The district greenlit Voices: An Ethnic Studies Survey as its go-to curriculum, making ethnic studies a graduation requirement. On its face, teaching students about diverse perspectives and the history of marginalized communities isn't a radical idea. History should be taught honestly and completely. But the devil, as always, is in the details — and in a district that's been hemorrhaging students, closing schools, and struggling to meet basic academic benchmarks, the timing and execution raise real questions.

Among the more eyebrow-raising revelations: lesson plans obtained from SFUSD ethnic studies teachers reportedly included an activity asking students to role-play as Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian territories. Whatever your views on the Middle East, it's fair to ask whether that's the kind of nuanced pedagogy we should be trusting a cash-strapped public school district to deliver.

As one Bay Area resident put it bluntly: "A district that can't get the basics right always has room for this bogus crap. Please, dear god, just teach normal stuff and some history." Harsh? Maybe. But when your district is literally shuttering campuses because families are fleeing, the optics of expanding mandates instead of shoring up fundamentals aren't great.

Then there's the money angle. SFUSD reportedly opted for a two-semester course over a one-semester option — a decision that conveniently keeps ethnic studies teaching positions fully staffed. Follow the dollars, not the mission statements. Meanwhile, Friends of Lowell has already launched legal action against the mandate, signaling this fight is far from over.

Look, nobody is arguing that students shouldn't learn about the contributions and struggles of different ethnic groups in America. That's just good education. But there's a difference between enriching a curriculum and building an ideological apparatus — especially when the institution doing it can barely keep the lights on. SFUSD needs to earn back trust with competence before it starts demanding more classroom time for politically charged coursework. Fix the foundation first. Then we'll talk about the additions.