New Class Mandate for California Schools

The state of California has mandated a new class, Ethnic Studies, to be taught in all highschools. This requirement has been met with mixed feelings from the teachers and administrators of Summerville High.

A law signed by Governor Newsom in 2021 added Ethnic Studies to the list of requisite classes for high school graduation for all California students. This change is not immediate, but will take place in the next few years.

“It is going to be a required course for California high schools, it is to be implemented by the 25-26 school year, and then it will be required to be on transcripts and be part of the credits by the 29-30 school year,” said Mr. Christopher.

This class will cover topics such as The Harlem Renaissance, the women’s rights movements and the roles of many civil rights activists. However, many of the topics that are meant to be covered in this class are currently taught in the history classes that students are already taking.

“There already exists standards in the 11th grade US history where much of the content of Ethnic Studies could and should fit,” stated Mr. Patey.

Ethnic Studies is meant to teach about different cultures and people, but current Summerville classes address these topics.

“I think that a lot of this is covered in world history and US history, I think this is unnecessary to add to the course,” said Mr. Suggs.

Despite peoples’ doubts about the class, there may be some upsides brought up about this class mandate.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily new content, it’s just being collected into a single course. I think any time students can learn about a different culture, I think it’s a good thing,” said Mr. Christopher.

It has still not been decided when this class will be taught at Summerville High, but that time will be seen by some students who currently attend the school in later years.

“I don’t know exactly yet, by at least the 25-26 school year because that is what is required of us. If we have it before then, we would just want to make sure that we have the curriculum that we want to teach laid out, that we advertise what the course is, and that students are informed about why this is now being required of them. We don’t have an exact time yet,” Mr. Christopher stated in an interview with Beyond the Cave.

Although details such as when or how the class will be instated are still up in the air, Ethnic Studies is a new class that will be coming to Summerville High in the next couple of years.