Outside of special theme weeks or months, many grade school students in the U.S. never learn social studies that focus on racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. That’s despite the fact that the percentage of white students attending public schools dropped to 49.5 percent in 2014, making students who identify as racial and ethnic minorities an official majority.
However, that hole in public education could slowly be changing. Last week, Oregon became the only state in the country to require ethnic studies for public school students in grades K through 12, when Governor Kate Brown signed HB 2845.
The bill calls for the formation of an advisory committee to formulate standards for the curriculum to be adopted beginning in 2021. In addition to the “histories, contributions and perspectives of ethnic minorities,” study of “women, people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees and individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender” will be required as well.
School systems in California have passed similar laws in the past, but Oregon is the first state to enact the requirement for all public grade schools statewide. Meanwhile, in Arizona, a bill effectively banning ethnic studies is being debated in the state’s federal court on the grounds that it may be discriminatory.
