The Sikh Coalition is so appreciative of the sangat's support of the  Sikh Coalition’s “Furthering Education Work” project. The investment has been so important in pushing this work forward. 

In advance of Dasvandh Week we wanted to share updates on our education work from the last 12 months

• New states! Kansas, Indiana and Nebraska have added Sikhi to their social studies standards. This is the first time Sikhi has been included in any of these state standards. This brings the number of states with Sikhi in their state standards to 14 states. Now more than 23 million students, or 45 percent of public school students nationwide, now have the opportunity to learn about Sikhs. Because of the pandemic many states have moved their timelines for review but we are closely monitoring a few states.
• New content for elementary classrooms: We collaborated with authors to create three new elementary discussion guides for Super Satya Saves the Day by Raakhee Mirchandani, The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh by Supriya Kelkar and Fauja Singh Keeps Going by Simran Jeet Singh. For fall 2020, Simran Jeet and Rakhee have donated their time to provide up to 60 virtual book readings with their books. 
• Engaging with Teachers: Sikh Coalition staff and volunteers have presented at social studies conferences in Washington, Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Colorado as well as at the National Council for Social Studies. We have also provided meaningful input on teacher’s notes in North Dakota, Georgia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey which supplement state standards and lead to a greater impact as it provides supporting materials when teachers create lesson plans. 
• CA Ethnic Studies Campaign: We partnered with the Jakara movement to advocate for the inclusion of the Californian Sikh community and their experiences in the California Ethnic Studies Framework. This effort included a bipartisan letter signed by 25 assembly members and state senators, a letter signed by 52 gurdwaras, and more than 1,200 community member petition signatures. 

This is in addition to virtual content like Kid’s Corner, Summer Series, and our ongoing legal, advocacy and community engagement work. As we continue to push to make schools safer and more inclusive, we look forward to sharing more updates. 

The Sikh Coalition and the Jakara Movement continue to fight together for the accurate and meaningful inclusion of the Sikh community in the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC).

On September 30, another round of public comment on California’s ESMC concluded, with more than 700 Sikh Californians contacting the state’s Department of Education to tell them to #StopIgnoringSikhs. These efforts were joined by a bipartisan letter signed by 25 California assemblymembers and state senators, as well as the Sikh Coalition and the Jakara Movement’s own public comment submission, which was delivered directly to the Department of Education, Instructional Quality Commission, and the State Board of Education. On October 23, both organizations also met with California Superintendent Tony Thurmond to discuss Sikh representation.

The fight for Sikh inclusion in the ESMC continues, and there will be another public hearing in November, followed by an additional round of public comment. 

On August 17, 2020, the Sikh Coalition convened more than 100 community members from across the country for a webinar about “Sharing Sikh Stories: Creating a Kinder World Through Diverse Children’s Literature.” If you were unable to join the webinar, you can click here to watch the full video and share it with others in your sangat.

During the webinar, three children’s book authors–Raakhee Mirchandani, Supriya Kelkar, and Simran Jeet Singh–joined us to discuss the importance of diverse and inclusive children’s literature and how sharing our new classroom discussion guides with your child’s teacher can be an easy first step in raising Sikh awareness at your child’s school.

In case you missed it: Raakhee (Super Satya Saves the Day) and Simran Jeet (Fauja Singh Keeps Going) are available to read their books virtually for your child’s classroom! Click here to request a free virtual book reading from Raakhee or Simran Jeet and help raise Sikh awareness at your child’s school.

The virtual book readings are completely free. The Sikh Coalition will donate both books, plus Supriya’s The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh, to every school that participates in these virtual classroom visits.

While school looks very different than usual for students across the country this year, the Sikh Coalition is committed to equipping parents and teachers with the tools necessary to successfully teach about Sikhism and the Sikh identity in the classroom. The Sikh Coalition’s full library of Back to School resources, including lesson plans, the Educator’s Guide on Sikhism, accommodation letters for articles of faith, and more are still available for any parents who need them. In addition, we have included guidance for Khalsa Schools and helpful tips for parents on the increased risk of cyberbullying in our collection of COVID-19 community resources. Lastly, the Sikh Coalition Kid’s Corner remains available online; these workshops are great programming to supplement your child’s education from home or share with your child’s teacher to encourage broader cultural education.

