[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-585129-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-585129-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","backgrounder-no-3853-state-education-policy-ethnic-studies","BACKGROUNDER - No. 3853 - State Education Policy: Ethnic Studies","","Backgrounder No. 3853 (September 13, 2024) argues that state lawmakers should replace ethnic studies in K–12 and state universities with history and civics focused on historical facts, citizenship lessons, government mechanics, and rights under law. The paper contends ethnic studies reflects Marxist and identity-politics aims rather than a benign effort to foster shared national identity. It calls for prohibiting taxpayer funding for DEI offices and banning compelled professional statements by teachers and students, then examines case studies including California and Minnesota.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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universities regarding ethnic studies?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It argues lawmakers should replace ethnic studies with history and civics instruction focused on historical facts, citizenship, how government works, and rights under law.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the paper suggest handling public funding for DEI-related offices and programs?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It recommends that state laws prohibit taxpayer spending on DEI offices, staff, and programs at public schools.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What does the paper say about compelling teachers or students to profess ideas?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It calls for laws prohibiting K–12 teachers and students from being compelled to profess any idea, especially ideas that violate state and federal civil rights 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Ethnic Studies Have Got to Go  \nJonathan Butcher and Mike Gonzalez  \nKEY TAKEAWAYS  \nState lawmakers should replace ethnic studies as a subject in K–12 classes and state universities with history and civics instruction focused on historical facts.  \nState lawmakers and K–12 and postsecondary officials should prohibit the use of taxpayer spending on DeI offices, staff, and programs at public schools.  \nState laws should prohibit K–12 teachers and students from being compelled to profess any idea, especially ideas that violate state and federal civil rights laws.  \nState lawmakers and education officials should  \nreplace ethnic studies as a subject in public  \nK–12 classes and state universities with history and civics instruction focused on historical facts, lessons on citizenship, the mechanics of government, and rights under law. Ethnic studies does not include these crucial issue areas, nor is ethnic studies a benign discipline that seeks to bring Americans together. The subject is not intended to make Americans understand each other better nor equip students tobe participating members of society when they graduate. Rather, ethnic studies is a radical field based on Marxist ideas that teaches students to prioritize their racial, ethnic, sexual, or “gender” identities (known as identity politics) over a shared national allegiance and national identity. One need only look atthe bill mandating that ethnic studies be embedded into academic standards,  \nthis paper, in its entirety, can be found at [https://report.heritage.org/bg3853](https://report.heritage.org/bg3853)  \nthe Heritage Foundation | 214 massachusetts Avenue, Ne | Washington, DC 20002 | (202) [546-4400 | heritage.org](546-4400 | heritage.org)[ ](546-4400 | heritage.org)Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.  \nwhich Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), VicePresident Kamala Harris’s runningmate in the 2024 presidential election, signed into law in 2023, oneof the most radical in the nation, discussed below.  \nAmericans need not agree on every policy issue, and elections give Americans the chance to exercise their right to select different candidates for office. Yet Americans should agree that their nation fundamentally respects individual rights and appreciatesthe sacrifice of those who defended this nation over the years to protect the freedoms that all Americans enjoy today. Ethnic studies does not advance these basic ideas, but, instead, it militates against them. Ethnic studies is a “critical” field, which means that ethnic studies focuses on societal conceptual superstructures and how to undermine them through critique. It analyzes power imbalances and seeks political changes. These are all Marxist notions used to deconstruct American society. Ethnic studies advocates designed their content to “decolonize” social studies and“area studies”(a subfield of study within social studies), in particular.  \n“Decolonization” is another Marxist concept that calls for revolution, either through violence or by attempting to replace one set of beliefs with another, making ethnic studies an academic discipline rooted in physical or cultural aggression—not the transmission or exploration of historical names, dates, ideas, and places.1  \nEthnic studies’ most committed proponents do not hide this agenda. Teachers, academics, and activists developed ethnic studies during the turbulent period of the 1960s, amidst the racial, sexual, political, and military changes that reshaped the nation during this decade. One advocate, University of California-Riverside professor Richard F. Lowry, describes the history of ethnic studies saying,  \nIt is in this context of racial, generational, and gender awareness that individuals and groups of activists began to seek the in","cbCaivrJ004srNX8","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivrJ004srNX8","pdf",337152,24,"English","# Key Takeaways\n## Policy changes proposed\n# Ethnic studies’ stated foundations\n## Marxist framing and “decolonization”\n# Historical development and institutionalization\n## 1960s activist curricula\n# Case-study approach\n## California and Minnesota\n## Other states with right-of-center offices","[{\"question\":\"What changes does the paper propose for K–12 and universities regarding ethnic studies?\",\"answer\":\"It argues lawmakers should replace ethnic studies with history and civics instruction focused on historical facts, citizenship, how government works, and rights under law.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper suggest handling public funding for DEI-related offices and programs?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends that state laws prohibit taxpayer spending on DEI offices, staff, and programs at public schools.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the paper say about compelling teachers or students to profess ideas?\",\"answer\":\"It calls for laws prohibiting K–12 teachers and students from being compelled to profess any idea, especially ideas that violate state and federal civil rights laws.\"}]","BACKGROUNDER - No. 3853 - State Education Policy: Ethnic Studies | PDF",1792053769]