Schools chief announces ‘Education to End Hate’
In an hour-long virtual news conference, Monday, state schools chief Tony Thurmond announced new efforts to combat increased cases of hate, bigotry and racism in California schools and communities, the “Education to End Hate” initiative.
Thurmond said that the California Department of Education
will lead a series of strategies— including educator training grants, partnerships with community leaders, and virtual classroom sessions — that uses the power of education to create a more just society.
“We do not need any more evidence that our country is facing two pandemics: coronavirus and hate. It feels like every day we are seeing heartbreaking examples: more anti-Semitic behavior, bullying of Asian American students because of our president’s rhetoric, Islamophobia, discrimination of our LGBTQ neighbors, and violence directed at people of color,” Thurmond said. “It’s time to double down on our efforts to combat all forms of hate, bias, and bigotry. By digging deeper into the complexities of our diverse and difficult histories — not denying or ignoring them — I believe education can provide the pathway to healing, understanding, and racial and social justice.”
During the 11 a.m. online gathering — which featured comments from social justice leaders, educators and legislators who support the initiative — Thurmond also announced the creation of the Teaching Tolerance Roundtable, besides
new mini-grants for professional development and the virtual classroom sessions that could foster “the conversation about race and bias” in American society.
In a press release issued after the news conference, Thurmond said the CDE will award up to $200,000 in mini-grants to school districts to support educator training in the areas of antiracism and bias. The grants will be funded by the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.
Organizations with wideranging experience in leading teacher training — including Equality California, the National Equity Project, and the Simon Weisenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance — have already agreed to offer professional development and resources through this program. More details on grant guidelines and the application process will be released to school districts soon, Thurmond noted in the prepared statement.
The executive director of Equality California, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ rights, Rick Zbur was the first of 11 speakers, and he cited survey data that indicated 32 percent of LGBTQ K-12 students reported feeling
safe in schools; 50 percent said they had been taunted; 25 percent said they have been threatened or suffered physical harm.
Rabbi Meyer H. May, executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museums of Tolerance in Los Angeles, said it was important that people “not just tolerate each other but respect each other and learn” from one another. (The center is a global human rights organization the researches the Holocaust and hate in historic and contemporary contexts.)
Afterward, Thurmond noted a rise in anti-Semitism across the nation during the last several years.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, people of color were the subject of “inappropriate comments,” adding that it was necessary to give “students and educators skills to about the issues.”
“We know our children face racism and bigotry in their lives,” she said. “Classrooms should serve as safe learning environments that allow students to process and understand these difficult experiences.”
The rise in reports about hate, bigotry and racism “is not just about Latino students,” and not just about the Trump presidency. The societal problems alluded to during the news conference have long been part of American history, added
Gonzalez, chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus.
A managing director of the National Equity Project, an Oakland-based education reform organization that seeks to further equity objectives in schools, Stephen Chang, echoed Gonzalez’s comments, adding that coming to terms with hate, bigotry and race in American life required each of us to examine our own biases. Yet, at the same time, solving such problems requires facing them head-on with honesty, he added.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco and chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus cited a “horrific rise” in anti-Semitism in Europe, saying, “We cannot allow the U.S. to go in the direction of Europe.”
“In a time when President Trump is attempting to convince Americans that discussing issues like race, gender, and sexual orientation are counterproductive to American ideals, California must take a stand,” he added.
State Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino and chair of the Senate Education Committee, recalled the age-old axiom, “You learn what you live.”
Racism and hate, she added, “are being taught in living rooms” and noted that racism, in some political, legal, societal and medical corners, is considered a public health crisis.
“We know that racism and hate persist” at every level of society, including education, she added.
In brief remarks afterward, Thurmond called the rise in hatred and racism of all kinds “a manmade pandemic” and blasted Trump’s support for the keeping of Confederate statues and calling COVID-19 “the China virus” and “Kung Flu,” which experts on Asian culture say comes with racist implications.
Assemblywoman Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara and vice-chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, minorities are not always included in state history classes and that the Golden State’s history “is more than just the (historic California) missions.”
Toward the end of the news conference, which included some questions from the media, Thurmond said ethnic studies was important and called on Trump “to unite us.”
He also characterized Trump’s recent threat to withhold federal funding schools that teach the 1619 Project, which places the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the center of American history, as “ridiculous.”
“Schools shouldn’t have their funding threatened,” said Thurmond, a former East Bay Assemblyman.