August 13, 2019 — Los Angeles
Armenian, Assyrian, Hellenic, Hindu, Jewish, and Korean Civic Groups Issue Joint Statement
For Immediate Release
Contact: Siamak Kordestani
310-405-7567
Los Angeles – August 13, 2019 – Eight major organizations, representing a very large and diverse constituency across California, today called on the state’s Department of Education to set aside the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum and rewrite the document.
The Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America -- Western Region (ANCA-WR), American Hellenic Council (AHC), American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hindu American Foundation (HAF), Assyrian American Association of Southern California (AAASC), Korean American Coalition (KAC), and the Korean American organization FACE (Faith and Community Empowerment), issued the following joint statement:
“California high school students deserve an opportunity to learn the role of ethnicity, race and religion in the life of all its citizens, including those previously ignored. But the proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, in its current form, does not come close to achieving this admirable goal.
“The draft lacks cultural competency, does not reflect California’s diverse population, and advances a political agenda that should not be taught as unchallenged truth in our state’s public schools.
“We urge the California Department of Education to completely redraft the curriculum, which is replete with mischaracterizations and omissions of major California ethno-religious groups. The groups highlighted in the current draft should be recognized, but not at the expense of everyone else.”
