Starting this school year, every public elementary school and high school in Illinois must include a unit of instruction on Asian American history. Illinois became the first state to implement the requirement when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act into law last summer.
Public schools across the suburbs are gearing up to teach Asian American history this fall, after Illinois became the first state in the nation to require through a law aiming for more representation and inclusion in the classroom.
While University of Chicago officials promptly indicated they’d increase off-campus patrolling following the recent death of a graduate, some members of the Asian community are calling for systemic change instead of increased surveillance or police presence.