For more information about the Back to School Toolkit or to discuss opportunities about how the Sikh Coalition can support you and your sangat in outreach efforts to educators, please contact education@sikhcoalition.org.

March 11, 2020 (Topeka, Kansas) — Yesterday, the Kansas State Board of Education voted on a new set of social studies standards for Kansas public schoolchildren that include Sikhism for the first time ever. The standards will start to be implemented in the 2021-2022 academic year.

With this vote, more than 492,000 children in Kansas’ public schools will now have the opportunity to learn about Sikhism in a constitutionally appropriate manner. These students will join approximately 22,536,783 others in 13 other states, representing roughly 45 percent of the public school student population nationwide. 

“We are delighted that Sikhism has been included in the Kansas state standards, which means that my children will feel represented and included in their classrooms,” said Ranjit Singh Lamba, a longtime resident of Overland Park, Kansas. “Importantly, other students will now have an opportunity to learn about Sikhs, who have been their neighbors in Kansas for generations.”

The Sikh Coalition’s education team previously reviewed these draft standards in January; accordingly, Sikhism is now included in the ‘suggested instruction’ for Middle Level Geography and Upper Level World History. We were also happy to assist Hartej Singh and his family in voicing their support for these changes before the Board of Education: Yesterday morning, he joined other citizens from across the state to give a short public comment in favor of the new standards.

“Families who are willing to advocate for Sikhi’s inclusion in schools are essential to this effort,” said Pritpal Kaur, Sikh Coalition Education Director. “This is a generational effort to raise Sikh awareness by ensuring that teachers and students have access to accurate and appropriate information about our faith, and the Sikh Coalition will continue to encourage additional states to follow Kansas’ lead.”

In addition to advocating for more states to adopt social studies standards that include Sikhism, the Sikh Coalition remains committed to ensuring that educators have the resources they need–including lesson plans, materials, and more–to teach about Sikhism in an effective and appropriate manner. If you are interested in the content that we have compiled for both educators and Sikh parents, be sure to check out our Back to School Toolkit.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sikh Coalition Legal Client and Community Services Manager Aasees Kaur spoke on a Capitol Hill panel to share her family’s story of heartbreak, resilience, and triumph in the face of anti-Sikh bullying.

The briefing, hosted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) focused on bias-based bullying of Sikhs and other religious minorities. Additional panelists included Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research at ISPU; Dr. Abbas Barzegar, Director of Research and Advocacy at CAIR National; Dr. Rukhsana Moona Chaudhry, Director of Mental Health Programming at American Muslim Health Professionals; and Dr. Nina Daoud, Advisor at the Justice for Muslims Collective. Honorary event host Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) also attended and gave remarks.

Ms. Kaur’s remarks focused on the experience of her brother, Japjee Singh, who was beaten so badly at a public middle school in Dekalb County, Georgia, that he had to be hospitalized; upon his return, the abuse persisted to the point that a bully cut his previously unshorn hair. Ultimately, through free legal action, the Sikh Coalition assisted Ms. Kaur’s family in securing two settlements between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Dekalb County School District and worked to better protect the district’s more than 100,000 students with cultural competency trainings on 9/11 backlash. 

In addition to sharing her family’s story, Ms. Kaur outlined a number of policy solutions that lawmakers can take to make schools safer. These asks included the push to include Sikhism in state education standards to inform social studies curricula; the need for cultural competency training for students, teachers, and administrators; and a call to pass two critical pieces of federal-level legislation to combat bullying. All three speak to core areas of the Sikh Coalition’s education, legal, and advocacy work.

Sikh children remain disproportionately bullied in classrooms across the nation. The Sikh Coalition’s 2014 report Go Home, Terrorist concluded that more than 50 percent of Sikh children have endured bullying, with the number rising sharply (67 percent) for turbaned Sikh children. Our legal team continues to accept new bullying cases on a pro bono, case-by-case basis; if your children or a child you know is in need of help, please contact us. In addition, we remain committed to working with organizational partners like ISPU against the bias-based bullying of Sikh children and children of other minority groups. We extend our gratitude to ISPU for organizing and hosting this important event, and look forward to further collaboration moving forward.

March 5, 2020 (Indianapolis, IN) – Yesterday, the Indiana Board of Education approved a new set of social studies standards for Indiana’s public schoolchildren that include Sikhism for the first time ever.

