A school district in southern California has decided to adopt the state’s new social studies book and curriculum after previously rejecting it for its reference to LGBTQ+ figures in history.
The Temecula Valley Unified School District voted to accept the curriculum following a lengthy meeting on Friday at which parents, teachers and community members spoke for and against it. The decision was welcomed by Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, for thwarting an attempt to “whitewash history” and removed the threat of sanctions against the school district for not adopting the curriculum.
Rejecting the curriculum meant the district would have had to use a textbook published in 2006. Those textbooks do not comply with a 2011 state law that requires schools to teach students about the historical contributions of gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Newsom, a Democrat who has often sparred with Republicans in other states over banning books, had threatened to fine the district $1.5m if it didn’t approve the curriculum.
