A new school year in Illinois marks the beginning of Asian American history being taught in public schools.
Last summer, Illinois became the first state to require public schools to teach one unit of Asian American history after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act (TEAACH) into law, WTTW reports. Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago is hosting free workshops to help educators prepare.
“We need to teach students the honest history of the United States and show all the ways that Asian Americans both have been victimized and also have been champions of justice in their own communities and in solidarity with other communities,” Grace Pai, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, told WTTW.
Kimi Waite, a fourth-generation Japanese American, recently wrote a column for the Lowell Sun discussing the importance of including Asian American studies in school curricula. Waite is a Civics Environmental Education Fellow with The North American Association for Environmental Education.
“The historical tradition of Asian American activism in the face of systemic injustices must be taught in schools. Our K-12 education is incomplete without it,” Waite wrote.
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Pai told WTTW that the Illinois State Board of Education will enforce the mandate by surveying all schools. The mandate will also be included in the annual survey for three years.
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