Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s governing board will hold a special study session Friday about the district’s ethnic studies curriculum. The trustees won’t be making any decisions Friday, but might vote on a new contract for a consultant in May.
ethnic studies
Posted inEducation
Legislators renew push to reshape California ethnic studies with oversight and new standards
Legislation co-authored by the Legislative Jewish Caucus and others follows complaints and lawsuits alleging that some districts’ instruction fosters antisemitism.
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley Unified School District board to hold special meeting on ethnic studies
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s board of trustees voted to schedule a special meeting in March to discuss the district’s ethnic studies curriculum. The meeting will examine its current curriculum and decide on next steps.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The voters and the court have spoken — PVUSD needs to bring back its ethnic studies contract
Members of the grassroots group Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice call on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board to renew its contract with an ethnic studies consultant, which was dropped in September 2023 after vague allegations of antisemitism. The authors cite benefits to students, strong student and community support and a recent court case that dismissed similar antisemitism allegations against ethnic studies educators as reasons for bringing the contract back.
Posted inEducation
Five new faces and a fresh start: How controversy over ethnic studies helped reshape Pajaro Valley Unified School District
Three incumbents on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District governing board lost their seats to three newcomers in the November election. District community members talked to Lookout about how they think that happened.
Posted inEducation
Ethnic studies controversy in PVUSD: New advocacy group forms as district explores its options
Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice is starting a “Freedom School” as the community organization advocates for the inclusion of ethnic studies in Pajaro Valley Unified School District schools. As the 40th anniversary of the 1985 Watsonville cannery strike looms as a symbol for organizers, tensions both with the district and in the November school board election are mounting.
Posted inEducation
New PVUSD superintendent will ‘listen and learn’ before deciding on ethnic studies contract controversy
Incoming Pajaro Valley Unified School District superintendent Heather Contreras says she plans to do her due diligence on whether the district should reconsider a controversial decision not to renew its contract with a consultant who helped guide the creation of its ethnic studies curriculum. Many students and teachers say the district has taken too long to reconsider that decision.
Posted inEducation
Alicia Bencomo Garcia passes on her reawakening as Cabrillo College’s first ethnic studies faculty member
As California’s college systems move forward with new ethnic studies curricula, Cabrillo College has begun the formation of its department, headed by a daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico who saw her own life trajectory change when she took a Chicano/Chicana studies course at UC Davis at age 19.
Posted inK-12 Education
Ethnic studies becomes graduation requirement for California students
Experts and educators expect long-term benefits for students, but some groups remain critical of the mandate as they continue to erroneously conflate the curriculum with critical race theory.
Posted inPandemic Life
California approves ethnic studies curriculum for K-12 schools after years of debate
California’s top education policy making body voted Thursday to adopt a model curriculum in ethnic studies, ending a years-long and tortuous debate over the content and place of such coursework in public education in the state.