1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; creating an ethnic studies requirement and advisory board; 
1.3 	requiring rulemaking.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. ETHNIC STUDIES EDUCATION.
 1.6 		Subdivision 1.Definition. "Ethnic studies" means the critical and interdisciplinary study 
1.7 	of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences and perspectives of people 
1.8 	of color within and beyond the United States. Ethnic studies analyzes the ways in which 
1.9 	race and racism have been and continue to be powerful social, cultural, and political forces, 
1.10 	and their connections to other axes of stratification, including gender, class, sexuality, and 
1.11 	legal status.
1.12 		Subd. 2.Requirement. (a) The commissioner of education must adopt in rule statewide 
1.13 	academic standards for ethnic studies to be implemented and required by the 2030-2031 
1.14 	school year for all K-12 students.
1.15 	(b) Every public school in Minnesota must offer as part of the social studies curriculum 
1.16 	ethnic studies courses that include the following topics:
1.17 	(1) Latinx Studies;
1.18 	(2) African American Studies;
1.19 	(3) Asian American Studies;
1.20 	(4) Indigenous/First Nations Studies; and
1.21 	(5) Ethnic Studies 101.
2.1 	(c) Ethnic studies courses may also focus specifically on a particular group of national 
2.2 	or ethnic origin, including Hmong Studies or Somali Studies.
2.3 	(d) An ethnic studies course is required to graduate from a Minnesota high school.
2.4 	(1) The course must be a semester in length at a minimum.
2.5 	(2) Ethnic studies courses must fall under the social studies state standard and graduation 
2.6 	requirement without adding an extra credit requirement. A student may take an ethnic studies 
2.7 	course to fulfill the graduation requirement and the course must count as part of the social 
2.8 	studies state standard.
2.9 	(e) Ethnic studies courses must be finalized and implemented in middle and elementary 
2.10 	level schools by the 2030-2031 school year. Details of the requirement, process, procedure, 
2.11 	and timeline must be established by the Ethnic Studies Advisory Board under subdivision 
2.12 	5.
2.13 		Subd. 3.School needs assessment. A school district must conduct an ethnic studies 
2.14 	school needs assessment with students, parents or guardians, and community members to 
2.15 	determine the priorities for course selection, implementation, and timeline. The ethnic 
2.16 	studies school needs assessment must include qualitative and quantitative components.
2.17 	(1) Qualitative priorities must include a schoolwide listening session or feedback forum 
2.18 	with students, parents or guardians, and community members.
2.19 	(2) Quantitative priorities must include a school survey as advised by the advisory board.
2.20 		Subd. 4.Standards. Ethnic studies courses must follow the ethnic studies standards 
2.21 	established by the advisory board. The advisory board must create a standard curriculum 
2.22 	that school districts are encouraged to use. The advisory board must base standard curriculum 
2.23 	recommendations on the following:
2.24 	(1) school districts are encouraged to use materials authored by the community from 
2.25 	which the course speaks or represents;
2.26 	(2) curriculum must use various forms of pedagogy to properly meet all students' needs, 
2.27 	including participatory or research-based models for real-world connections to the current 
2.28 	society;
2.29 	(3) curriculum must include a power, race, class, and gender analysis as part of the course 
2.30 	via literature, discussion, classwork, and homework as it relates to ethnic studies courses; 
2.31 	and
3.1 	(4) ethnic studies courses must include an intersectional analysis of climate, health, food, 
3.2 	housing, education, and policy.
3.3 		Subd. 5.Ethnic Studies Advisory Board. (a) The Ethnic Studies Advisory Board 
3.4 	consists of the following 25 members:
3.5 	(1) five community members invested in ethnic studies;
3.6 	(2) three public school students in grades 9-12;
3.7 	(3) two public school students in grades 6-8;
3.8 	(4) three parents or guardians of public K-12 students;
3.9 	(5) three Minnesota-based, college-level faculty experts in ethnic studies;
3.10 	(6) three ethnic studies high school teachers;
3.11 	(7) three ethnic studies grades 6-8 teachers; and
3.12 	(8) three ethnic studies grades K-5 teachers.
3.13 	(b) Advisory board members must be appointed by the Minnesota Ethnic Studies 
3.14 	Coalition with input from the Department of Education. Members receive a stipend of $250 
3.15 	per month for their time, work, and expertise.
3.16 	(c) Demographics of the advisory board must be inclusive and represent the ethnic and 
3.17 	racial diversity of the state, including gender and sexual orientation, immigrant status, and 
3.18 	religious and linguistic background.
3.19 	(d) The advisory board is responsible for the following:
3.20 	(1) creating an updated ethnic studies curriculum for statewide implementation and use;
3.21 	(2) developing an ethnic studies school survey for school districts to use as part of their 
3.22 	school needs assessment;
3.23 	(3) developing ethnic studies standards to propose for adoption into existing statewide 
3.24 	standards for public schools;
3.25 	(4) identifying professional learning requirements for educators and staff to facilitate 
3.26 	the successful implementation of ethnic studies courses via an ethnic studies licensure 
3.27 	program, including teacher preparation support and licensure programs for ethnic studies;
3.28 	(5) working with school districts to create a plan to recruit and retain teachers of color 
3.29 	as part of ethnic studies courses and overall school goals to increase teachers of color and 
3.30 	indigenous or native teachers;
4.1 	(6) identifying a list of suggested and required materials, resources, sample curricula, 
4.2 	and pedagogical skills for use in kindergarten through grade 12 that accurately reflect the 
4.3 	diversity of the state of Minnesota;
4.4 	(7) developing resources to assist public schools in successfully implementing the adopted 
4.5 	ethnic studies standards; and
4.6 	(8) providing necessary training materials for teachers and school district staff to 
4.7 	successfully implement the ethnic studies requirements, including implementation of the 
4.8 	ethnic studies school needs assessment under subdivision 3 and ethnic studies district 
4.9 	coordinator under subdivision 6, clause (5).
4.10 	(e) The advisory board must convene on at least a bi-monthly basis and must hold the 
4.11 	first meeting no later than January 15, 2021.
4.12 	(f) The advisory board must create a work plan that outlines the timeline for completion 
4.13 	of the responsibilities in paragraphs (a) to (e).
4.14 	(g) Within the first six months of the advisory board convening a timeline for the work 
4.15 	plan under paragraph (f) to be completed, the board must plan a gradual scale-up approach 
4.16 	to statewide implementation of the ethnic studies requirement, including a focus on high 
4.17 	school for the first one to four years of the program's development, phasing in middle and 
4.18 	elementary schools over a period of time determined by the committee.
4.19 	(h) By the 2030-2031 school year, the advisory board must ensure that all K-12 public 
4.20 	schools have an ethnic studies component.
4.21 		Subd. 6.Department of Education. The Department of Education must:
4.22 	(1) adopt ethnic studies standards based on recommendations of the advisory board;
4.23 	(2) require each school district to implement ethnic studies standards;
4.24 	(3) support school districts in providing training for teachers and school district staff to 
4.25 	successfully implement ethnic studies standards;
4.26 	(4) require each school district to annually evaluate students, parents or guardians, and 
4.27 	community members regarding the implementation of ethnic studies curriculum. The 
4.28 	department must require each school district to submit a report on how the school district 
4.29 	plans to modify implementation based on feedback from evaluations; and
4.30 	(5) encourage school districts to hire a dedicated coordinator for ethnic studies 
4.31 	implementation with support from the Department of Education.