(José Niño, Headline USA) Minnesota school districts must finalize curriculum selections within weeks to satisfy ethnic studies requirements starting in the 2026–2027 academic year, per a report by The Epoch Times.
Few options exist beyond state teachers union-approved instructional content created using public funds.
The programming developed by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender and Sexuality Studies directs sixth-grade students to study Black Lives Matter’s 13 guiding principles. Seventh graders learn about Disability Rights Movement activism against injustice.
An 11th and 12th-grade course titled Jim Crow of the North states students will “be able to explain how race is socially constructed and how that social construction has been used to oppress people of color, specifically in relation to Jim Crow, segregation, and racial covenants.”
The Center of the American Experiment, an education policy organization opposing partisan and race-focused curricula, assists districts seeking politically balanced alternatives resembling traditional history and social studies electives rather than social justice advocacy materials.
“The words ethnic studies have been hijacked,” Catrin Wigfall, a policy fellow with the center, told The Epoch Times. “But boards [of education] have more power in this than they might think.”
State regulations permit parents to examine curricula and remove their children from instruction they find problematic, requiring schools to supply alternative materials, Wigfall said.
The Minnesota Department of Education characterizes ethnic studies as interdisciplinary instruction examining “how race and racism have been and continue to be social, cultural, and political forces, and the connection of race to the stratification of other groups.”
State regulations mandate public schools integrate ethnic studies lessons throughout required social studies classes at every grade level, plus provide standalone ethnic studies electives for high school juniors and seniors.
In 2023, the Minnesota Department of Education specified ethnic studies context should permeate additional subjects including math, physical education and health during periodic course revisions.
The Center of the American Experiment contends these standards cultivate angry, inaccurate and “identity-first” ideological and political viewpoints.
True ethnic studies should examine worldwide histories, cultures and religions, but Minnesota school instruction imposes a divisive and limited political perspective, Wigfall said.
“It’s been a bait and switch campaign,” she said.
The center supports the American Experience curriculum created by the Foundation Against Tolerance and Racism, which Johns Hopkins validated as an ethnic studies model, as a viable substitute for University of Minnesota materials.
The 1776 Unites free curriculum emphasizes historical narratives that “celebrate black excellence, reject victimhood culture, and showcase African-Americans who have prospered by embracing America’s founding ideals,” its website states.
Wigfall said her organization assists school districts navigating curriculum decisions and deadlines for satisfying state mandates throughout various subjects.
The center does not advocate lawsuits challenging the mandate, but local education officials possess legal remedies under federal Title VI provisions if state requirements compel them to create hostile learning environments.
“It will be interesting to see what the rollout looks like,” she said. “When you emphasize tribalism, what does that do to knowledge development?”
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino