T.-4 20-1186 Discussion and possible Adoption by the Board of Education of Resolution No. 1920-0246 - Affirming Support of AB2016 California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Draft Created by Ethnic Studies Experts.
I urge OUSD to support this Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. As a Bay Area based Arab American, who grew up in California and experienced our K-12 education system, I never heard anything about my community reflected in my school curriculum. It felt incredibly alienating to not have any acknowledgement of my community's history or contributions to our society. After 9/11, the only time my community was mentioned in school was in the context of terrorism and oftentimes included incredibly Islamophobic rhetoric. Ethnic Studies is a field that provides a framework to truly understanding the powerful movements and histories of communities who have faced tremendous injustices. The inclusion of Arab American studies within the context of Ethnic Studies will send a strong message to Arab American students that they are valued and that their stories are included. OUSD has the opportunity to stand with communities of color and set a standard for creating inclusive curriculum for all.
I am a Jewish constituent in Oakland, District 1, writing in SUPPORT of AB2016, The California
Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.
Our wonderful city prides itself on being one of the most diverse in the nation and yet we are
being pressured by a small group of people who wish to deny including the teaching about the
history and culture of Arab-Americans.
That is outrageous. In a democratic open society, no group has the right to deny it’s students the truth
about other groups of people. We have curriculum on Anti-semitism and the Holocaust. We
should also have curriculum to educate our children against Islamophobia in an Arab-American
studies curriculum.
How else do we grow our youth for a better safer world where all can thrive?
Susan Shawl
It’s about including more ethnic peoples and omitting hateful targeted propaganda against all groups. Ethnic Studies Curriculum can be a path to building peace and understanding. Let the committee complete their revisions.
Ethnic Studies is one of the most important programs in overcoming prejudice and building solidarity between communities. Silencing the voices of oppressed groups and their struggles is an attempt to cover up the historic and contemporary injustices faced by these communities. Many of these injustices are ongoing and we must continue to encourage open and honest discourse on these matters. Acknowledging and understanding how colonialism has shaped the Middle East is essential in working towards stability and justice in the region. It is especially crucial that our youth are involved in these discussions as it is our youth that will lead us in the future.
Please support a curriculum developed by educators and experts in the field of education to center the needs of students. Arab American Studies is a component of this curriculum and should be included.
My name is Rob. I actually LIVE IN OAKLAND! I support the inclusion of Arab American history, including Palestinian history in the Ethnic Studies Curriculum. I am a parent of a child who has been through OUSD from kindergarten until now as a 10th grader and I am someone who greatly benefitted from ethnic studies in high school and college. Not only do all students in OUSD need to know about the Arab American community, but the many children who are from the vast Arab American communities (including Palestinians) in Oakland need to see themselves reflected. I would like to add that I support my child and all children learning about the Jewish community and faith as well.
I'm an Ethnic Studies teacher at Oakland Tech and the students I have taught at this school have an understanding of privilege and systemic oppression that I haven't seen at other schools. Ethnic Studies is an essential part of education, and it must be supported.
I am an Ethnic Studies teacher at Oakland Tech and am in support of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Teaching Ethnic Studies this year has shown me the power curriculum like this can have in bringing together diverse groups of students through culturally relevant pedagogy and content, driven by authentic learning experiences. It is incredibly important that this model curriculum is passed so the job of teaching it can become more sustainable. At Oakland Tech, the Ethnic Studies team creates all units and materials ourselves. Having a state adopted curriculum to work from would strengthen and standardize our work and make this incredibly meaningful class more readily available to students and teachers across the state. This class is wholly student-centered and as such sets students up to critically examine the world and become agents of change within it. I urge the board to support the model curriculum and increase access to this incredibly impactful course.
Ethnic studies is an important topic that should not be taken lightly. This resolution should be rejected as it is premature to support a draft curriculum that is not inclusive, not objective and still requires significant revisions at the State level.
Ethnic Studies are important but have you read this? This is a one sided view of the middle east pushed by anti Jewish groups funded through the middle east. Ethnic Studies should not be one sided. The middle east has many ethnic groups that have immigrated to the US including Persians, Assyrians, Armenians, Hindu and Jews and Ethnic Studies should "study all of them from a neutral perspective.
