Article from the Latin American Herald Tribune [Click header to go to original article.]
Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz
Less than a week before classes are set to resume after the Christmas break, the future of Tucson’s Mexican-American studies program has been cast into doubt by a judge’s finding that it violates Arizona law.
The Tucson Unified School District could lose up to $15 million in state funding annually unless it drops or substantially modifies the program.
“This decision was not a surprise for us; in a way, we expected it,” school board member Adelita Grijalva told Efe Wednesday.
The board – itself divided on the issue of Chicano studies – must now decide how to respond to Tuesday’s finding by state administrative law Judge Lewis D. Kowal.
Tucson’s program violates a new Arizona law barring ethnic studies courses that promote “the overthrow of the United States government” or “resentment toward a race or class of people,” Kowal concluded.
That law likewise excludes curricula “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or that seek to “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”
The judge rendered his opinion in the form of a non-binding recommendation to the Arizona education department, which has 30 days to decide whether to pursue legal action against the TUSD if it refuses to bring its program into compliance.
State education superintendent John Huppenthal, who launched the initial challenge to the Chicano studies program, welcomed Kowal’s finding.
“I made a decision based on the totality of the information and facts gathered during my investigation – a decision that I felt was best for all students in the Tucson Unified School District. The judge’s decision confirms that it was the right decision,” Huppenthal said in a statement.
Eleven TUSD teachers filed suit in federal court to challenge the Arizona law as unconstitutional, but the case is still pending.
The attorney representing those plaintiffs, Richard M. Martinez, told Efe he was surprised that Kowal did not even address the constitutional aspect of the law.
The federal lawsuit contends the Arizona measure is discriminatory toward the Hispanic community and that it violates the right to freedom of expression.
Defenders of the Tucson program say it informs students about the history and contributions of Latinos in Arizona and the United States.
The program is more than 40 years old.
Hispanics (Chicanos) make up 61.4 percent of the TUSD’s 51,866 students.
Critics of the new say it was specifically crafted to end the TUSD’s ethnic studies programs, long a target of former Arizona education superintendent Tom Horne, now the state’s attorney general. EFE
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Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz
Less than a week before classes are set to resume after the Christmas break, the future of Tucson’s Mexican-American studies program has been cast into doubt by a judge’s finding that it violates Arizona law.
The Tucson Unified School District could lose up to $15 million in state funding annually unless it drops or substantially modifies the program.
“This decision was not a surprise for us; in a way, we expected it,” school board member Adelita Grijalva told Efe Wednesday.
The board – itself divided on the issue of Chicano studies – must now decide how to respond to Tuesday’s finding by state administrative law Judge Lewis D. Kowal.
Tucson’s program violates a new Arizona law barring ethnic studies courses that promote “the overthrow of the United States government” or “resentment toward a race or class of people,” Kowal concluded.
That law likewise excludes curricula “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or that seek to “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”
The judge rendered his opinion in the form of a non-binding recommendation to the Arizona education department, which has 30 days to decide whether to pursue legal action against the TUSD if it refuses to bring its program into compliance.
State education superintendent John Huppenthal, who launched the initial challenge to the Chicano studies program, welcomed Kowal’s finding.
“I made a decision based on the totality of the information and facts gathered during my investigation – a decision that I felt was best for all students in the Tucson Unified School District. The judge’s decision confirms that it was the right decision,” Huppenthal said in a statement.
Eleven TUSD teachers filed suit in federal court to challenge the Arizona law as unconstitutional, but the case is still pending.
The attorney representing those plaintiffs, Richard M. Martinez, told Efe he was surprised that Kowal did not even address the constitutional aspect of the law.
The federal lawsuit contends the Arizona measure is discriminatory toward the Hispanic community and that it violates the right to freedom of expression.
Defenders of the Tucson program say it informs students about the history and contributions of Latinos in Arizona and the United States.
The program is more than 40 years old.
Hispanics (Chicanos) make up 61.4 percent of the TUSD’s 51,866 students.
Critics of the new say it was specifically crafted to end the TUSD’s ethnic studies programs, long a target of former Arizona education superintendent Tom Horne, now the state’s attorney general. EFE
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