The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) welcomes the inclusion of Armenian-Americans in the CA Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). The ANCA-WR Education Committee as well as the Ethnic Studies Curriculum Task Force were actively engaged in the process for the past two years to ensure the voices of over 1 million strong Armenian-Californians are heard and the Armenian experience is part of the ESMC. The Armenian-American community was actively engaged with the California Department of Education, submitting tens of thousands of public comments over this process and demonstrating the importance of this issue.

“We thank our Education Committee, Task Force, and tens of thousands of community members as well as coalition partners for their diligent work in ensuring that California’s new ESMC lives up to the values of the Golden State,” remarked the ANCA-WR Chair Nora Hovsepian, Esq. “We look forward to actively engaging with all the relevant stakeholders to build on this progress and ensure a meaningful representation of the Armenian experience in California schools.”

ANCA-WR once again reaffirms its strong support for a curriculum that “presents an opportunity for teachers to develop culturally/community relevant and responsive pedagogies that are both revitalizing and sustaining.” The organization welcomes the drafters’ efforts to include, and urge further development on diasporan experiences, inclusive of peoples historically marginalized from California curricula, and United States scholarship writ large, such as Armenian-Americans.

While its use is not mandated, the ESMC is intended to supply local school districts with the background, ideas, and examples to begin local discussions on expanding ethnic studies offerings.

For years, the State of California mandates the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the list of studied subject areas for the adopted courses of study in social science for grades 7-12.