I know, I know. Tom Horne, outgoing AZ State Supt of School (and since noon today our Attorney General – that should curl your hair) went on a 3 year campaign to wipe out the Ethnic Studies programs, but today he put a cherry on the sundae when In his final hours as Supt, he declared TUSD’s ethnic studies program to be in violation of state law. The story is here: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_287a29c1-50f8-5a9c-a5be-239ca4eca192
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His Law, that he wrote and got through the legislature… because, you know we are all individuals, not members of a race, and this is the land of opportunity where we should not teach children that they are oppressed, even though they know every day in every way they are not welcome here.
Horne said, “The only way the district can come into compliance will be complete elimination of the Mexican American Studies program.” Which the school board has voted three times to stand behind.
The District stands to lose up to $15 million in state funding, and will likely apply for a stay to appeal a state decision to withhold needed money.
This is of course an outrage. The program is meant to improve academic achievement and graduation rates for Hispanic, Asian, Black, and Native students by making learning more relevant by teaching history, traditions, and relevant ethnic authors to students from elementary school through high school. It is also part of the Unitary Plan that allowed the district to be released from a 30 year Federal Desegregation Order because the district is so heavily minority that students had to be bused all over town to balance school populations.
What caused this ruckus? Evidently Dolores Huerta was invited to speak to the student body she said something about Republicans disliking Latinos. I was not there and neither was Mr. Horne, but I hardly think students who live in Arizona would be surprised to learn that the Republican Party has it in for them. He was also upset that so many of them walked out of school and marched against SB 1070.
Grab the popcorn. Stay tuned. This will be a great show in AZ. These young students are fired up, their teachers and their School Board are behind hem, and I think the Republicans will have a real fight on their hands..