New York City public schools will implement a new Black studies curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade this fall.
of Coursework It was created by the Center for Black Educational Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. The curriculum was funded by the New York City Council, known as the Educational Equity Action Plan (EEAP).
The curriculum has already been introduced in some schools across the city and will be available to all when students return to classes this month.
“This isn't necessarily a curriculum about a particular racial group, but about the history of inequality and stratification in the United States,” said Sonia Douglas, a professor of educational leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. He told ABC News.
“Young people and teachers who may not have even had the opportunity to be exposed to this content in their own training or education can, I think, be grounded in that history and a perspective that is different to their own, which can help them better understand the challenges we face as a society today,” Douglas added.
The new coursework will supplement existing school programs and provide a range of additional units, activities, reading lists and lesson plans.
While New York City adopts the new curriculum, other states, including Oklahoma and Texas, are removing books from school libraries, with advocates arguing that certain material about gender and race can be stigmatizing to students.
“We're in the middle of a battle for the minds of our children and how we fit them into American society,” Douglas told ABC News, “so I think all of this is very intertwined in that some states want to restrict the teaching of truth and other states want to give a more accurate and expansive account of our history and our contributions.”
