California Teachers Association (CTA) Ethnic Caucuses of Color Joint Statement in Opposition to AB2918 — (text).
The text from a joint statement from all four CTA ethnic caucuses of color—including the CTA Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus, CTA African American Caucus, CTA American Indian/Alaska Native Caucus, and CTA El Sol Caucus—was obtained by the Davis Vanguard, and is included below:
It has come to our attention that a racist bill, targeting Ethnic Studies/BIPOC educators and undermining implementation of the graduation requirement, has recently been introduced in our California legislature. AB2918 is a bill that was “gutted & amended” after our June CTA State Council convening, and is now being rushed through the current legislative session—directly relating to racial justice and Ethnic Studies, yet without any of our input as racial justice leaders within CTA.
It went from a bill on Barbering and Cosmetology, to proposing increased bureaucratic layers, policing, and scrutiny to Ethnic Studies and educators of color. “It is not difficult to see how these provisions could provide an opportunity for some to force a chilling effect on any version of ethnic studies instruction that attempts to dive below the surface,” as the legislature’s own floor analyses on AB101 noted in 2021 (see “Guardrails or Detours?”). CTA made significant concessions and compromises for the Ethnic Studies graduation requirement by accepting overarching guardrails at that point in 2021, to the discontentment of communities of color. Now, even more bureaucratic layers and cumbersome compliance mechanisms added, and further containment imposed, that no other discipline must go through? Unacceptable.
As you may have seen from CFA’s letter in opposition; or heard from testimonies in strong opposition including from the California Latino School Boards Association, and from Jewish Parents for Collective Liberation during the CA Senate Education Committee hearing; or from the numerous concerns from the “tweeners” (CFT, ACSA, CSBA); or from Senator Gonzalez’ and Senator Cortese’s remarks about the bill, emphasizing the continued status quo political marginalization of communities/educators of color this bill represents; or from social media; or from the hostile, misleading, and at points false “fact sheet” from the bill’s author—there are plentiful reasons why there needs to be an exponentially stronger stance from CTA on AB2918.
Tragically, and for generations, anti-Blackness, anti-Brownness, anti-Indigeneity, anti-Asian hate, occur in our state and country’s schools, curricula, and instruction, daily, with egregious cases at times (recent example 1 (Math/anti-Indigeneity), and recent example 2 (ELA/anti-Blackness), harming students. We need to stand against all forms of oppression, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, in all education systems, curricula, and instruction—not single out Ethnic Studies, the only BIPOC led discipline in all of K-12, and which has demonstrated its capability to bring academic and social value for all students.
This racist bill cannot be further entertained or amended to remove the malicious intent it began with (clear from the “fact sheet”). Echoes of McCarthyism and right wing attacks on Critical Race Theory are evident in AB2918. While at the 11th hour in late June, $20 million dollars were removed from the 2024-2025 state budget for actual statewide Ethnic Studies curricula and instruction development, this “gut and amend” legislation concurrently emerged, legislating additional policing for Ethnic Studies, the only K-12 discipline led by educators and communities of color—disheartening to say the least.
From a racial justice standpoint, we are in strong consensus that it is necessary for CTA to oppose, rather than watch this bill. We ask that C&I/CTA shift from a “watch” to “oppose” immediately, communicate this shift to sister unions ASAP, to the legislature in time to be listed on the opposition document for the next hearing, and for CTA to speak in opposition at the subsequent hearing (or before then, ensuring that the bill will not be moving forward at all this legislative session [or ever], which should be understandable to the authors considering the hostile/malicious intent the bill was gutted and amended with this summer).
Any subsequent legislation focusing on Ethnic Studies implementation in our schools, needs to be led by BIPOC/BIPOC educators, period. We deeply appreciate your leadership and support with CTA racial justice, equity, and living up to our union mission and values.
