Antibias Education

In 2020, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), Tony Thurmond, launched a new, multifaceted “Education to End Hate” initiative designed to empower educators and students to confront the hate, bigotry, and racism rising in communities across the state and nation. Under this effort, the California Department of Education (CDE) led a series of strategies—including educator training grants, partnerships with community leaders, and virtual classroom sessions—that leveraged the power of education to create a more just society.

Most recently, the SSPI launched the Antibias Education Grant Program. The request for applications was distributed on July 1, 2022. The purpose of the Antibias Education Grant Program is to prevent, address, and eliminate racism and bias in all California public schools and to make all public schools inclusive and supportive of all people.

The SSPI will award grants of no less than $75,000 to local educational agencies (LEAs). These funds are available for expenditure or encumbrance through the 2025–26 fiscal year.

Eligible activities for an Antibias Education Grant Program may include, but are not limited to, any of the following:

• Professional development on topics that address hate, bigotry, racism, or any form of bias or prejudice, including, but not limited to, design features of equitable learning environments, classroom management techniques, emotional wellness and self-regulation, and strategies designed to increase teachers’ skills for mitigating bias and fostering caring developmental relationships and practices and approaches when managing pupils in academic and disciplinary settings to support deep and engaged learning.
• Opportunities for teachers, administrators, pupils, other school staff, and members of the governing board or body of the LEA to review policies, practices, and procedures that can promote bias, such as referrals for discipline, special education, and course placement, and to update those policies, practices, and procedures to foster in pupils a sense of belonging and connection.
• The development (or updating) of a comprehensive bias mitigation or diversity plan based on the identified needs of the LEA using its data and tied to specific outcomes such as increasing staff diversity or more racially proportionate pupil discipline referrals.
• Curriculum that is appropriate for pupils in kindergarten or any of grades one through twelve, inclusive of topics that address hate, bigotry, racism, or any form of bias or prejudice, and promote self-love, self-acceptance, pride in one’s multiple identities, understanding of one’s own and others’ cultural histories and contributions, and empathy for and meaningful connections with others.
• Support of pupil-initiated and pupil-led efforts to combat hate, bigotry, racism, or any form of bias or prejudice;to co-design new approaches to mitigate bias and foster a sense of belonging and connection; and to ensure that decisions, actions, and designs are informed by student voice, needs, and aspirations.

See the Antibias Education Grant Program for additional information.

More information about the initiative can be found on the CDE September 21, 2020 News Release web page.

Antibias Education/Anti-Racism Training is one key part of State Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s Transforming School Initiatives.