California Adds New Graduation Requirement
Photo Courtesy of GFHS teacherLinn Lee
SAUSD hosts the inaugural Ethnic Studies Conference at Santa Ana Valley High School. “A lot of the ethnic studies course is based on developing their student’s identity, their voice, their concerns, and how it can turn into some positive change in their community,” said Curriculum Specialist for High School Social Science, Linn Lee. Photo taken on June 3, 2017
December 1, 2021
The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) has implemented a new requirement to obtain a high school diploma which will take effect in 2026.
On October 8, 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 101, making California the first state to add ethnic studies as a graduation requirement for all public high school students.
The law mandates all public high schools in the state to take at least one ethnic studies course beginning the 2025-26 school year and mandates students graduating in the 2029-2030 school year to have completed one-semester in the subject.
Godinez sophomore Alex Avila thinks another graduation requirement is a bit excessive and may make students overwhelmed. Avila has a brother that will be a freshman next year.
“I hope he doesn’t feel even more overwhelmed than I did my freshman year as a quarantine student,” said Avila.
Ten days later, Superintendent of SAUSD, Jerry Almendarez sent out a newsletter regarding this new graduation requirement.
In the letter Almendarez states, “The graduating class of 2026 will have the opportunity to choose from more than 20 ethnic studies classes over the course of their high school career in the areas of English, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, and Visual Performing Arts.”
This makes SAUSD the first district in Orange County to have the requirement apply to incoming freshmen in the 2022-2023 school year.
Godinez Fundamental High School principal Jesse Church is in favor of students learning about their heritage and about minorities.
“I am a big advocate in exposing our students to minority studies that have not really had a chance,” added Church.
The ethnic studies movement started in the late 1960s where students at San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley, pushed for courses in Chicano, Asian American, Native American and African American studies.
A year ago, Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside) introduced Assembly Bill 101 (AB 101). The bill aimed to expand student’s education opportunities and teach them about the variety of communities across the country. Medina himself, holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies.
“Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens by teaching students about the multifaceted history of America that is often left out of textbooks,” said Medina.
Godinez Fundamental High School (GFHS) assistant principal Felipe Zamudio said that the course might be embedded into another course.
“I think we have enough graduation requirements already. However, I think it will be good for the students to look at points of history we have not,” said Zamudio.
For teachers like social science teacher, Megan Blash, she thinks it is important for students to learn about different perspectives in history as well as current issues. Blash thinks students will be willing to learn this course.
“Aristotle once said that educating the mind without educating the hearth is no education at all,” said Blash.
The push for an ethnic studies requirement in SAUSD has been going since 2016, but now that it is here, it will be interesting to see the impact it has for future California high school students.
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Gustavo • Apr 21, 2022 at 10:15 am
I think that having ethnic studies as another graduation requirement is a great idea but I don’t entirely agree with it. I agree with Mr Zamudio, “I think we have enough graduation requirements already.”. I think that this requirement will ENHANCE the knowledge and understanding of other ethnic groups in many of the young people that will be in high school starting the year of 2026. I think that being exposed to these minority studies is a good idea. Mr Church says, “I am a big advocate in exposing our students to minority studies that have not really had a chance,”. I completely agree with him but it might be too much for the incoming students.
Jacob Chimal • Apr 4, 2022 at 7:50 am
This new graduation requirement has its ups and downs but I do not agree with it. I agree with Mr. Zumidio, “I think we have enough graduation requirements already. However, I think it will be good for the students to look at points of history we have not,” The students do already have enough graduation requirement with, portfolios, community service, language, and art kids are going to feel “overwhelmed” with everything. Especially now with Covid-19 some kids are being left behind and flooded with their homework and assignments. I agree with having ethnic studied because a lot of the stuff is left out in our education, but i dont agree with it being a requirement, I say it should be a choice to take the class.
Melissa • Apr 1, 2022 at 12:05 pm
I think having ethnic studies become a new requirement in schools is a good idea. The students would benefit from learning about different cultures and issues surrounding today’s world. This would give the student a chance to ENHANCE their education on different cultures and to become more aware of the struggles they face. As Medina said, “Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens by teaching students about the multifaceted history of America that is often left out of textbooks,” Many new topics that aren’t in textbooks would give students a chance to become more invested in the topic as well. People need to start stressing about “learning about different perspectives in history as well as current issues”. Although having a new graduation requirement may sound scary for some students, it will ultimately benefit them.
Andrew • Feb 10, 2022 at 6:28 am
This new graduation requiremnt is a great idea however it may lead to some unnecessary stress especially given current times. As stated in the article Alex Avila a student at Godinez believes that the class may “overwhelm students” and assistant Principle Zamudio agrees by stating that “I think we have enough graduation requirements already”. However, this new class will allow for a society that is more culturally competent. As stated by assembly member Jose Medina who says “Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens by teaching… that which is often left out of textbooks,”. This will allow them to learn about America’s multi-cultural history. So while some may find the class MUNDANE or DISDAIN another graduation requirement the class will ENHANCE students’ abilities in being able to see different points of view from different cultures all throughout the course of American history.
