By Anjuli Niyogi

In the upcoming 2019-2020 school year, the incoming freshmen class will be taking a newly implemented, Ethnic Studies course in place of a semester of Modern World History(MWH). During their sophomore year, they will cover MWH I and II and will no longer be taking Contemporary World Studies (CWS). Economics and Government teacher, Alexandra Dove and current freshman, sophomore, and junior year history teacher, Angela Zink will be teaching the Ethnic Studies classes to the incoming freshmen. 

As far as the curriculum itself is concerned, it will loosely cover four units. Unit one will highlight each student’s own story and personal identity. Unit two will surround race, ethnicity, gender, class, and various other groups that society uses to divide people. Unit three will consist of class discussions surrounding power and privilege, and to finish off the semester, unit four will have students focus on actions they can take towards achieving self-determination and ways to prevent against ethnic segregation.  

In fact, SMUHSD is one of the 11 school districts in California to jump on this three-year pilot program. The course was first spearheaded in the San Mateo Union High School District(SMUHSD) by Samoa Showman, who previously taught within the district. The class has already been piloted as an elective course in schools like Hillsdale and Aragon. Along with Mills, the course will also be implemented by Capuchino, Burlingame, and San Mateo High School in the upcoming school year. Hillsdale and Aragon expressed concerns with having freshmen deal with the heavier topics covered, consequentially agreeing to still offer the course as an elective for juniors and seniors. 

Governor Jerry Brown did not sign off on the course as a graduation requirement, as California already has relatively low high school graduation rates and adding this course would supposedly overwhelm students. On the other hand, Gavin Newsom, a candidate for California Governor, is in support of implementing the course as he believes “celebrating our diversity” is one of California’s true values. 

Ms. Zink, who is excited to be teaching this course next year spoke out for the relevance of this class, stating that “many students don’t know what ethnic studies is, which speaks to the need to have this course.” Ms. Zink further described how she simply wants to be there to support and guide her students during these powerful discussions around relevant topics. 

Despite many teachers and administrators pushing for this transition, the course has experienced pushback from teachers in SMUHSD as it completely removes the graduation requirement of Contemporary World Studies. 

Sophomore Leanna Yu currently finishing up CWS expressed her opinion on this change, “I’m not against the Ethnic Studies Course, but I’m also in support of CWS. I feel like we’re learning about a lot of urgent issues happening in the Middle East and Asia, and there’s so much happening in these regions, I just can’t imagine not having this curriculum. I think it’s a good thing we’re trying to implement the Ethnic Studies course, but it shouldn’t replace what sophomores are learning in their second semester of history.”

Both CWS and the Ethnic Studies course are meant to empower students, but opponents of the change argue that CWS also educates students on real-world, current issues and that the Ethnic Studies course does not have the same effect.

Photo Credits: The Eagle’s Eye