Under the Law: How is your community depicted in the curriculum? Who decides?

Abstract

A case in California reaffirms that courts are reluctant to intervene when families are concerned about school curricula. In CAPEEM v. Torlakson, parents of Hindu children complained that the state’s history and social science standards are framework discriminated against them by inaccurately and disparingingly representing their faith. Bob Kim describes the plaintiffs’ arguments, the case’s journey through the courts, and how the court’s ruling against the plaintiffs relates to other cases involving objections to school curricula.