise, assist and make recommendations to the board about programs, professional development, curriculum and issues related to ethnic studies for the pilot program rollout and beyond.”
Board members noted that the district already offers ethnic studies courses at some schools. The authors of the motion also cited a National Education Association report that found ethnic studies courses had positive impacts on students of color, making them more engaged academically, leading to better academic performance and graduation rates, along with a feeling of personal empowerment.
Local activist Ron Gochez, who helped organize the Ethnic Studies Now Campaign in support of the proposal, said the move will become “a model for other districts to follow.”
He said it is a remarkable step to “require all LAUSD students to have
a better understanding and respect for other cultures, traditions and
histories.”