Vanessa • Jan 27, 2022 at 6:59 pm
The idea of a new graduation requirement can be scary such as Zamudio states “I think we have enough graduation requirements already. However, I think it will be good for the students to look at points of history we have not,” It is important to understand all the different ethnic groups. PROMULGATING is will encourage more school district to make this a requirement. “Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens¨ as stated this will help students learn where they come from and who they are
Julian • Jan 25, 2022 at 10:25 am
I think its an amazing idea learning more about ethinc studies would help us get a better understanding about our and other cultures and issues of racial ethnic groups. Jose Medina says “Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens by teaching students about the multifaceted history of America that is often left out of textbooks,” I get frenzy when we talk about this because I wanna learn about the stuff they dont include in the text books I want to know why they removed that stuff and what was it.
Julian • Jan 25, 2022 at 8:34 am
Personally I think its a good idea. Ethnic studies could help better our understandings about different cultures and issues of racial ethinc groups. It puts me in a frenzy just thinking about it. Jose Medina says ““Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens by teaching students about the multifaceted history of America that is often left out of textbooks,” There is a lot of stuff that is left out and I want to know why and what is left out specifically.
Elizabeth • Jan 6, 2022 at 1:00 am
I agree that it is a good idea for ethnic studies to be a graduation requirement for students. The extra requirement will allow students to learn about their “heritage” and where their roots come from. Assistant principal Felipe Zamudio states, “I think we have enough graduation requirements already. However, I think it will be good for the students to look at points of history we have not.” Since the class has to be completed for one semester only, I think that most students will be okay with that. Although some students may find an ethnic studies class MUNDANE or they could feel “overwhelmed” with the idea of having another graduation requirement.
Bryan Huirache • Jan 5, 2022 at 4:20 pm
Ethnic background studies should be encouraged by all school districts however, implementing another graduation standard would make students high school experience much tougher than it already is. Perhaps students growth would be underwhelmingly lower than the PROGNOSTICATED goal.”Exposure” exposure to a students minority is very important. However doubts would come in about whether or not a students background will be talked or discussed about during this curriculum. Another question that would be brought up is, would every background (found near Santa ana) be talked about? If the answer is no, there would most certainly be backlash from both students and the community. I see this as a step in a good direction but the execution could be better, perhaps making it an elective would be a better choice.
Alejandro Lopez • Jan 5, 2022 at 1:35 pm
In DISDAIN times like these when it come to race, ethnicity and sexuality it is in my opinion the step in the right direction towards a better society if ethnic studies becomes a requirement to graduate high school.If younger people are educated about the difficulties some people have simply because of their skin color and sexuality then the young generations will learn to put themselves in other peoples shoes or see something from a different perspective.I can understand when someone that has a younger sibling be worried about them having to take another course when they get to high school that they will be ¨overwhelmed¨but im sure that will be worked out.Ethnic studies sounds and feels a like the track to building a better society.
Blanca • Jan 5, 2022 at 6:52 am
It’s a good thing for students to learn about a different ethnicity, and taking at least one semester isn’t a lot. Although some students might feel LOATHSOME about having another requirement. Assistant Principle states “I think we have enough graduation requirements already. However, I think it will be good for the students to look at points of history we have not.” which he is right about because we probably don’t get taught enough about one ethnicity in normal history classes.
Diana • Jan 4, 2022 at 11:47 pm
It’s awesome for the new upcoming freshman to learn about their heritage and a new perspective about history. “ Godinez sophomore Alex Avila thinks another graduation requirement is a bit excessive and may make students overwhelmed.” Our school has many resources where they can help out our INTREPID Grizzlies with the new requirement. I think it’s cool for new high schoolers to learn about the hidden history in America that is often left out.
Ramon Leonides • Jan 4, 2022 at 11:04 pm
This new graduation requirement could be seen as a positive teaching younger generations about different cultures or some students may see it as more work to stress over. With this new added class it will teach students about different cultures which also teaches them to respect each other’s differences. As stated in the article “Megan Blash, she thinks it is important for students to learn about different perspectives in history as well as current issues.” She believes it’s important for students to learn and learn others perspectives. As students learn about different cultures it helps prevent ethinc and racial divisions, also preventing any belief or stereotypes. Some students might DISDAIN this adding more work while balancing out their other requirements and any other extracurricular. The addition of a graduation requirement may stress students out with all the extra work being added. The article says “Godinez sophomore Alex Avila thinks another graduation requirement is a bit excessive and may make students overwhelmed.” A sophomore seems worried that the requirement might be a little too excessive piling more work for the students.
