Testifiers spoke out against Gov. Tim Walz’s education policy bill during a committee hearing Tuesday, saying its emphasis on “ethnic studies” will teach black students “they can’t succeed.”

The bill would require school districts to provide ethnic studies curriculum and direct the commissioner of education to “embed ethnic studies into state academic standards.” A separate bill being carried by Democrats would require all public school graduates to complete an ethnic studies course.

Both bills define ethnic studies as the “critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States.”