California’s Ethnic Studies Controversy: Launch of a Curricular Alternative
In-person TicketsOnline-only Tickets
If you are not a member yet, now is the time to join our community and receive the great benefits of membership. We are a group of people seeking truth, insight and wisdom about the issues we face as individuals and as a society. Please join! You can become a monthly sustaining member for just $13 a month.
“Ethnic studies” is an ideological battleground in higher education, and now California is bringing its 1.6 million high school students into the fray. Every one of them must take an ethnic studies course to graduate, starting in the fall of 2025.
But what will the course teach them? The State Department of Education’s original model curriculum—now candidly dubbed the “Liberated Ethnic Studies Curriculum”—was criticized for its anti-capitalist agenda, embrace of critical-race themes, and alleged antisemitism. Reaction was so intense that Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the original curricular mandate legislation. A second State Model Curriculum toned down some of the original emphases. The final legislation signed by the governor had a local-option twist: school districts are free to determine the ethnic studies curriculum used in their schools. As a result, the skirmish over ethnic studies can now be replayed district by district.
Independent Institute has created what it calls a balanced curriculum for the consideration of districts throughout the state. The “Comparative Cultures Ethnic Studies Curriculum” portrays the full tableau of American ethnic history, dark moments as well as instances of triumph and personal success. It explores contending schools of thought. Animated not by ideology but by balance, this curriculum builds on years of research and pedagogical insight.
This panel will include a survey of California’s Ethnic Studies controversy, and presentation of the "Comparative Cultures Ethnic Studies Curriculum" by its project leader Williamson M. Evers, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
This program has 2 types of tickets available: in-person and online-only. Please pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event.
If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.
This program is part of our American Values Series, underwritten by Taube Philanthropies.
All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Williamson M. Evers
Project Leader, Comparative Cultures Ethnic Studies Curriculum
Lauren L. Janov
Attorney; Education Consultant; Co-founder, Palo Alto Parent Alliance
Walter Myers III
Senior Fellow and Board Member, Discovery Institute; Contributor, Discovery’s American Center for Transforming Education.
Barbara Nemko
County Superintendent, Napa County Office of Education; Co-chair, California Department of Education’s Reading Task Force; Winner, 2019 California County Superintendents Champion’s Award; Former Middle School Teacher in the Corona Neighborhood of Queens in New York City
Richard H. Sander
Jesse Dukeminier Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law; Director, UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy
Graham H. Walker
President, Independent Institute—Moderator
5:30 p.m. doors open & check-in
6–7 p.m. program
(all times Pacific Time)
COST
In-person:
$15 members
$25 nonmembers
Free for Leadership Circle members and students and educators
Online:
Free for members
$5 nonmembers