Senator Anthony J. Portantino sent a letter to the California Department of Education detailing his concerns regarding the current draft of the department’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. While the Senator appreciates the attempt to represent California’s diversity in the creation of the United States’ first ethnic studies curriculum, he believes that the current draft does not properly represent the contributions made by many ethnic communities.

In particular, concerns have been brought to his attention by the Legislative Jewish Caucus as well as from leaders within the Armenian and Italian American communities. “Representing an ethnically diverse district within an ethnically diverse state, I strongly support the concerns raised by representatives of California’s proud Armenian, Italian and Jewish American communities with respect to the draft curriculum.