These new standards will ultimately reach more than 1,000,000 students across the state of Indiana, and this victory represents the first state in 2020, and 13th state overall, to include Sikhism in its social studies standards. In total, roughly 45 percent of students nationwide–approximately 22,536,783 pupils in total–now have the opportunity to learn about Sikhism.

“These new standards are a huge victory for greater Sikh awareness throughout Indiana,” said Chirjeev Kaur Oberoi, a Sikh parent in Carmel, Indiana. “The Sikh Coalition’s work to empower our statewide sangat to effectively advocate for ourselves with the State Board of Education will ultimately create an environment that is safer for Sikh American children and adults alike.”

The Sikh Coalition has been monitoring the standards in Indiana and providing resources about Sikhism to Indiana organizations and officials since 2016. In January of this year, our education team provided a detailed request to the standards writing committee, highlighting where Sikhism could be reflected in history and geography standards. The new standards reflect all of these recommendations, ensuring Sikhism’s presence in five places: Grade 7 History standard 7.1.2, Geography and History of the World standards GHW.2.1 and GHW.3.5, World Geography standard WG.4.6, and World History and Civilizations standard WH.2.1. Our ask was bolstered by the support of eight gurdwaras across the state, which joined the Sikh Coalition in signing an additional advocacy letter.

“We are grateful to the members of the Indiana sangat and the gurdwara leadership committees that joined us in this important advocacy effort,” said Pritpal Kaur, Sikh Coalition Education Director. “Our work to encourage more states to include Sikhism in their standards is about accuracy, representation, and safety–after all, we know that more informed communities will better respect and value their Sikh American neighbors.”

In addition to advocating for many more states to adopt social studies standards that include Sikhism, the Sikh Coalition remains committed to ensuring that educators have the resources they need–including lesson plans, materials, and more–to teach about Sikhism in an accurate and appropriate manner. If you are interested in the content that we have compiled for both educators and Sikh parents, be sure to check out our Back to School Toolkit.

December 16, 2019 (Central Valley, NY) – Last week, for the second year in a row, the Sikh Coalition delivered Sikh awareness presentations to more than 600 students at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley, NY. 

After training over 1,200 students in the previous school year, Sikh Coalition staff and trained volunteer presenters conducted 19 presentations on December 12 and 13 in 9th-grade social studies classrooms. As a result, a new class of students learned accurately about the Sikh faith, community, and traditions. 

“I am so pleased to see this important work to raise Sikh awareness continuing,” said Ishmeet Kaur, the New York sangat member who originally worked with the Sikh Coalition to build a relationship with the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District. “Helping others to learn about Sikhi is the best way to keep our children safe in schools, and the resources provided by the Sikh Coalition make it easy.”

The Monroe-Woodbury trainings are part of the Sikh Coalition’s never-ending work to ensure that Sikhism is taught accurately in classrooms and to raise Sikh awareness nationwide. Click here to learn how Ishmeet advocated for her school district to do more to raise Sikh awareness in their classrooms.

“We always welcome the engagement of parents and community members in the teaching process–especially when it comes to cultural awareness, which is increasingly important for today’s youth,” said Darrell McElroy, Monroe-Woodbury High School’s Social Studies Chairperson. “We’re grateful that groups like the Sikh Coalition are willing to lend their expertise and help involve the community in these kinds of initiatives.” 

The Sikh Coalition thanks our trained volunteer presenters for making this work possible, and administrators at the Monroe-Woodbury High School for welcoming us back. We encourage sangat members everywhere to take initiative and engage their local schools and educators. For more information on how you can engage your local community, check out our Back to School Toolkit or email our Community Development team at community@sikhcoalition.org.

November 11, 2019 (Lincoln, NE) – Last Friday, the Nebraska State Board of Education voted in new social studies standards, which for the first time ever include Sikhism.

These new standards will give 318,853 students, this time in Nebraska, the opportunity to learn about the Sikh community. This is another significant milestone in the Sikh Coalition’s multi-year campaign to raise Sikh awareness for generations to come by ensuring access to accurate information about Sikhism for every public school student across the nation.

“Thanks to these new educational standards, students across our state can learn about Sikhism–which means safer schools for my children in Omaha, and better cultural education for all,” said community member Apandeep Singh. “The Sikh Coalition’s work to not only advocate for the inclusion of Sikhism in state standards, but to also provide teachers with the tools to ensure that it is taught, is essential to increasing Sikh awareness.”

