Community member praises new early‑college U.S. history textbooks and urges board oversight after prior controversial adoption

Andy Shea, a parent and the new chair of the Whitney Foundation, praised the board for adopting new U.S. history textbooks written by authors from several major universities for use in the early‑college program and urged greater board oversight of materials used in classes taught by Cerritos College instructors.

Shea said the prior early‑college adoption of A Patriot's History of the United States drew student and parent complaints for perceived bias; he quoted student reaction and characterized that earlier book as reading "like propaganda." He told the board that while Cerritos College instructors have academic freedom to choose materials, the board nevertheless has an oversight role for the materials students use and should either review new texts or delegate the task to a committee.

"I encourage each board member to take that role, seriously," Shea said, noting that two board members had previously abstained from a vote because they had not had time to review the textbooks. He asked the board to prevent a recurrence and to consider structured review to ensure materials used in early‑college classes reflect appropriate scholarship and community standards.

Board members thanked him for the input and emphasized the board’s responsibility to follow up; Doctor Rios asked staff to address the concerns and to work with principals and college partners on clearer communication and consistent practices for incidents such as first‑day confusion and curriculum questions.