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While the Mountain View Los Altos High School board decided last month to shorten the district’s ethnic studies class, what will replace it is still an open question, with trustees asking social studies teachers this week to make proposals.
Three weeks ago, the board voted 3-2 to truncate MVLA’s required, yearlong freshman ethnic studies class into a single semester course. On Monday, board members held a study session to discuss what courses freshman might pair with the abridged ethnic studies class, as well as when to implement a reduction in the district’s social studies graduation requirement.
The district currently requires four full years of social studies, but with ethnic studies reduced, board members have indicated that they plan to lower the graduation requirement to 3.5 years.
At Monday’s meeting, ten teachers showed up to speak in opposition to the board’s recent decisions, raising concerns about reducing the graduation requirement and the potential for layoffs.
Kevin Heiken, a social studies teacher who helped build the ethnic studies curriculum, compared the board’s recent decision to demolishing a house with no plan to build a new one, noting that the vote has caused “chaos across the entire district.”
Social studies teachers were recently notified that the district might initiate the process to lay off teachers for next school year. Superintendent Eric Volta told the Voice last week that it’s too early to say whether this would be necessary, but that because next year’s freshmen will only be required to take one semester of social studies, the district won’t need as many social studies teachers.
Board members requested that teachers and staff from the social studies departments come forward with proposals for potential electives that students can take in conjunction with ethnic studies.
“I felt when I made my vote that a compromise was appropriate to have one semester of ethnic studies,” Vonnegut said at the Nov. 17 meeting. “By no means, though, did I mean that we would not offer other social studies classes.”
Vonnegut was the tie-breaking vote last month, joining board members Alex Levich and Vadim Katz in deciding to shorten ethnic studies. Thida Cornes and Esmeralda Ortiz dissented. At the time, Vonnegut said that she “almost could flip a coin” to make her decision, noting that she understood both sides of the argument.
At Monday’s meeting, Cornes said that while she wants to support teachers through this transition, with property taxes coming in low this year, she’s concerned about how overspending on staff now could potentially affect MVLA’s ability to sustain staffing in the future.
“I just have to ask the teachers for some patience and flexibility,” Cornes said. “This is not where I would like to be. I don’t think it’s where you would like to be, and we just have to work together to try to figure this out. My commitment is to support teachers through this transition, because we attract and retain teachers of the highest caliber.”
During public comment, some teachers rejected the district’s claim of financial constraints, arguing that there’s tens of millions of dollars sitting in reserves for situations like this.
Board discusses new course options
Board members weighed in on what freshman might take to fill the open slot for a one-semester course created by cutting ethnic studies in half.
One option would be to require students to take a semester of health their freshman year, but board members opted to stick with the status quo, in which students have the option to take the course either online or in person at any time during their four years.
Instead, the trustees wanted to wait and see what single-semester social studies courses teachers come up with. However, Ortiz questioned the likelihood of freshmen choosing to take another semester of social studies, rather than completing the district’s health requirement early on.
“Will students sign up their freshman year to take electives like history electives, versus completing graduation requirements?” Ortiz said. “I don’t know the answer to that, but I don’t think the electives necessarily solve some of the concerns that we’ve heard during the public comment today.”
Several teachers expressed worries on Monday about the board moving forward with its decision to shorten the district’s four-year social studies requirement. Julie Yick, a longtime MVLA social studies teacher, told the board that four full years of social studies provides students “with the most robust amount of academic skill development possible.” She urged the board to either reinstate the full year of ethnic studies or require students to take another semester of social studies their freshman year.
The decision to shorten ethnic studies came after the board began publicly weighing making changes last school year. The district started requiring a full year of ethnic studies in fall 2023, at the urging of community members. In recent months, numerous public speakers have shown up at board meetings to speak both in favor and against the course.
Heated debates over ethnic studies and its content are not unique to MVLA. The course has been a hot topic across the state for several years.
After the California Legislature failed to allocate funding for a statewide ethnic studies mandate that was supposed to take effect this school year, MVLA has grappled with what should happen with its course.
Community members who supported maintaining the full-year class argued that students need more than just one semester to meaningfully engage with the material, which takes an interdisciplinary look at race and ethnicity. Those opposed to keeping ethnic studies as it was said that the class lacked academic rigor and that different teachers taught the curriculum in different ways.
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While the Mountain View Los Altos High School Board cites “financial constraints” and vague concerns about “academic rigor” as reasons for dismantling the full-year Ethnic Studies course, we cannot view this decision in isolation. This move to truncate the curriculum mirrors a well-documented, statewide campaign driven by right-wing and special interest lobbying groups to water down Ethnic Studies.
Investigative reports have extensively detailed these efforts. Publications like Jewish Currents and Truthout describe the organized campaign by Zionist groups to neutralize the curriculum, and legislative efforts to impose censorship in California schools.
Read the Jewish Currents article: “Attacks From Pro-Israel Groups Threaten California’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum”
Read another relevant article in Jewish Currents: “In California, Jewish Groups’ Win Is Students’ Loss”
Read the Truthout article: “California Ethnic Studies Bill Aims to Censor Palestine-Related Education”
When the district entertains arguments that the course is “divisive” or “lacks rigor,” they are echoing the talking points provided by these special interest groups to sanitize history and demand censorship.
By cutting this course to a single semester, the Board has created a scheduling nightmare and threatened teacher layoffs. However, it is difficult not to believe that board members Alex Levich and Vadim Katz stood for election to further a right-wing political agenda, not out of genuine concern for our children’s education. Their vote has, therefore, sacrificed our teachers’ work and our students’ intellectual development to satisfy their biases.
Isn’t it about time you put down your copy of “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, Leon?