Earlier this month, we reported on San Francisco petitioning to make Ethnic Studies an optional course for high school students. On December 9th, 2014, the San Francisco Unified School District held a board meeting to vote on institutionalizing Ethnic Studies.
Los Angeles and San Francisco Unified School Districts are the firsts to bring Ethnic Studies to the public school curriculum. Los Angeles made Ethnic studies a high school requirement for all students, and San Francisco is now taking its first steps into making Ethnic Studies a graduation prerequisite.
According to the San Francisco Unified School District, “every high school student [will have] the opportunity to enroll in an Ethnic Studies class by the school year 2015-2016.”
Many educators, students and community members gathered in red shirts to show their support during the SFUSD Board meeting. The following video was presented to the board to demonstrate how the influence of Ethnic Studies has impacted many lives.
By the end of the night, the board came to a unanimous decision to implement Ethnic Studies into the high schools. Of course, people couldn’t help but celebrate once the announcement was made.
“By affording every high school student the opportunity to take the course, we are doing our share in creating a more cohesive, peaceful world while allowing students to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them,” stated the San Francisco Board of Education president, Sandra Lee Fewer.
Featured image courtesy of http://www.sbcc.edu/
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