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Clayton Haglund
ETHS-2430-001-Su15
LaShawn Williams
Final Paper
Chicano Rights Education in Utah Schools
The United States, although relatively brief, has had an extensive amount of social
struggle. If this history is not taught to kids in public schools, then the history might be
overlooked altogether and quickly forgotten. Then, the history will undoubtedly be repeated
until people learn. Students are leaving American high schools lacking even an elementary
education in the Civil Rights Movements, and usually dont have even a cursory perspective into
the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Citizens need to get involved in the education system and
demand that civil rights be taught in schools, in order for positive change to take place in regards
to the education of civil rights education.
The Southern Poverty Law Centers report, Teaching the Movement, states that, The
Nations Report Cardtells a dismal story: Only 2% of high school seniors in 2010 could
answer a simple question about the U.S. Supreme Courts land- mark Brown v. Board of
Education decision. (SPLC 6). That is a sad fact, considering how big Brown v. Board is for The
Civil Rights Movement. And that percentage is telling of the state of civil rights eduction in the
U.S.
Now, the education system is governed on a very local basis in the U.S. So, curricula vary
greatly from state to state. For example, according to the same SPLC report, Alabama got an A
grade in civil rights education, whereas Mississippi got a C (SPLC 30&65). And Mississippi is

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right next door to Alabama. Some states teach civil rights better than others. Its easy to see that
the variations from state to state are immense due to the amount of concern the public has
towards civil rights education in each state, as well as the states own history with the Civil
Rights Movement. But, if the citizens of the United States want to keep progressing in the area of
human rights, then students must be educated even in states that have less history with, or
connection to, marginalized groups and the issues that have plagued them. A major problem
facing civil rights education is that social studies education is declining in general. This is due to
the standardizing of Math, Science, and English testing. This testing has become tied to funding
of schools, which is why Math, Science, and English has taken over the Social Sciences. The
Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that Twenty-eight statesa majoritydeserve D or F
grades for their academic standard in [history]. (Fordham History).
There are regulations which bar the Federal Government from providing mandates to
schools to teach any particular curricula (Cornell Prohibitions). So, in order to attack the problem
of insufficient civil rights ed. in public schools, people need to act locally.
The first thing one can do is to approach individual schools and start speaking with
leaders within the school, the PTA, and members of the Board of Education in their area. Since
there are a lot of factors at play involving the curriculum taught, like what other parents of other
children want, educational standards, and even just the amount of time that teachers have with
their students, its good to get a dialog going between everybody. This is best done on a personal
level. And its great to start by putting in face time with everyone involved, and with those that
have more control over the inner workings of the public schools and what is taught in the school.
Getting involved is really important when it comes to public schools in the United States, and

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there are a few different avenues one can take in order to start the process of affecting some
change.
After approaching people in power, one ought to take a sales type pitch to the Board of
Education. Its important in this stage, again, to go to the meetings. In the Salt Lake School
District, there is even a youth who is not an official member of the board, but who goes to the
meetings to advocate for issues that face the students who are from the same community as him.
And he is an important asset to many people in the community, some of which have never heard
of him or know that hes there. His effort in attending the meetings is invaluable (Haglund
Common).
After getting an issue approved by the Board, the next step is to take that issue to the
School Community Councils (SCC). There are Community Councils in most of the communities
in the Salt Lake area (i.e. Rose Park and Glendale). This is where the rubber meets the road and
changes will take place. At the SCCs is where issues will begin to get backed up by legal action.
Once something is put into place (like a standard set about the amount of chicano civil rights
education) by the SCCs in the Salt Lake School District, then it can then be backed up by an
Actionable Legal Document. This means that there will be a precedent to have what has been
stipulated by the SCC, taught in classrooms. And if that standard is not met, then it is possible to
take legal action.
To reiterate, the odds are stacked against minority groups in education. Take the
following scenario that is currently playing out in the Salt Lake School District high schools as
an example. Students at West High School, where many are of Latino descent, are pushed to use
long division, according to one teacher (Haglund Common). But, compare this to the students at

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Olympus High, on the eastern, and wealthy side of town where the primarily white students are
permitted to use their calculators in math. The outcome is easy to guess. What is more vague are
the reasons why the students from these different cultural backgrounds and different high schools
have different expectations placed on their heads. There are some students at West who are in
upper level classes and placed on a fast track to success. And West High School is the districts
magnet Extended Learning Program, with upper level classes. West also has an International
Baccalaureate program. But the students in these classes and programs are usually students who
would stand out at any school. And these same students come from a long line of high school and
college graduates usually, whereas many of the Latino American students will be the first in their
families to graduate from high school. These differing expectations of the students are born out
of cultural differences between the teachers, the community, and the students, as well as systemic
racism. And it in turn leads to further degradation of the kids educations until caps are placed on
the level of educational attainment theyre able to receive even before the children are born.
There is a glimmer of hope, albeit faint and distant due to marginalized families having to
work multiple jobs just to keep their heads above water. Plus, Mexican Americans have a long
history of, and substantiated fears about speaking out, based on being out of status in many
cases. This may be why African American Civil rights has a stronger hold in some communities,
particularly in the south. African Americans havent had to deal with the same fears as Mexican
Americans surrounding citizenship status and havent had the same biases surrounding
citizenship placed on them by the white majority, as Mexican Americans. So, it is very hard to
make time to go and stand up for ones rights when working to feed ones family. And there is

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also the fear of standing out and drawing attention to ones self for many Latino and Mexican
Americans.
But, hopefully this call to have Civil Rights Education and Chicano Civil Rights taught in
classes will be answered by a wide group of people, because it matters to everyone. People dont
want to repeat the same tragic past over and over again. And talking to PTAs and schools in the
community is a real avenue for grassroots action. Grassroots action is the only way to affect
change, and spark positive motion towards Chicano Civil Rights education being taught in public
schools. And it is worth speaking up for. Citizens need to demand it.

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Works Cited
"20 U.S. Code 1232a - Prohibition against Federal Control of Education." 20 U.S. Code 1232a. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2015. <https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1232a>
Haglund, Roger. "Common Core." Telephone interview. 03 Aug. 2015
"Teaching the Movement: The State Standards We Deserve." Teaching the Movement: The State
Standards We Deserve. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2015. <http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/
publications/teaching-the-movement>
"The Thomas B. Fordham Institute." The State of State U.S. History Standards 2011. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
Aug. 2015. <http://edexcellence.net/publications/the-state-of-state-us.html>.
Haglund, Roger. "Common Core." Telephone interview. 03 Aug. 2015