Rich Pedroncelli/AP
- A California school district rejected the state's social studies curriculum over the inclusion of Harvey Milk.
- On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened the district with a $1.5 million fine.
- The school board voted in an emergency meeting to accept the curriculum on Friday.
A California school district that rejected the state's social studies curriculum over the inclusion of an LGBTQ+ leader reversed its decision on Friday after Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened the district with a $1.5 million fine.
The Temecula Unified School District board called an emergency meeting on Friday night where it voted to adopt the curriculum, the local TV news station KCAT reported.
On Wednesday, the board had voted 3-2 in favor of rejecting the state's curriculum over the inclusion of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in the state. Board members were focused on allegations that Milk was a pedophile related to his romantic relationship with Jack McKinley, which began when McKinley was 16 years old, according to KCAT.
Newsom said in a video statement that the state would purchase the social studies books that the school district rejected for the parents in the district.
"If these extremist school board members won't do their job, we will — and fine them for their incompetence," Newsom said.
—Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 13, 2023
Newsom said in an accompanying statement on Thursday that the state would "deliver the bill — along with a $1.5 million fine — to the school board for its decision to willfully violate the law."
After the school board reversed its decision on Friday, Newsom said the students will now have the "materials needed to learn" and said the board will have a "civil rights investigation to answer for."
"This debate in Temecula is not about local control," Newsom said in a statement. "It is about a national ideological crusade that remains hellbent on silencing diverse communities and erasing our history."