As a long time Oakland resident and a parent of OUSD students it is critical that ethnic studies is taught to my kids and my future grandkids. They need to hear the truth, the real history of our ancestors. Therefore, I support this
I am an ethnic studies teacher at Oakland Tech and I urge the board to support the ethnic studies curriculum!
The proposed curriculum is thorough, research-based, and teacher friendly. It will serve as an incredibly rich resource to teachers across the state in a way that borrowing resources from our team at Tech simply could not. Approving this curriculum is important because in districts like ours where teacher turnover rates are high, consistently delivering and improving upon a collective course of lessons means a better education for our students whether they have a first year teacher or senior staff.
Ethnic studies has been proven to increase retention and graduation rates. I have witnessed first-hand how this curriculum captivates and challenges students of all races, ethnicities, and abilities. Rather than demonize, the proposed curriculum actually gives students the information and the skills to think critically about complex issues and to deal with inequities in the world.
The California Department of Education is in the process of revising the draft because of extensive problems that were uncovered during the public comment period. A new draft of the curriculum is being crafted and will be presented to the public for comment. I urge you oppose this problematic original curriculum and wait for the revised curriculum.
As an Oakland resident, I am concerned about resolution #20-1186 supporting the current, unedited draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The CDEis in the process of revising the draft because of extensive problems that were uncovered during the public comment period. The CDE is working on a revised draft with the problematic content will be removed and ‘antisemitism’ as a form of hatred will be included, as will representation of the experience of Jewish Americans and other ethnic groups beyond the four foundational groups (African American, Asian American, Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x, and Native American) in supplemental materials. A vote for the Model Curriculum as written is a vote for the hateful and offensive language in the original draft. It is also a vote for circumventing the process by which the CDE is seeking to revised the curriculum. Ethnic studies is important but it must be balanced. I urge you to remove the item from your agenda or vote against the resolution.
s an Oakland resident, as a Rabbi and an educator, I am concerned about resolution #20-1186 supporting the current, unedited draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The California Department of Education is in the process of revising the draft because of extensive problems that were uncovered during the public comment period. A vote for the Model Curriculum as written is a vote for the hateful and offensive language in the original draft. It is also a vote for circumventing the process by which the CDE is seeking to revise the curriculum. As a city, Oakland is committed to respecting diversity and stopping hate. The unedited curriculum does just the opposite. It fosters divisiveness I urge you to remove the item from your agenda or vote against the resolution. A new draft of the curriculum is being crafted and will be presented to the public for comment. Let the regulators and educators do their jobs! Thank you.
As a Jewish-American, I support the adoption of item T.-4 20-1186, on tonight’s agenda. Including Arab-American studies as part of a high school curriculum is not anti-semitic. In fact, given the growing Islamophobia in this country, I believe it is an essential tool for us as a society to understand our collective history and to able to move forward. In the long run, the more we understand the Arab-American experience, the better off all of us will be – Arabs, Jews, and all Californians. Please support the resolution.
I strongly support the resolution of including the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum at OUSD. As a Black, mixed race community member, I deeply understand the imperative of seeing oneself represented in the stories you are told. To work toward a decolonized and liberated society, students of color *must* see their stories represented, valued, and integral to understanding the past and present, so they can also imagine more possibilities for the future. Arab American, Pacific Islander and Central American students *need* to see themselves represented in what they learn in the classroom - the Ethnic Studies Curriculum does that. Arab American studies *need* to include Palestinian stories so that students may understand and hold the complexity of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. ALL young people deserve to see their stories, and consequently themselves, as valuable.
Please vote yes on the resolution so our youth can be empowered, informed, & empathetic change makers.
As an Oakland resident, educator an OUSD alumna, I am in support of this resolution. it is a very important for our young people to have this curriculum and be We have never seen adequate representation of the narratives of people of color in our textbooks, despite the enormous diversity of the community we live in. Please support the proposed School Board resolution to prevent the censorship and removal of Arab American, Pacific Islander and Central American Studies from the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.
Central American Studies are important to me because our city has a strong Central American community that needs to be represented and reflected in our classrooms. As an indigenous woman and Mam organizer, I know how important representation and awareness of our communities are towards improving our city. If we expect our young people to be active citizens in Oakland and work towards its improvement this curriculum will do so and we have to support it.
