As the nation’s culture wars rage and states like Florida adopt new laws and policies limiting what can be taught about racism in schools, the California reparations task force is set to propose to legislators that they do just the opposite: boost the teaching of African-American studies in the state’s schools. That means California, whose governor last year signed first-in-the-nation legislation requiring ethnic studies in high school, could also someday adopt African-American studies in its K-12 curriculum — while on the other side of the country, Florida teachers grapple with changes to the education system that they say are affecting student-teacher relationships, and making them question whether they want to keep teaching.
“It is actually essential that [the task force’s recommendations are] happening at this time,” Cheryl Grills, a member of California’s reparations task force, told MarketWatch. “The stance of folks like [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis represents an opportunity for deeper reflection as a country about why it’s scary for people to hear facts and truths that don’t align with their world view.” “Our recommendations for remedy directly counter this movement toward ignorance,” she added. “You can’t fix what you won’t look at.” Though many California schools teach students some Black history, and hundreds of high schools in the state already offer ethnic studies, what the state’s students have learned has be …