The update to Nebraska’s social studies standards resulted from months of behind-the-scenes advocacy. In November 2018, we made the initial request for Sikhism to be included in the new standards. However, when Sikhism was omitted from the first draft in April 2019, the Sikh Coalition engaged with the local Sikh community in Nebraska to submit public comments and wrote again to the Nebraska Department of Education. Unfortunately, Sikhism still remained excluded from the second draft of the standards in June, so we kept pushing. Finally, after months of advocacy, Sikhism was included in the third draft in September. To ensure that this update was secured, the Sikh Coalition engaged with all nine members of Nebraska’s State Board of Education to express our appreciation for this important change. The new standards were finally approved last week.

“It is wonderful that the Nebraska Department of Education listened to the needs of their local Sikh community to be represented and included in their state standards,” added Pritpal Kaur, Sikh Coalition Education Director. “Inclusive and accurate standards like these are becoming the benchmark for all communities.”

Local adoption and exploration of the new, more inclusive standards will start in the 2021-2022 school year, when local curriculum and instructional materials will be developed. The standards will then be fully implemented by 2023. The Sikh Coalition will continue to work closely with the Nebraska Department of Education during this process.

October 3, 2019 (Bismarck, North Dakota) – On Tuesday, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) released new social studies standards, which for the first time ever include Sikhism.

The new standards will give 109,000 students, this time in North Dakota, the opportunity to now accurately learn about the Sikh community. This is another significant milestone in the Sikh Coalition’s multi-year campaign to ensure that every public school student has the chance to learn about Sikhism accurately, so that Sikh awareness continues to grow among our fellow Americans for generations to come.

“It is critical for students across the country to learn about their diverse neighbors,” said Satjeet Kaur, Sikh Coalition Executive Director. “Sikhs have been contributing to the American fabric for over 125 years, and these new standards will help ensure North Dakota students can learn this history and be prepared to engage with the Sikh community.”

The update to North Dakota’s social studies standards resulted from months of behind the scenes advocacy led by the Sikh Coalition. In November 2018, the initial request was made for Sikhism to be included in the new standards. However, Sikhism was still omitted when the new draft was released, and so in May 2019, the Sikh Coalition wrote again to the NDDPI to request its inclusion. Unfortunately, Sikhism still remained excluded from the standards, so the Sikh Coalition continued to directly push for the inclusion of Sikhism with the Social Studies Standards Development Committee through June 2019. Finally, after months of advocacy, Sikhism was included just before the standards were approved.

“We are delighted that North Dakota has made their standards more inclusive,” said Pritpal Kaur, Sikh Coalition Education Director. “It is critical that Sikhism should be represented accurately in the K-12 education system and taught alongside other world religions.”

The new, more inclusive standards will start to be implemented immediately during the 2019-2020 school year and the Sikh Coalition will continue to work closely with the NDDPI as they engage in professional development and resource creation around the new standards.

Another Education Win, This Time in Colorado

On May 10th, the Colorado State Board of Education voted to approve new social studies standards, which for the first time ever include Sikhism.

The new standards are out now and will be fully implemented by the 2020-2021 school year after a period of teacher training. The result is that over 270,000 high school students in Colorado will now accurately learn about the Sikh community. This is another significant milestone in the Sikh Coalition’s never-ending effort to create Sikh awareness in our nation’s classrooms for generations to come. 

The inclusion of Sikhism in Colorado’s social studies standards resulted from nearly two years of engagement by local community leaders and proactive advocacy from the Sikh Coalition. Sikhs in Colorado formally requested the inclusion of Sikhism in the standards beginning in October 2016. The Sikh Coalition then followed up with another formal request in September 2017 and continued to communicate with the Department of Education and the Colorado sangat throughout the drafting process.  

The Sikh Coalition is grateful to the many passionate Sikh community members and allies for their grassroots leadership. We are also thankful to the Colorado Department of Education for its responsiveness and commitment to diversity. 

Colorado now joins a growing list of states – including New York, New Jersey, Texas, California, Tennessee and Idaho – that have worked with the Sikh Coalition to include accurate information about Sikhs in their public school standards. We look forward to adding to this list in the months and years ahead. To support the Sikh Coalition's education initiatives, donate here.