Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/704025
ByLisaLeff TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO Insecond grade, California students will learn about families with two moms or two dads. Two years later, while study- ing how immigrants have shaped the Golden State, they will hear how New York native Harvey Milk became a pioneering gay politician in San Francisco. California education of- ficials approved those changes in classroom in- struction Thursday to com- plywiththe nation'sfirstlaw requiring public schools to include prominent gay peo- ple and LGBT rights mile- stones in history classes. The State Board of Educa- tion adopted the updates as part of a broader overhaul of California's history and social science curriculum. Dozens of people attending the meeting criticized the way Muslims, Hindus and Jews are discussed, but no one spoke out against the new treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgen- der rights. "We are proud to repre- sent a diverse state, and we are proud that this frame- work reflects the state that we serve," said Lauryn Wild, a Southern California curriculum specialist who chairs the advisory commis- sion that produced the new guidelines. They weave references to gay Americans and events throughout the history and social science curriculum, starting in second grade through discussions about diversefamiliesandagainin fourth grade with lessons on California's place in the gay rights movement. The guidelines also touch on the topics in fifth and eighth grade — looking at gender roles in the 18th and 19th centuries and examples of individuals who flouted them — and throughout high school. A capstone of sorts will come in U.S. government courses, where seniors would learn about the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and recent court cases involving bathroom access for transgender stu- dents. The changes are de- signed to satisfy legislation passed by California law- makers five years ago that added LGBT Americans and people with disabilities to the list of social and eth- nic groups whose contribu- tions schools are supposed to teach and must appear in K-8 textbooks. The legislation also pro- hibited classroom materi- als that reflect adversely on gays or particular religions. ThelawtookeffectinJan- uary 2012, but its implemen- tation was slowed by oppo- nents' failed attempts to overturn it, competing edu- cational priorities and bud- get cuts that stalled work on drafting recommenda- tions for the school board and textbook purchases. While some school dis- tricts and teachers made ef- forts to incorporate gay his- tory since the law passed, many were nervous about tackling the topic without explicit guidance from the state, said Carolyn Laub, a consultant for a group of LGBT parents called Our Family Coalition. "If educators perceive, rightly or wrongly, they may not get support from their administration if they face pushback from a par- ent who says, 'I don't want you talking to my kid about that,' they are reluctant to do a whole lot of inclusion," Laub said. Gay rights groups had complained that an ini- tial draft of the curriculum guidelines did only a cur- sory job of highlighting im- portant LGBT figures and events. Twenty scholars af- filiated with the American Historical Association of- fered recommendations for beefing up the docu- ment, most of which were adopted, said Don Romes- burg, chairman of the Wom- en's and Gender Studies De- partment at Sonoma State University. The framework "recog- nizes that whatever your political view or opinion of LGBT rights, LGBT his- tory is a part of American history, and you cannot understand where we are now collectively as Ameri- cans without understand- ing something of the LGBT past," Romesburg said. EDUCATION LGBT history lessons approved for California classrooms By Kristena Hansen The Associated Press PORTLAND, ORE. As the battle over Oregon's recent delisting of the gray wolf as endangered is waged in a courtroom, the state's lone Republican congress- man helped convince the House to approve a plan to remove all protections for the species at the fed- eral level. The proposal cleared the chamber Wednesday with a 223-201 vote and now heads to the Senate, It was introduced Mon- day by Oregon Rep. Greg Walden and Washington state Reps. Cathy McMor- ris Rodgers and Dan New- house as an amendment to a large federal appropria- tions package. The plan would enable the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move forward with its proposal made three years ago to delist the gray wolf under the federal Endangered Spe- cies Act by 2017. Population management would instead be at the discretion of the lower 48 states, although it wouldn't directly impact state-level endangered species lists or wolf management plans in separate places such as Or- egon. "Oregon's wolf popula- tion has grown by more than 40 percent, and yet we have this divided man- agement strategy in the federal government where in part of the state wolves are still listed and part of the state they're not," Walden said in a state- ment. "We need a sin- gle management strategy where we have local con- trol under the Oregon state plan." Gray wolves in the east- ern third of Oregon are under state management but, as of last fall, are not considered endangered as they are by federal officials elsewhere in the state. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission took the wolf off the state en- dangered list in November — a decision wildlife advo- cates are currently fight- ing in appeals court — and now revising its wolf man- agement plan as required every five years. With federal delisting in limbo as the wolf pop- ulation keeps growing, Walden said there's little recourse for area ranchers and challenges for the five year review of the Oregon Wolf Plan. Oregon Rep. Peter De- Fazio, a Democrat and longtime wolf advo- cate who voted against Walden's amendment, said the issue stems from an ir- rational fear of wolves that farm and cattlemen's as- sociations use to put "tre- mendous pressure" on con- servatives. "It's borne of some an- cestral, irrational fear of wolves, which permeates the agricultural commu- nity and the Republican Party here in Washington, D.C.," DeFazio told The As- sociated Press, noting the gray wolf is already par- tially delisted at the fed- eral level as of a few years ago. The broader bill contain- ing the wolf amendment won't clear the Senate, he said. But in year-end ne- gotiations, "I assume the Republicans will assert, 'Oh gee, we got all these amendments and we want them in the year-end deal,' which (is) how they got the first partial delisting of the wolves," DeFazio said. Nick Cady, attorney for Eugene-based Casca- dia Wildlands, one of the groups fighting the state's delisting in court, also ex- pressed concerns about how year-end wolf negoti- ations would play out. "It is just so apparent that so-called 'local con- trol' simply means an ab- sence of protections for the species," Cady said. WILDLIFE Plan for federal wolf delisting clears US House RICHPEDRONCELLI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Allyson Chiu, 17, center, who will be a senior at Cupertino High, waits with others to call on members of the State Board of Education to adopt proposed changes in classroom instruction to include prominent gay people and LGBT rights milestones in history classes, on Thursday in Sacramento. PLEASERECYCLETHISNEWSPAPER. Regular Haircut $ 2 00 off KWIK KUTS FamilyHairSalon 1064SouthMainSt.,RedBluff•529-3540 ANY RETAIL PRODUCT 20 % off withanychemicalserviceof $50 or more Notgoodwithotheroffers Expires 7/31/16 With coupon Reg. $13.95 365-7194 or 365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING 25yearsprofessional experience. 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