close
close
You are Here
Parents of Palo Alto students express concern over ethnic studies course
vefms

Parents of Palo Alto students express concern over ethnic studies course

California school districts will be required to offer an ethnic studies course beginning in the 2025-26 school year.

The Palo Alto Unified School District has decided to begin implementing its ethnic studies program with pilot courses. The decision has been met with backlash from parents, who fear the courses will create divisions and controversy.

The Palo Alto Unified School District already has an ethnic studies course, but this decision focuses on updating that curriculum. This fall, a group of freshmen from Palo Alto and Gunn high schools will take a course with a class size of 20 students and two dedicated teachers.

The Palo Alto Parents Alliance has written several letters to the district’s superintendent to express their concerns. The first, sent in March, questioned the school district’s ethnic studies consultant, the UC Berkeley History and Social Science Project. They insisted that the consultant promotes a “highly controversial, politically ideological, one-sided, and ethnically divisive approach to ethnic studies.”

The second letter asked the school district to stop implementing and maintain its current ethnic studies curriculum. According to Parent Alliance, this letter has gathered more than 1,400 signatures. Their main complaints center on what they see as a lack of community involvement, concerns about political issues, and a desire to avoid similar controversies in other California school districts.

Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin

Related Posts