AB 1468: Ethnic studies: content standards, curriculum frameworks, instructional materials, and compliance monitoring.

Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt statewide academically rigorous content standards in the core curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics, history/social science, and science, as specified. Existing law requires the Instructional Quality Commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the state board and develop criteria for evaluating instructional materials.

This bill would require the state board to, on or before January 1, 2028, develop and adopt academically rigorous content standards for ethnic studies instruction in high school. The bill would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2028, to review and recommend to the state board curriculum frameworks and instructional materials for ethnic studies instruction in high school, as specified. The bill would require the state board to provide the commission with evaluation criteria to use in providing its review and recommendations. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation to establish an advisory committee with a majority of the advisory committee’s members being experts in African American studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, Native American studies, and Latino and Chicanx studies, to provide input to the state board on proposed content standards and to the commission on proposed curriculum frameworks and instructional materials for ethnic studies instruction in high school.

Existing law requires a pupil to complete designated coursework while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation from high school. These graduation requirements include, commencing for pupils graduating in the 2029–30 school year, the completion of a one-semester course in ethnic studies meeting specified requirements. Under existing law, the requirement to complete an ethnic studies course may be fulfilled by the completion of, among others, a course based on the model curriculum developed by the Instructional Quality Commission, an ethnic studies course taught as part of a course that has been approved as meeting the A–G requirements of the University of California and the California State University, or a locally developed ethnic studies course approved by the governing board of a school district or the governing body of a charter school. Existing law requires the curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for these ethnic studies courses to meet specified requirements, including that they not reflect or promote any bias, bigotry, or discrimination against any person or group of persons on the basis of certain characteristics. Existing law makes these provisions relating to ethnic studies courses operative only upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for purposes of these provisions.

This bill would require the curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for any high school ethnic studies course, including ethnic studies courses meeting high school graduation requirements, to meet the above-described requirements, and would require the curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for all high school ethnic studies courses to additionally, among other things, foster multicultural respect and understanding and focus on the domestic experience and stories of historically marginalized peoples in American society. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to provide, on or before June 30, 2026, the State Department of Education with a copy of all curricula, instruction, and instructional materials in ethnic studies that schools offer or plan to offer to pupils in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, and the adoption calendar for curricula, instruction, and instructional materials in ethnic studies proposed for adoption by the governing board or body of the local educational agency for instruction to these pupils. The bill would require a local educational agency that does not have an ethnic studies course in place for its pupils in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, on or before June 30, 2026, to provide the department with a copy of all curricula, instruction, and instructional materials in ethnic studies that its schools seek to adopt at least 60 days before being first presented at a public meeting of the governing board or body of the local educational agency for instruction to these pupils. The bill would require the department to post the information received pursuant to these requirements on its internet website. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would require the department to monitor compliance with the requirements of this bill as part of its annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs and to provide a report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature summarizing the data collected through compliance monitoring, as specified.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.