During this year’s Maryland Association of Board of Education (MABE) annual meeting, because the ongoing hate and violent crime against AAPI community, I proposed a resolution to expand and enhance the public school curriculum to reflect the diverse community needs and include more contents for AAPIs, African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, LGBTQ+, and persons with disabilities.
Unfortunately the motion failed. I will continue to advocate to have a more diverse and inclusive public school curriculum in the future.
The following is the text, drafted by me, revised by MABE staff and reviewed by the MABE resolution committee.
Proposed amendments to the Curriculum and Assessments resolution:
Insert on page 39 after the last WHEREAS clause:
WHEREAS, anti-Asian harassment and violence has a long history in the United States and more than 9,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate crimes were reported in 2020 and 2021 including the murder of six Asian American women in Atlanta on March 16, 2021; and
WHEREAS, the State Content Standards and Framework for Grade 6-8 Social Studies are designed so that each “student will understand the diversity and commonality, human interdependence, and global cooperation of the people of Maryland, the United States, and the World through a multicultural and a historic perspective”;
Insert on page 39 before the last BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED clause:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that MABE supports the exercise of local board authority to ensure that local curriculum and instruction reflect the diversity, commonality, and right to be free from harassment and violence of all persons, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, LGBTQ+ persons, and persons with disabilities; and