Today's proposed curriculum for K-12 students includes more than reading, writing and arithmetic. “Progressives” would have it that our children also be taught that “Capitalism is racist,” that Jews, the Irish, Koreans and others have “white privilege,” and other false anti-market, anti-Semitic, racist, and anti-American claims.

California legislators are attempting to mandate that public K-12 schools teach a highly-divisive “ethnic studies” curriculum with Marxist underpinnings and socialist conclusions. If left unchecked, this false curriculum won't stay in California. It will be exported to other states and communities across the country.

As a result, the “ethnic studies” crisis is sweeping the country. “Ethnic Studies,” or "Critical Race Theory,” are simply buzzwords indicating a “progressive” agenda that works to discredit the key principles that should be the focus of education at all levels. Related to this, the U.S. Department of Education is examining the use of the “1619 Project” in our schools, and President Trump warned that schools will lose federal funding if they continue to teach this false alternative narrative of American history.

This event featured Independent Institute Executive Director Dr. Graham H. Walker interviewing Independent Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson M. Evers, who is also the Director of our Center on Educational Excellence. Dr. Evers has been at the forefront of opposing California’s “critical ethnic studies” controversy. He will be discussing how California's attempts to indoctrinate K-12 students with a mandatory “ethnic studies” curriculum relates to a broader, "progressive" propaganda agenda that impacts communities across the country.

Graham H. Walker

Graham H. Walker is Executive Director and Assistant Editor for The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy at the Independent Institute. He received his Ph.D. in public law and government from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Walker has served as Associate Professor of Politics at Catholic University of America, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, Visiting Scholar in Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ), Senior Research Scholar at the Witherspoon Institute, Headmaster at Oaks Christian School, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, President at Patrick Henry College, Legislative Aide to former Congressman David Stockman, and Fellow at the Presidio Institute.

Williamson M. Evers

Williamson M. Evers is a Senior Fellow, Director of the Center on Educational Excellence, and Assistant Editor for The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy at the Independent Institute. Dr. Evers received his Ph.D. degree in political science from Stanford University, and he has served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development from 2007 to 2009; Senior Adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings during 2007; and former Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution. In addition, he was a member of the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education from its beginning in 1999 until it wrapped up in 2014. From July to December 2003, he served in Iraq as Senior Adviser for Education to Administrator L. Paul Bremer of the Coalition Provisional Authority.