Protect Academic Integrity: Demand Balanced History Education in California Schools
The California State Board of Education, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, the Instructional Quality Commission, the Senate and Assembly Education Committees, and other officials responsible for curriculum oversight in California public schools.
We, concerned residents and members of the Turkish-American community, respectfully call on you to adopt a more inclusive and balanced approach to genocide education in California schools.
While we support the teaching of difficult historical events, the current curriculum often presents the 1915 Ottoman-era tragedies solely as the “Armenian Genocide,” omitting critical historical context—such as the civil war conditions, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the mutual suffering experienced by Turks, Armenians, Kurds, and other ethnic groups.
This one-sided narrative deeply impacts Turkish-American students, many of whom report feeling blamed, shamed, or marginalized in classroom settings. It also promotes a political version of history that remains contested among scholars and is not recognized as genocide by the U.S. federal government.
We urge the California Department of Education and local school boards to:
Incorporate diverse scholarly perspectives when teaching about the events of 1915–1923.
Ensure that the curriculum reflects the complex historical realities of the era, including the suffering of all communities.
Create classroom environments where Turkish-American students feel safe, respected, and free from identity-based bias or pressure.
Uphold educational integrity by encouraging critical thinking, open inquiry, and historical nuance—not political messaging.
Students deserve truth, context, and the opportunity to engage with all sides of history — not just the politically popular one.
Thank you for your commitment to educational fairness and integrity.
Sponsored by
To:
The California State Board of Education, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, the Instructional Quality Commission, the Senate and Assembly Education Committees, and other officials responsible for curriculum oversight in California public schools.
From:
[Your Name]
As a concerned resident and supporter of fair education, I am writing to urge you to revise California’s genocide education curriculum to reflect a more balanced and historically accurate approach to teaching the Armenian Genocide and related Ottoman-era events.
While we support teaching about the suffering of Armenians during this tragic period, the current curriculum often presents the 1915–1923 events solely as the Armenian Genocide—without mention of the broader historical context, including civil war conditions, regional instability, and the mass deaths and displacement of Ottoman Muslims, Turks, Kurds, and other ethnic groups.
This narrow and politically framed version of history excludes internationally debated perspectives, alienates Turkish-American students, and undermines academic integrity. It also disregards the fact that the U.S. federal government has only recently begun to use the term "genocide," and that the historical classification remains the subject of ongoing academic, legal, and diplomatic discourse around the world.
I respectfully urge you to:
Include diverse scholarly perspectives when teaching the Armenian Genocide.
Acknowledge the complex historical realities of the era, including mutual suffering.
Create classroom environments that are inclusive, respectful, and free from ethnic bias.
Encourage critical thinking and academic inquiry—not rigid political narratives.
Students deserve truth, context, and the opportunity to engage with all sides of history—not just the politically accepted one.
Thank you for your commitment to educational fairness and integrity.
Sincerely,
Hulya Erol-Garvett