Critical race theory is not taught as a required subject in California public schools, and the state has no law either mandating it or banning it. What California does require is something different: ethnic studies, a separate field focused on the histories and experiences of African American, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Chicano/Latino, and Native American communities. Whether anything resembling CRT shows up in a specific classroom depends on the district, the teacher, and the course materials the local school board has approved.
What California Law Actually Requires
In 2021, the legislature passed Assembly Bill 101, adding a one-semester ethnic studies course to high school graduation requirements beginning with the class of 2029–30. The same law required every public high school and charter school to offer at least one ethnic studies course starting in 2025–26.1California Legislative Information. AB-101 Pupil Instruction: High School Graduation Requirements: Ethnic Studies
Both provisions contain a funding trigger. They become operative only once the legislature appropriates money for implementation through a Budget Act or separate statute.1California Legislative Information. AB-101 Pupil Instruction: High School Graduation Requirements: Ethnic Studies As of the 2025–26 budget, that appropriation has not been made, so neither the course-offering mandate nor the graduation requirement is in effect at the state level. Districts remain free to offer ethnic studies on their own, and many do.
The California Department of Education continues to list ethnic studies as a graduation requirement for the class of 2029–30, treating AB 101 as a pending obligation that will activate once funded.2California Department of Education. State Minimum High School Graduation Requirements When it does, students will be able to satisfy it through a course based on the state model curriculum, an existing ethnic studies course, one approved for University of California or CSU admissions, or a locally developed course approved by the school board. Courses that don’t use ethnic studies content as their primary subject matter will not count.
Nothing in the ethnic studies requirement names critical race theory, requires its teaching, or incorporates it as a framework. CRT is an academic legal theory; ethnic studies is a K-12 and university subject area. The two overlap in public debate more than they overlap in curriculum documents.
The Model Curriculum Is Voluntary
The California State Board of Education adopted the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum on March 18, 2021. It organizes content around four disciplines: African American Studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, and Native American Studies.
The curriculum is explicitly voluntary. The document itself states that its guidance “is not binding on local educational agencies or other entities” and that “compliance with it is not mandatory.”3California Department of Education. Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Districts can adapt materials to local demographics, write their own courses, or use the model as a template. Because of that flexibility, what students actually encounter in an ethnic studies classroom varies significantly from one school to the next.
Local Districts That Tried To Ban CRT
While the state has moved toward ethnic studies, several local school boards have passed resolutions restricting what they describe as critical race theory. These resolutions do not change state requirements, but they shape what teachers in those districts can say in their own classrooms.
Temecula Valley Unified School District provides the most prominent example. In December 2022, the board passed a resolution by a 3-2 vote banning “critical race theory and other similar frameworks.” The resolution prohibited teaching that racism is common in American life, that students should feel guilt or distress based on their race, or that the United States was founded to preserve slavery. Teachers were allowed to discuss CRT only if the instruction focused on its flaws.
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District passed a similar resolution (No. 21-12) by a 3-2 vote, determining that the district “will not include Critical Race Theory as a framework in any course offerings.”4Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. Information About Resolution No. 21-12 for Families Paso Robles Joint Unified School District followed with a 4-3 vote banning “specific elements of critical race theory,” including the notion that racism is normal or that skin color can be used to discredit a person.
Supporters of these resolutions said they protect students from being categorized as inherent oppressors or victims based on race. Opponents said the wording was so broad it chilled legitimate classroom discussion of American history, civil rights, and inequality.
A California Court Struck Down the Temecula Ban
The Temecula resolution became the test case. In August 2024, a lawsuit titled Mae M. v. Komrosky was filed on behalf of students, teachers, and the district’s teachers union. The plaintiffs alleged the ban had censored teachers, created a hostile school environment, and violated students’ constitutional rights to equal protection and to receive information.
In May 2025, the California Court of Appeals ruled that the district could not enforce its CRT ban while the litigation continued. The court called the policy “unconstitutionally vague” and noted it had caused anxiety among teachers who were confused about what they could and could not say, with some fearing consequences for accidental violations. It was the first time a California court overturned a local district’s CRT restriction. The state attorney general’s office filed an amicus brief in support of the students.5State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Bonta Files Amicus Brief in Support of Temecula Valley Unified Students Constitutional Rights
The practical takeaway for families: a district-level CRT ban may still be on the books where you live, but the legal ground under those resolutions is unstable, and the first appellate ruling went against the district.
Public Universities Took Different Paths
California’s public universities handle ethnic studies on their own terms, and the two systems split. Assembly Bill 1460, signed in 2020, requires every California State University campus to offer ethnic studies and mandates that undergraduates complete at least one three-unit ethnic studies course to graduate, beginning with the class of 2024–25.6California Legislative Information. California Code 89032 – California State University: Graduation Requirement: Ethnic Studies AB 1460 had no funding trigger and is fully in effect.
The University of California system does not currently require ethnic studies for either admission or graduation. The UC Faculty Assembly voted down a proposal that would have made a semester-long ethnic studies course a high school admissions requirement for UC eligibility. UC does accept approved ethnic studies courses toward its A-G admissions requirements on the same terms as other electives.7UC Admissions. Subject Requirement (A-G)
What Parents Can Do
Parents who want to know what is actually being taught in their child’s classroom have a statutory right to find out. California Education Code section 51101 guarantees parents the right “to examine the curriculum materials of the class or classes in which their child is enrolled.”8California Legislative Information. California Education Code Section 51101 That applies to every subject, including ethnic studies. Schools must make the materials available for review during school hours upon request.
AB 101 contains no opt-out provision for the ethnic studies graduation requirement once it takes effect. Parents can review materials and raise concerns with the school or board, but the statute does not create a mechanism to exempt a student from the course. Individual districts may have their own procedures for parent concerns, so it’s worth asking the school directly.
Federal Pressure Pulling the Other Way
In January 2025, the White House issued executive orders targeting what the federal government describes as ideological content in public schools and directing agencies to end DEI-related programs.9The White House. Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing The practical effect on California classrooms is not yet clear, since curriculum decisions have traditionally been a state and local matter. Districts that receive federal funding sit between state policy that supports ethnic studies and federal policy that opposes content the current administration considers ideological.
For a family trying to answer the original question, the honest summary is this: California does not teach critical race theory as a required subject, does not ban it statewide, and is moving toward a required ethnic studies course that is not the same thing. What a student actually experiences depends on the district, the course, and the teacher, and parents have the right to see the materials for themselves.