States Still Grappling With Multicultural Curricula

A debate over a New York state commission formed to study how slavery is portrayed in schools shows that after more than a decade of adding multicultural curricula, educators there are still at odds over how the distinctive experiences of racial and ethnic groups should be taught, and who should decide.

While some educators and observers in the Empire State welcome stepped-up attention to teaching students about American slavery and its ramifications, others say the subject already is sufficiently covered. Opponents also argue that state lawmakers and what critics view as special-interest groups are the wrong people to dictate curriculum.

The past five years have brought a number of similar cases in which legislatures have enacted laws that affect state standards or curricula in response to racial or ethnic minorities’ contention that aspects of their history weren’t adequately taught. Earlier this year, Illinois created a commission to study how slavery is taught in its schools, as did...