MINNESOTA, USA — On Tuesday, an administrative law judge approved new standards for teaching social studies, including an ethnic studies strand. Here's what that means for teachers and students.
Per state statute, these academic standards must be evaluated every ten years. According to the report, the notable changes this time around include standards for career and college readiness, increased opportunities to learn about the history of the Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples, and an ethnic studies strand.
The ethnic studies strand has sparked the most reaction from Minnesotans. Democrats have largely been in support of adding it into classrooms while some Republicans have opposed it, arguing that it's not part of state law.
After presiding over public hearings Nov. 8 and 9, Judge Eric Lipman recommended the adoption of most of the new standards, with one notable exception.
The judge rejected a sub-section that instructs students to “use ethnic and Indigenous studies, methods and sources in order to understand the roots of contemporary systems of oppression and apply lessons from the past in order to eliminate historical and contemporary injustices.”
The report on the new standards and Judge Lipman's ruling says this subsection is too vague and suggests two language-changing options that could improve it.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Jenny Starr agreed with Lipman's findings, and says if the Department of Education decides to make changes to the subsection it can "resubmit the rule for further review."
Curtis Johnson is a Roseville Area School Board Director and helped draft the social studies standards.
"I was very happy with the decision," said Johnson. "We've been waiting for three-ish years for rulemaking to complete. And I understand there's been a lot of passionate debate on both sides."
Johnson said he's happy to have the standards move forward, and although he is disappointed in the judge's exception, he'll take the hit.
"I was fine with the language as it was," he said. "History is best used when you actually can learn from it, when you can actually apply it to what's going on today. But if that's all it's going to take for this to move forward, then I am just ecstatic."
One conservative think-tank says the judge's logic on that rule should have been applied to all of the new social studies requirements. Katherine Kersten is a senior policy fellow at Center of the American Experiment.
"Ethnic studies basically places political ideology at the center of our kids education," said Kersten. "It cultivates a kind of reflexive suspicion and hostility toward our nation's fundamental institutions."
Education Minnesota, the organization that represents public school teachers across the state, lauded Judge Lipman's ruling, saying the revised standards "will prepare the next generations of Minnesotans to understand our shared history."
“The proposed social studies standards, including the ethnic studies strand, will provide the framework educators can use to present the parts of American history that have been suppressed or whitewashed while retaining the inspirational stories in which our nation lived up to its ideals,” said Education Minnesota President Denise Specht in a released statement.
In a statement, a spokesperson with the Department of Education said the department is "pleased with the judge's positive ruling on social studies standards" and will "work to clarify the one technical area noted by the judge."
The department said it looks forward to supporting the implementation of those standards in the 2026-27 school year.
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