Ask the California Department of Education to Include More Examples in their Asian American Studies!
California’s proposal for a statewide K-12 Asian American studies curriculum includes sample lesson plans covering only Filipinx farmworkers, Chinese Railroad workers, Pacific Islanders, and Hmong Americans. This completely excludes Japanese Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, and so many others for coverage with a sample lesson plan. We know that without a prepared provided lesson plan, instructors are unlikely to consider including such topics in their curriculum.
This new statewide curriculum goes into effect March 2021, and changes after that time will be more difficult to effect.
We have a chance to fix this. The California Department of Education has public review and comments submission. We have until September 30 to get our education curriculum submitted for review. We need to let the CDE understand how deeply rooted Asian American culture is tied with California’s history and the political fabric of the US constitution. We also need to send emails to the CDE to get them to listen and make sure they make these changes while being inclusive in Asian American Ethnic Studies.