Diversity Rules Magazine

The research brief, "Educa ng for a Diverse Democ- racy in California," draws upon a survey of 150 Cali- fornia high school principals conducted in 2022 A new analysis by researchers at UC Riverside and UCLA shows that even in blue state California, poli - cal a acks on public schools are pervasive and grow- ing, hindering learning and the role schools play in a diverse democracy. Poli cal division and community-level conflict is neg- a vely impac ng student interac ons, and many Cal- ifornia students are experiencing hos lity and intol- erance in school. Troublingly, the research finds high levels of hos le comments toward LGBTQ students, and racist remarks targe ng La no, and in par cular, African American students. The research brief, "Educa ng for a Diverse Democra- cy in California," draws upon a representa ve survey of 150 California high school principals conducted in 2022 examining the chilling effect of poli cal conflict in the na on's schools. The analysis compares the ex- periences of schools in 'blue' congressional districts where less than 45% of the 2020 vote was for Donald Trump, to schools in 'purple' California communi es where the vote for Donald Trump was between 45% and 54.9%. "Principals leading California high schools in purple communi es were far more likely than those lead- ing schools in blue communi es to report that com- munity conflict occurred frequently over issues such as those impac ng LGBTQ students, teaching about race and racism, and efforts to limit access to books," said Joseph Kahne, co-director of the Civic Engage- ment Research Group at UC Riverside and co-author of the research. "And unfortunately, poli cal conflict over highly charged educa onal issues is on the rise. More than four in ten California principals said that the amount of community level conflict was more than prior to the pandemic." The impacts to California are on par with na onal trends. "The surprise here is not that California is different, it is that our public schools are experiencing similar lev- els of poli cal a acks and conflict with what we have seen across the na on," said John Rogers, director of the UCLA Ins tute for Democracy, Educa on and Access and co-author of the research. "About two- thirds of schools in the state are experiencing some level of poli cal conflict, mirroring what we have seen in other states. The level of conflict impac ng schools would seem to reflect the intensive and per- vasive nature of what is happening na onally." Key findings of the California Analysis include (Par al list): Poli cal conflict is pervasive and growing, par cu- larly in purple communi es Almost two-thirds (65%) of California principals sur- veyed reported substan al local poli cal conflict over hot bu on educa onal issues. Principals leading California high schools in purple communi es were far more likely than those in Blue communi es to report that community conflict occurred frequently. For example, principals in Purple communi es were 2.5 mes as likely as principals in Blue communi es (28% to 12%) to report frequent community conflict related to LGBTQ issues. Poli cal division and community-level conflict is shaping student interac ons More than two-thirds ( 71% ) of California principals report that students made demeaning or hateful re- marks to liberal or conserva ve classmates. Princi- pals in purple communi es were more than twice as likely as principals in blue communi es to say that this problem occurred frequently. Ninety-three per- cent of California high school principals in purple communi es reported that "the level of poli cal di- vision and incivility" at their schools had increased since the beginning of the pandemic. Many California students experience hos lity and in- tolerance in school Forty-two percent of California principals said the in- cidence of intolerance between students had grown since before the pandemic. In purple communi es, 64% of principals reported that the level of intoler- ance had increased. Conflicts - Con't on page 16 Diversity Rules Magazine| Apr 2023|11 Political Conflict Hinders Learning CA Study Conducted by UC Riverside and UCLA

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