Carlos Valenzo • Jan 4, 2022 at 5:14 pm
Our Governor Gavin Newsom passed ” Assembly bill ” which will essentially require us students to take one semester of ethnic class. The Bill is set to fully take place during the 25-26 school year.The Santa Ana unified district however is going to start as of next year. Honestly I think its a really cool subject and it’ll ENHANCE our learning and understanding of our culture. I also however have mixed thoughts because I feel us students are being overwhelmed.
Omar Meza • Jan 4, 2022 at 12:31 am
In my opinion adding one “ethnic studies course” will be to stressful do to the other classes students have. School is already stressful why add other requirement class to graduation.The assistant principal Felipe Zamudio stated that we have enough graduation requirements already. Some students will probably want to take the class but other will be IRATE because they have to deal that class and the other classes. From that two good points I made I think its a bad idea.
Yuridia Garibay • Jan 3, 2022 at 11:53 pm
I think that adding a new requirement can become too much especially during these times when kids are missing school quite often due to covid. Many believe that adding a new requirement can ENHANCE students knowledge I think that although that might be true, the requirements needed already are enough. Possibly in the future adding this requirement can be a good idea but as of right now it does not seem like the best idea. I would love to take an ethnic class but i know that i would struggle even more with my grades if i were to do that right now and i know that many kids right now would not like another requirement to be put on their shoulders. This seems like a great, fun idea but i say they hold it back a bit and let kids settle in after what has happended these last two years.
Cristian Lorenzo • Jan 3, 2022 at 10:00 pm
I agree with Alex Avila that another graduation requirement may make students overwhelmed because they will have to take an extra class and have less free time. I personally believe that this graduation requirement is beneficial because students get to learn about their heritage and about minorities. Assemblymember Jose Medina said “Ethnic studies courses empower students and help build culturally competent citizens by teaching students about the multifaceted history of America that is often left out of textbooks,”, I agree with this statement because students get to better understand themselves and the people around them. While it seemed MUNDANE to me at first, Megan Blash changed my mind. I have Megan Blash as my AP Human Geography teacher and she is always encouraging us to learn more about cultures and cultural groups. This is also part of the reason why I am interested and support the ethnic graduation requirement.
Tzideny • Jan 3, 2022 at 9:02 pm
Reading this article made me realize that learning about ethnic studies might be something i would want to do, all though it being a requirement to graduate for future students it might be a little to much for them. As a person with Mexican decent I would love to learn more about “Chicano” history, knowing that they are PROMULGATING that future students could take a class about learning “ethnic studies” makes me feel that the education system is finally doing something good for kids. At the same time I cant help but to worry about future graduating students knowing that they will have another thing to worry about to graduate, they should honestly fix the school system. Teaching students about other history that they could feel a connection to is a good thing, this can lead students to want to keep on studying, this can clear a pathway for their learning ability.
Itzamarai Ramirez • Jan 3, 2022 at 8:02 pm
Adding more “requirements” for students to graduate means making us, the students more stressful than we already are. It would be best if instead of a requirement it’s an option. Some students would probably have the interest in taking ethnic studies classes others don’t want to. Many students have PLETHORA of homework and responsibilities other than school. To this point students from Godinez have achieved these requirements, we as well want to, but now we have more achievements to make. Most of the students might have more trouble on graduating.
Camila Guzman • Jan 3, 2022 at 7:44 pm
I, personally, am very much in favor of this new bill Gov. Newsom signed last year. I think that this bill is especially important in a state like California which harbors a PLETHORA of ethnic communities and is so rich in culture. Mr. Zamudio and Mrs. Blash are right– these classes would encourage students to study in more NUANCE the histories of communities they may not be familiar with. Because the matters of ethnic minorities are so relevant in our country’s political and social climate right now, it is of the essence to properly educate students on such matters. While I also agree that this new graduation requirement may add to students’ stress, I believe that the benefits of the bill will outweigh the potential issues.
Guadalupe Hernandez • Jan 3, 2022 at 6:14 pm
I have to agree with what Mr. Zamudio said there are “enough requirements” for students to graduate and adding one seems like too much. The PROMULGATION of adding ethnic studies wouldn’t be such a bad thing though. Of course it is going to be a challenge but every challenge always usually has something positive at the end. It will provide students with useful knowledge about their background history, their ethnicity. The new requirement will indeed “empower” students. It will help them realize who they really are and come from, it is intriguing.
Rafael Alvarez • Jan 3, 2022 at 6:09 pm
Even though this seems like a tough requirement, ethnic studies are necessary. Ethnic studies allow a greater depth into many different areas of high school. These classes will help more people have a more EMINENT future because it will teach students what “‘…is often left out of textbook,”‘. Many teachers are not against it because they know what these classes will do to students. This impact will be very strong, but the “future California high school students” will have to make the best of the situation.