I urge OUSD to support this Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. As a Bay Area based Arab American, who grew up in California and experienced our K-12 education system, I never heard anything about my community reflected in my school curriculum. It felt incredibly alienating to not have any acknowledgement of my community's history or contributions to our society. After 9/11, the only time my community was mentioned in school was in the context of terrorism and oftentimes included incredibly Islamophobic rhetoric. Ethnic Studies is a field that provides a framework to truly understanding the powerful movements and histories of communities who have faced tremendous injustices. The inclusion of Arab American studies within the context of Ethnic Studies will send a strong message to Arab American students that they are valued and that their stories are included. OUSD has the opportunity to stand with communities of color and set a standard for creating inclusive curriculum for all.
I am a Jewish constituent in Oakland, District 1, writing in SUPPORT of AB2016, The California
Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.
Our wonderful city prides itself on being one of the most diverse in the nation and yet we are
being pressured by a small group of people who wish to deny including the teaching about the
history and culture of Arab-Americans.
That is outrageous. In a democratic open society, no group has the right to deny it’s students the truth
about other groups of people. We have curriculum on Anti-semitism and the Holocaust. We
should also have curriculum to educate our children against Islamophobia in an Arab-American
studies curriculum.
How else do we grow our youth for a better safer world where all can thrive?
Susan Shawl
It’s about including more ethnic peoples and omitting hateful targeted propaganda against all groups. Ethnic Studies Curriculum can be a path to building peace and understanding. Let the committee complete their revisions.
I see no good coming out of that, only hate.
Please vote NO!
Ethnic Studies is one of the most important programs in overcoming prejudice and building solidarity between communities. Silencing the voices of oppressed groups and their struggles is an attempt to cover up the historic and contemporary injustices faced by these communities. Many of these injustices are ongoing and we must continue to encourage open and honest discourse on these matters. Acknowledging and understanding how colonialism has shaped the Middle East is essential in working towards stability and justice in the region. It is especially crucial that our youth are involved in these discussions as it is our youth that will lead us in the future.
Please support a curriculum developed by educators and experts in the field of education to center the needs of students. Arab American Studies is a component of this curriculum and should be included.
My name is Rob. I actually LIVE IN OAKLAND! I support the inclusion of Arab American history, including Palestinian history in the Ethnic Studies Curriculum. I am a parent of a child who has been through OUSD from kindergarten until now as a 10th grader and I am someone who greatly benefitted from ethnic studies in high school and college. Not only do all students in OUSD need to know about the Arab American community, but the many children who are from the vast Arab American communities (including Palestinians) in Oakland need to see themselves reflected. I would like to add that I support my child and all children learning about the Jewish community and faith as well.
I'm an Ethnic Studies teacher at Oakland Tech and the students I have taught at this school have an understanding of privilege and systemic oppression that I haven't seen at other schools. Ethnic Studies is an essential part of education, and it must be supported.
I am an Ethnic Studies teacher at Oakland Tech and am in support of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Teaching Ethnic Studies this year has shown me the power curriculum like this can have in bringing together diverse groups of students through culturally relevant pedagogy and content, driven by authentic learning experiences. It is incredibly important that this model curriculum is passed so the job of teaching it can become more sustainable. At Oakland Tech, the Ethnic Studies team creates all units and materials ourselves. Having a state adopted curriculum to work from would strengthen and standardize our work and make this incredibly meaningful class more readily available to students and teachers across the state. This class is wholly student-centered and as such sets students up to critically examine the world and become agents of change within it. I urge the board to support the model curriculum and increase access to this incredibly impactful course.
Ethnic studies is an important topic that should not be taken lightly. This resolution should be rejected as it is premature to support a draft curriculum that is not inclusive, not objective and still requires significant revisions at the State level.
This need to be a lot more thought out and a lot more inclusive.
Ethnic Studies are important but have you read this? This is a one sided view of the middle east pushed by anti Jewish groups funded through the middle east. Ethnic Studies should not be one sided. The middle east has many ethnic groups that have immigrated to the US including Persians, Assyrians, Armenians, Hindu and Jews and Ethnic Studies should "study all of them from a neutral perspective.
