Bill would mandate ethnic studies in Calif.
By Roque Planas, Huffington Post
A bill introduced last month by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, would require the California’s Department of Education to develop a model for implementing a standardized, statewide ethnic studies curriculum for high schools.
Although controversies over Mexican-American studies have roiled conservatives in Southwestern states, Alejo’s bill could put California on the path to adopting one of the most ambitious ethnic studies program for public schools in the country.
Latinos are the largest ethnic group in California schools by far, making up 53 percent of the student body, according to the California Department of Education. They are followed by non-Hispanic whites, at 26 percent, and Asians, at 9 percent.