The first bill is an ethnic studies requirement for our schoolchildren and schools. This legislation would mandate that all students successfully complete a semester-long “ethnic studies” course to graduate from high school. It also requires that ethnic studies must be taught in elementary, middle, and charter schools. The only problem is, this is not the “ethnic studies” that most people think of when they hear this term.
I think all of us would agree that ethnic studies like this is important to having healthy relationships with our neighbors, both here in Minnesota and throughout the world. This is already required instruction in our current Minnesota social studies standards.
This ethnic studies bill would also require the Department of Education to hire “dedicated ethnic studies staff” who’s job in part would be to monitor schools and ensure compliance, as well as develop “a model ethnic studies curriculum” for school districts to use. The model curriculum must also include “a power, race, class, and gender analysis” and “an intersectional analysis of climate, health, food, housing, education and policy.
This bill is ethnic studies on overdrive and seems designed to push a particular political ideology into the classroom rather than teaching understanding of other peoples and cultures.