As a long time Oakland resident and a parent of OUSD students it is critical that ethnic studies is taught to my kids and my future grandkids. They need to hear the truth, the real history of our ancestors. Therefore, I support this
I am an ethnic studies teacher at Oakland Tech and I urge the board to support the ethnic studies curriculum!
The proposed curriculum is thorough, research-based, and teacher friendly. It will serve as an incredibly rich resource to teachers across the state in a way that borrowing resources from our team at Tech simply could not. Approving this curriculum is important because in districts like ours where teacher turnover rates are high, consistently delivering and improving upon a collective course of lessons means a better education for our students whether they have a first year teacher or senior staff.
Ethnic studies has been proven to increase retention and graduation rates. I have witnessed first-hand how this curriculum captivates and challenges students of all races, ethnicities, and abilities. Rather than demonize, the proposed curriculum actually gives students the information and the skills to think critically about complex issues and to deal with inequities in the world.
The California Department of Education is in the process of revising the draft because of extensive problems that were uncovered during the public comment period. A new draft of the curriculum is being crafted and will be presented to the public for comment. I urge you oppose this problematic original curriculum and wait for the revised curriculum.
As an Oakland resident, I am concerned about resolution #20-1186 supporting the current, unedited draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The CDEis in the process of revising the draft because of extensive problems that were uncovered during the public comment period. The CDE is working on a revised draft with the problematic content will be removed and ‘antisemitism’ as a form of hatred will be included, as will representation of the experience of Jewish Americans and other ethnic groups beyond the four foundational groups (African American, Asian American, Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x, and Native American) in supplemental materials. A vote for the Model Curriculum as written is a vote for the hateful and offensive language in the original draft. It is also a vote for circumventing the process by which the CDE is seeking to revised the curriculum. Ethnic studies is important but it must be balanced. I urge you to remove the item from your agenda or vote against the resolution.
s an Oakland resident, as a Rabbi and an educator, I am concerned about resolution #20-1186 supporting the current, unedited draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The California Department of Education is in the process of revising the draft because of extensive problems that were uncovered during the public comment period. A vote for the Model Curriculum as written is a vote for the hateful and offensive language in the original draft. It is also a vote for circumventing the process by which the CDE is seeking to revise the curriculum. As a city, Oakland is committed to respecting diversity and stopping hate. The unedited curriculum does just the opposite. It fosters divisiveness I urge you to remove the item from your agenda or vote against the resolution. A new draft of the curriculum is being crafted and will be presented to the public for comment. Let the regulators and educators do their jobs! Thank you.
As a Jewish-American, I support the adoption of item T.-4 20-1186, on tonight’s agenda. Including Arab-American studies as part of a high school curriculum is not anti-semitic. In fact, given the growing Islamophobia in this country, I believe it is an essential tool for us as a society to understand our collective history and to able to move forward. In the long run, the more we understand the Arab-American experience, the better off all of us will be – Arabs, Jews, and all Californians. Please support the resolution.
I strongly support the resolution of including the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum at OUSD. As a Black, mixed race community member, I deeply understand the imperative of seeing oneself represented in the stories you are told. To work toward a decolonized and liberated society, students of color *must* see their stories represented, valued, and integral to understanding the past and present, so they can also imagine more possibilities for the future. Arab American, Pacific Islander and Central American students *need* to see themselves represented in what they learn in the classroom - the Ethnic Studies Curriculum does that. Arab American studies *need* to include Palestinian stories so that students may understand and hold the complexity of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. ALL young people deserve to see their stories, and consequently themselves, as valuable.
Please vote yes on the resolution so our youth can be empowered, informed, & empathetic change makers.
As an Oakland resident, educator an OUSD alumna, I am in support of this resolution. it is a very important for our young people to have this curriculum and be We have never seen adequate representation of the narratives of people of color in our textbooks, despite the enormous diversity of the community we live in. Please support the proposed School Board resolution to prevent the censorship and removal of Arab American, Pacific Islander and Central American Studies from the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.
Central American Studies are important to me because our city has a strong Central American community that needs to be represented and reflected in our classrooms. As an indigenous woman and Mam organizer, I know how important representation and awareness of our communities are towards improving our city. If we expect our young people to be active citizens in Oakland and work towards its improvement this curriculum will do so and we have to support it.