AVUHSD Implement Ethnic Studies NOW!

STUDENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE!

We seek to empower our community through an education that is fair, accurate, inclusive and respectful of our lived experiences and histories, we seek an education that promotes unity, self-determination and critical thinking.
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We are a collective group of students who have attended educational facilities or are attending educational facilities in the Antelope Valley. We have gathered over the necessity to implement an Ethnic Studies programs within the Antelope Valley, and facilitate a dialogue surrounding the diverse ethnic makeup of this region. This necessity stems from our lived experiences within the community, and a broader understanding of self; it also derives from Los Angeles Unified High School District and San Francisco Unified School District’s recent passing of resolutions that requires an Ethnic Studies course for graduation, which is a phenomenon that we feel should occur within the Antelope Valley.

Our main objective is to empower our community through an education that is fair, accurate, inclusive and respectful of our lived experiences and histories; we seek an education that promotes unity, self-determination and critical thinking.

In order to empower our community we need a culturally enriched education that celebrates diversity and individuality and that is not limited to conquest, slavery, labor or servitude. Our education must be reflective and responsive to the needs of our community. A diverse education is reflective of our lived experiences and identities as marginalized ethnic, racial, cultural, gender and LGBT communities.

We are Students for Educational Justice

We seek to gain this education by demanding:

-Students for Educational Justice calls for the creation and implementation of an ethnic studies program at the Antelope Valley Union High School District.

-We demand the employment and retention of faculty and staff of color that are representative and reflective of the communities they serve.

-The Antelope Valley Union High School district has a responsibility to provide resources regarding ethnic studies for their students. We demand books and reading materials to be made available at every high school.

-Where as school districts such as Los Angeles Unified and San Francisco Unified have passed resolutions to create an ethnic studies requirement, we demand for a graduation requirement of an ethnic studies course at AVUHSD.

Many of the students involved in this call are current high school students, college students, and allies. We believe that together we can make an meaningful change on the lives of individual living in the Antelope Valley and move to provide a much more understanding community through education.