(Los Angeles, CA — October 28, 2021) — StandWithUs announces the release of a new Ethnic Studies Tool Kit . This resource is designed to educate the public about how K-12 ethnic studies courses can impact the Jewish community, and offer tools for activism on a state and local school district level across the U.S. The toolkit draws from StandWithUs’ unique experience working with students, partner organizations, and concerned citizens to remove hatred and bias from California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). With ethnic studies set to become a graduation requirement in California and elsewhere in the coming years, working with school districts has become more important than ever.
“We’re proud to share this guide to advocating for better public education about antisemitism, Jewish culture, and our community’s history in the U.S., as well as keeping hatred and bias out of K-12 classrooms,” said StandWithUs CEO, Roz Rothstein. “The struggle over California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum was a huge wakeup call, and we all must work together to prevent the same problems from coming up in countless schools across the country. The tool kit exists to empower students, parents, and concerned community members to make sure their voices are heard.”
StandWithUs supports the basic goal of ethnic studies – to ensure the histories and experiences of marginalized communities are represented in public education. At the same time, there are interest groups relentlessly trying to exploit ethnic studies courses as a platform for anti-Israel and anti-Zionist propaganda, antisemitism, and other forms of bias.
The toolkit includes crucial background information about challenges and opportunities for the Jewish community, to help guide activism on a local level. It provides answers to frequently asked questions, guiding principles and frameworks for local activism, as well as helpful policies and educational materials which can be shared with educators and decision-makers.
The StandWithUs team is already working on additional content to add to the toolkit. This crucial resource will be continuously updated to meet the needs of the many communities we are supporting in California and other states.
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, non-profit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.
Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has programs on five continents with chapters and offices throughout the U.S., in Israel, the UK, Canada and Brazil.
For the last nine years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator (4 stars) and Guidestar (Platinum).
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