Why is the Santa Cruz Sentinel standing against the PVUSD community’s call to bring back CRE and liberated ethnic studies?

We are asking our community and supporters to write a letter to the editor to show them that the community supports the CRE contract!

How to write a letter to the editor

• State who you are and why you want the PVUSD school board to bring back the CRE contract (some ideas and talking points on next slide)
• Your letter must be 175 words or less – be concise!
• Say that you are responding to the editorial on “Why the PVUSD school board and superintendent need to uphold cancellation of ethnic studies contract”
• You have to provide your name, address, and phone number to verify your identity, but your contact information will not be published.
• Send your letter to editorial@santacruzsentinel.com 
• See www.santacruzsentinel.com/submit-letters/ for more information

Some ideas for what to say in your letter

If you are a student, parent, or someone who has engaged with CRE and ethnic studies at PVUSD:

• Write about how liberated ethnic studies has positively impacted you/your child/your students/community.
• Use your own experiences from participating in ethnic studies classes or the ethnic studies town hall to refute the tired accusations that CRE and liberated ethnic studies are divisive.
• Your personal testimonies and stories are powerful!

More general and background points:

• The original decision in 2021 to work with CRE was made after a robust decision-making process involving input from many local community groups and community members. Why is the current PVUSD board and the Santa Cruz Sentinel disrespecting this process and the community’s input?
  • Some of the community groups that were consulted include: The Tobera Project, MILPA, Digital NEST, Food What?!, Youth NOW, Regeneración Pajaro Valley Climate Action, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, White Hawk Dance Group, Early Academic Outreach Partnership Center, Migrant/Seasonal Head Start, and others
• PVUSD’s ethnic studies curriculum was co-developed between CRE, PVUSD teachers, and community organizations like the Tobera Project – CRE’s work with PVUSD reflects the values of our community!
• PVUSD students and community have overwhelmingly come out in favor of CRE over the past school year. Ignoring our voices is undemocratic.
  • Over 240 public comments have been made by yy community members in the last 9 months. This includes 99 comments by PVUSD students. No students, parents, or teachers have commented in opposition to CRE.
  • PVUSD ethnic studies teachers, Asian American community members, and Jewish community members have all written open letters in support of the CRE contract.
  • Over 1,700 individuals and 65 organizations have signed the public petition in support of the CRE contract.
• Teaching about different kinds of oppression is not oppressive. It is the only way to help our community move forward and overcome it. Suppressing discussions of oppressions that students face is censorship.

Update: This bill has been held over for the next year to “to allow for more time to engage in meaningful discussions with a broad array of groups” .

Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice is asking the community to call Dawn Addis (or their representative in the California Assembly and asking them to oppose AB 2918.

What is AB2918?

• California State Assembly Bill (AB) 2918 is a piece of legislation proposed by State Representative Rick Chávez Zbur and co-sponsored by State Representative Dawn Addis (who represents Capitola, Soquel, Aptos, La Selva, and part of Santa Cruz).
• AB 2918 will require any ethnic studies curricula developed in local school districts to undergo an extra level of approval in addition to the one that already exists, and undergo another round of certification by the state. No other K-12 discipline has these requirements – ethnic studies, a field forged by students of color, is specifically being targeted by special political interests.
• AB 2918 can also allow for community “stakeholders” to shut down an ethnic studies program if they don’t like what is being taught – the law does not clearly define who is considered a stakeholder. Locally in Pajaro Valley USD, we have seen how three “stakeholders” who do not have children in district schools shut down a successful ethnic studies contract against the wishes of students, parents, and teachers.
• AB 2918 will make it more difficult and expensive for school districts to develop ethnic studies classes, which will likely lead to students getting a watered down ethnic studies education, and/or having a harder time meeting ethnic studies graduation requirements.
• The California State Assembly will be back in session on Monday August 5, and it’s important that they hear from as many people as possible before then!

Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice is reaching out to spread the word about a call to action about legislation AB2918 that would give special interest groups even more power over California Ethnic Studies curricula in K-12 education. They continue:

Much of the legislative move to enact more guard rails and state oversight on K-12 Ethnic Studies is rooted in silencing education on Palestine. This is a time sensitive call to action as they will return to session on Monday Aug 5 about this bill, so if you can call today or tomorrow and/or spread this information to your networks, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Here is a spreadsheet with a list of phone numbers for your representatives by zip code (Dawn Addis’ local 831 office does ask you for your address to check, so her Sacramento number is also listed when someone is not located within her district) and here is the mobile phone friendly version with scripts attached for both students and non-students.

Additional information

• Who represents you? You can go here to find out who your representatives are in the California Legislature.
• The above links give you phone numbers and an email address. Another way to send an email to your representative is through Resistbot