In order to graduate from high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, students will now have to take an ethnic studies course, thanks to a decision by the district on Tuesday. Responding to pressure from the Ethnic Studies Now coalition, board members Bennett Kayser, George McKenna, and Steve Zimmer brought a resolution to commence honoring the ethnic studies requirement starting in the 2015-16 school year.

Subjects admissible for the requirement include Mexican-American Studies, African-American History, Literature of Minorities in America, and Asian Studies. Only 19 of the 94 high schools in LAUSD offer ethnic studies courses, according to CBS Los Angeles.

El Rancho Unified in Pico Rivera, a much smaller district that is comprised of less than 10,000 students, already requires ethnic studies courses for high school graduation. LAUSD has over 152,000 students.

Jose Lara, the coordinator of Ethnic Studies Now, said roughly 50 community organizations in Southern California and scattered professors around the U.S. have backed his mission. He opined, “Studies have shown that curriculum at L.A. Unified and throughout the nation is Euro-centric. So many voices are forgotten, voices of Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans, are forgotten in our history books.” His organization states that about 700 students out of the 152,000 in LAUSD are enrolled in ethnic studies courses, although 90% of the students are non-white.

Ethnic Studies Now had started a petition in the fall to force LAUSD to consider their cause. It read: