High school students in Bridgeport, Conn., will be required to take a course in African-American studies, Latin-American studies, or perspectives on race to earn a diploma, reports the CT Post. The prerequisite will take effect as of the 2021-22 school year.
The school board unanimously approved the new requirement last month, making the district one of just a few in the country that have raised ethnic-studies courses above the status of an elective.
The rise in ethnic-studies courses came about, in part, as a response to the shutdown of a popular Mexican-American course offered in schools in Tucson, Ariz. The Tucson school board dropped the course after the state schools chief at the time threatened to withhold $15 million in state funding, arguing that it violated state law.
