Group wants changes to standards for teaching diversity in social studies classes restored

The Colorado Board of Education is taking another look at the revisions to social studies standards that they made last month. 

A law passed in 2019 requires civics lessons to include the contributions of LGBTQ people, and people of color. The Department of Education initially updated the standards to include those but then removed many of those references.  

On Thursday, protesters asked the board to "restore the cuts." The version the board is now considering has removed references to the LGBTQ community for the youngest grades and stripped many references to minority groups. 

"This is fundamental to their growth and well-being. To erase such people from their education is to instill in them at a young and vulnerable age that they don't matter or that their families don't matter," said Tangi Lancaster with the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition.

Local school districts head up the selection and use of curriculum but they rely on standards to identify what students need to know at each grade level.