Ethnic Studies vote back on

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

Ethnic Studies is back on the table in Palo Alto after school board members asked to vote on making the controversial class a graduation requirement, board member Shana Segal said yesterday.

The school board was scheduled to vote on Ethnic Studies last night, but last week Superintendent Don Austin recommended tabling the proposal indefinitely because the state wouldn’t fund the class.

Since then, Segal said she has received “myriad requests from the community, as well as board members,” to put Ethnic Studies back on the agenda.

So the board will have a special meeting on Thursday with Ethnic Studies as the only topic, Segal said.

The discussion will reflect that Ethnic Studies is not mandated by the state, Segal said.

The state Legislature passed a law three years ago to mandate Ethnic Studies starting with the 2025–26 school year.

But Assembly Bill 101 said the requirement was “only upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature,” and Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t include funding in his budget proposed on Jan. 10.

Palo Alto has gone slower than neighboring districts by keeping Ethnic Studies as an elective.

The Sequoia Union High School District and the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District already mandate the class.

Jewish families have complained about schools teaching a biased and one-sided view of the conflict in Israel that has provoked antisemitic remarks, bullying and antagonism toward Jewish students.

Both districts have been sued by the Deborah Project, a pro-Israel law firm alleging the districts are withholding records related to Ethnic Studies curriculum.

Advocates for Ethnic Studies include parent Nicole Chiu-Wang, who ran unsuccessfully for Palo Alto school board in 2022 and 2024. 

Chiu-Wang said yesterday that Ethnic Studies improves academic achievement of students from historically underrepresented groups and helps them understand their place in the world.

“Ethnic Studies centers the lived experiences and history of students who rarely see themselves represented in our history classes — limited to one paragraph or a few sentences at the end of each chapter as a crumb of acknowledgment,” Chiu-Wang said in an email.

Austin criticized the state’s handling of Ethnic Studies in his letter to the community last week.

“By framing Ethnic Studies as a high-stakes, one-semester requirement, the Legislature created a political flashpoint, with some viewing it as a magical solution and others committed to fighting against the course in general,” Austin said. “Both extremes undermine the true goal of the course: to foster insightful, well-guided discussions.”

As board president, Segal sets the agenda with Austin and board member Shounak Dharap, who is the board’s vice president. 

Segal said yesterday that she and Dharap agreed with Austin’s recommendation to pull Ethnic Studies, and they agreed to put the item back on the agenda.

The other board members — Josh Salcman, Alison Kamhi and Rowena Chiu — were elected in November.