Minnesota can add ethnic studies standard in schools — with one change, judge rules

The Minnesota Department of Education may include an ethnic studies component in its revised social studies standards now that a ruling Tuesday has settled a long-running debate over whether the agency has that authority.

But there's a caveat.

Chief Judge Jenny Starr co-signed the decision by Administrative Law Judge Eric Lipman, who ruled Tuesday that MDE may adopt the new ethnic studies standard but must also rewrite what he called an "impermissibly vague" rule.

The Education Department "has the statutory authority to adopt the proposed rules," Lipman wrote, adding that the agency "fulfilled all relevant procedural requirements of law or rule, and the proposed rules are needed and reasonable."

Several Republicans and other critics of the new standards had raised concerns since they were first unveiled in 2022. They said the Department of Education missed key procedural steps in drafting them and argued that emphasizing resistance movements would prove divisive. Lipman addressed the two critiques he considered a "genuine dispute" in his decision.

He agreed with one complaint: that a proposed requirement for teachers to "apply lessons from the past in order to eliminate historical and contemporary injustices" is too vague and therefore impossible to implement.

"While obliging new students to use a wider array of sources and methods is amply supported by other parts of the rulemaking record, there is no indication as to how students will 'eliminate historical and contemporary injustices,'" Lipman wrote.

The Department of Education must now decide whether to drop that component of the ethnic studies standard or accept Lipman's suggested revision. He suggested educators could teach about how various groups overcame injustice rather than ask students to offer their own solutions for societal issues.

The Minnesota Department of Education did not provide a comment Tuesday when asked for reaction to the ruling.

Rep. Ron Kresha of Little Falls, the ranking Republican on the House Education Finance Committee, said in a statement that even though Lipman determined that the agency may adopt the new standards, the judge "does not determine if a proposed rule is good public policy."

He called on Gov. Tim Walz to veto the new standards.

"We stand ready to work with the commissioner of Education to draft academic standards that will promote rigor, avoid bringing politics into our classrooms, and respect local control and parental engagement," Kresha said.

Curtis Johnson, a Roseville school board member who helped draft the new standards, was disappointed that Lipman ruled against the language prompting students to take action.

"The point of understanding history is to make sure that, one, you don't repeat those things and, two, that you use those lessons to address current problems," Johnson said.

Lipman disagreed with critics who said the Department of Education ran afoul of the state's rules for drafting new academic standards and that the agency overstepped its authority by adding an ethnic studies component.

State law already requires citizenship and government, geography, history and economics as part of the social studies standards. But opponents, including several Republican legislative leaders, argued the Department of Education couldn't add a new component.

Lipman pointed to new state laws requiring schools to offer ethnic studies classes and courses on genocides and Native American history as proof the Legislature intends to weave such lessons into curriculum.

Kresha and other Republican leaders also argued that the law requires the committee that writes new standards to include parents of school-age children and "representatives of the Minnesota business community." Lipman ruled that the Department of Education is required to "consider advice" from those groups, not necessarily include representative members on the committee.

The Minnesota Department of Education updates its academic standards in English, math, science, social studies, physical education and the arts every decade. The agency assigned a committee to draft a revision to the state's social studies standards in 2021.

That group, composed of educators and advocates across the state, proposed adding an ethnic studies component to lessons in every grade level that would focus on themes of identity, resistance and social justice. In a kindergarten lesson on resistance, for example, students would be required to retell a story where they felt the outcome was unfair and learn about power imbalances. By sixth grade, students would be asked to identify how various demographic groups build community across the state.

Johnson said the standards committee's guiding star was to ensure Minnesota students learned about state and U.S. history, "warts and all."

"When you learn about people and their flaws, it doesn't take away from their greatness," he said. "These people rose up to make things better. And that's a good thing. Let's have that conversation."