Ethnic studies debate in San Mateo Union High School District

ACES co-founder Elina Kaplan notes the group fully supports teaching ethnic studies. But the group, which was largely behind the email campaign lobbying district officials on the matter, is advocating for a constructive ethnic studies model that highlights the achievements of marginalized groups, allows students to discuss racism and discrimination and equip them to analyze issues from a variety of viewpoints.

“We believe that Ethnic Studies (ES) is an important part of high school education. We also believe that ES should build bridges of understanding, confront racism, celebrate ethnic accomplishments, and expose students to multiple perspectives,” read a letter from ACES sent to the district.

Members of the Board of Trustees acknowledged the concerns while showing varying support for the district’s current program and for a lead administrator behind its development, Dr. Samia Shoman, who has come under scrutiny for the roles she has played in helping to craft similar programs.

Trustee Robert Griffin encouraged people to sit in on the classes, as he did, to learn more about the lessons while board President Greg Land said Shoman had his “unwavering support.”

Board Vice President Ligia Andrade Zúñiga, also a strong supporter of Shoman, said a teacher of hers began leading similar lessons when she was in high school and was ultimately fired after community members expressed outrage. The firing, she said, left her and her classmates feeling wronged.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with removing anyone from being represented or validated. It has to do with making sure everyone is validated and everyone has an equal voice,” said Andrade Zúñiga before adding that both of her sons “received so many gifts from the program.”

Given that the community has expressed concerns and feels unheard, as explained by Trustee Jennifer Jacobson, officials agreed a study session would be helpful. That discussion will likely be scheduled in the coming weeks, Superintendent Randall Booker said in an email.

“As a parent myself, I understand the frustration that other parents feel when they have genuine concerns and they feel they aren’t being heard by those in a position of oversight,” Jacobson said.

State versus local curriculum

All high school students will be required to complete an ethnic studies course to graduate starting the 2029-30 school year, following the signing of Assembly Bill 101 in 2021. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed an older version of the bill after many raised concerns the state’s proposed curriculum was problematic and minimized the histories of a number of groups, including Jewish people.

The initial draft, dubbed the Liberated Ethnic Studies Curriculum, was revised multiple times before the state’s current ethnic studies model curriculum was adopted. In its final form, the nearly 700-page document continues to highlight the importance of teaching students about the histories, contributions and struggles of marginalized groups with an emphasis on Black, Native American, Latino and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. It also encourages giving students the tools to analyze systems of power both historically and presently and to become civilly engaged and responsible.

An outline of San Mateo Union High School District’s ethnic studies course, found on the district’s website, states a similar objective. The nine-month course begins by explaining what ethnic studies is and how it affects students personally then moves into discussions around migration, movement and displacement, multiple categories of identity, power and privilege, action and self-determination and finally, application.

Booker said the district’s ethnic studies curriculum is not affiliated with any version of the state’s curriculum. The district first adopted its program in 2016, years before the state’s model was approved, and it was drafted by teachers and faculty from the district who have continued to adjust the material over the years, he said.

Ethnic studies programs were also already adopted by Sequoia Union High School District and South San Francisco Unified School District before that bill was signed into place.

“As a district, we are proud of this work and we are proud that ethnic studies is a graduation requirement, in advance of the state mandate requirement,” Booker said during last Thursday’s meeting. “There is no perfect curriculum. We know that, so we will see flaws and we will talk about it and we will improve. As educators, we are always under a continuous improvement model.”

Questioning curriculum

ACES disputes Booker’s claim the district’s curriculum is unrelated to that of the state. Instead, its members assert the district’s curriculum is similar to the Liberated Ethnic Studies Curriculum by focusing on oppression and victimhood, creating militant activists instead of engaged citizens, according to critiques on the group’s website.

Kaplan pointed to sample slides in which concepts like American exceptionalism, colorblindness when it comes to racial issues and privilege are characterized as universally bad without providing alternative viewpoints.

While open to, and supportive of, students speaking honestly about the hardships communities have faced, Kaplan said the group wants to see students discuss the positive histories of ethnic groups as well. From what she’s seen, students do discuss contributions briefly but only in the context of “resistance.”

And of specific concern for the group is Shoman, the district’s manager of English Learner and Compliance Programs, according to a draft of the letter sent to the district en masse.

Shoman also helped craft the initial draft of the state’s Liberated Ethnic Studies Curriculum and is an associate with Acosta Educational Partnership, a firm offering professional development and curriculum support with expertise in ethnic studies. Her multiple hats has led ACES to accuse her of having a conflict of interest and to ask that the district remove her from overseeing its ethnic studies program.

Shoman did not respond to a request for comment but, in addition to trustees, district officials including Booker and multiple ethnic studies teachers threw their full-hearted support behind Shoman and their curriculum during the board’s most recent meeting on Feb. 9.

“We, I, stand behind Dr. Shoman and the support she has provided to advance the cause of ethnic studies in our district and state including her services on the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Advisory Committee from 2019 to 2020,” Booker said during the meeting. “Dr. Shoman supports and facilitates the process but does not develop or write the curriculum. That is the role of our teachers.”

ACES also called that assertion into question, however, after multiple teachers thanked Shoman for her support in crafting the district’s course.

Booker acknowledged that the conversation around ethnic studies is expected to continue and committed himself to “keep the conversation alive” while advocating for a study session on the matter.

Though unsure of what the study session will entail, Kaplan said she appreciates the district’s openness to dialogue and that she believes the district and her organization have the same objective.

“We would really like to engage with the district on the actual substance of the issues,” Kaplan said. “Everybody’s on the same page that we want what’s best for the students and we’re not that far apart in that we want — a robust ethnic studies course, so let’s work together on it.”