Tucson Schools Ethnic Studies Program Dismantled, Deemed Illegal

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A school district in Tucson voted to dismantle its ethnic studies program after more than $1 million of monthly state funding was to be cut off in response to conclusions by Arizona's public schools chief and a judge that the program violated the law.

Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal last week ordered that 10 percent of the district's monthly state aid, amounting to more than $1 million per month, be withheld until the district follows the law.

Huppenthal concluded during the summer that the program violated the law. The district appealed Huppenthal's earlier findings, and an administrative law judge in December upheld the decision by the schools chief.

The judge ruled that the program violated state law by having one or more classes designed primarily for one ethnic group, promoting racial resentment and advocating ethnic solidarity instead of treating students as individuals.

All board members supported revamping either the program or some classes so they are more comprehensive and include the contributions of all ethnicities.

Board member Adelita Grijalva, the dissenting vote, called for the district to continue to defend the program in court and to challenge the law's constitutionality.

"This is an issue that is not going to go away by this vote. When bad laws are written, they are usually picked up by other states. This is an opportunity to fight a bad law," she said.

John Pedicone, the district's superintendent, said students will be transferred to existing traditional courses without jeopardizing class credits.

While the board voted to accept Huppenthal's finding and dismantle the program, the district has long held that it is not in violation of the law.

A group of Mexican American Studies educators and students who independently challenged the law suffered a blow in federal court.

A federal judge on Tuesday denied their request for an order to stop Huppenthal from taking further action against the district until their lawsuit is settled.

Judge A. Wallace Tashima also ruled their case may continue but dismissed claims filed by the teachers, saying they had no standing in the case because they could not prove that they would suffer irreparable harm.

But the judge will hear claims from at least one student identified as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The student has registered to take Mexican American Studies courses and will not be able to do so now that the courses have been eliminated.

___

Comments

[Richard Norgard]

01:09 AM on 01/17/2012

I might have had some sympathy for the discontinuation of the ethnic studies program until I found out they were banning books. i'm sorry, but when we start banning books in America, what are we going to ban next? Exactly who is the real racist here?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ethnic-studies-book-ban-arizona-include-shakespeare-tempest-article-1.1007105

[F33bs]

06:53 PM on 01/19/2012

Not banned. The classes are disallowed so the books have nowhere to be taught. They are still available in libraries. Learn to cross check media sources before you whip out your soapbox.

[Julia Caskey Marshall]

09:48 PM on 01/23/2012

Are you saying that Shakespeare's "Tempest" has nowhere to be taught? That is one of the 'books' under objection.

[JuanGuapo]

12:46 PM on 01/16/2012

The people who protest against ethnic studies classes clearly never took one--let alone graduated college.

[markspence]

08:34 PM on 01/16/2012

I have taken literature by women and minorities. I think the way they are teaching these classes to young people in Tuscon is wrong.

Every other ethnic studies class in every district in AZ is in compliance. What is the problem with MAS in Tuscon?

[Julia Caskey Marshall]

09:49 PM on 01/23/2012

Could be that this program is "not in compliance", but isn't doing away with it entirely the equivalent to "throwing out the baby with the bath water?"

[TexasTreader]

02:52 PM on 01/15/2012

Why don't we just admit the truth about these studies? They were meant to mobilize an ethnicity AGAINST American culture. ANYONE can study ANY perspective on ANY history without interference or complication. I have an interest in European and Protestant history. Between the libraries, Half Priced Books and the internet, there's enough resource material to last a lifetime. The difference is that I'm not trying to push an agenda.

[Karen1]

04:47 PM on 03/16/2012

Non-white people have a right to read books written by them just like white people do.

[sunnynight]

01:22 PM on 01/15/2012

The so called "ethnic programs" in the public schools should be dismantled everywhere in the USA.
Those who came to the USA to "study" their ethnicity should go back to their former countries.
They can learn much more in Mexico, China, Korea... about their Mexican, Chinese, Korean... ethnicity than in the USA.
Billions of $ will be saved and used more properly.

[TexasTreader]

02:34 PM on 01/15/2012

F&F.

[The Traveler of Worlds]

01:35 PM on 10/18/2012

???

[andreabeth7]

03:22 PM on 01/15/2012

They wish to study their ethnicity, yet when the ones who are here illegally are confronted with deportation to their homeland they scream bloody murder. This repatriation to their mother country should instead be viewed as an opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the culture that they have so diligently studied.

[cdterm47]

04:53 PM on 01/14/2012

For those out there who belittle MANIFEST DESTINY. CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING.

Without our success against the British and the purchase from Napoleon of land, I imagine Santa Anna and his predecessors eyed the North West with envy. Regrettably, they did not have the force to take any of the North West which was made evident at San Jacinto by Sam Huston. Then came the Spanish American War of 1847-478 which soundly declared do not mess with us and get out of North America since we do not need your dictatorship or culture. We have our own culture and do not need to adopt others.

[ShowMeC6]

04:16 PM on 01/14/2012

"Ethnic Studies," specifically when it applies to Chicano/Chicana studies tends to be nothing more than courses taught by militant Hispanics with an emphasis in intolerance, hatred of the United States, and ethnic isolation.

If you wish to learn hate and intolerance go join your local MECHA, Black Panther, or KKK chapter but keep it out of the schools....OUT!!

[cdterm47]

05:04 PM on 01/14/2012

SHOWMEC6

Well said. We have made it too easy to allow such hate and intolerance to be taught. It is one thing to understand an ethnic group and its culture. It is an entirely different thing to allow the existing culture to be co-opted by another. Usually such c0-opting is the result of invasion, defeat, and imposing one's culture on others. We have our culture in the U.S. We do not need it supplanted by others.

[Karen1]

04:50 PM on 03/16/2012

An independent study commissioned by Huppenthal stated the following:


http://www.scribd.com/doc/58025928/TUSD-ethnic-studies-audit

Summary

No observable evidence exists that instruction within Mexican American Studies Department promotes resentment towards a race or class of people. The auditors observed the opposite, asstudents are taught to be accepting of multiple ethnicities of people. MASD teachers are teachingCesar Chavez alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi, all as peaceful protesters whosacrificed for people and ideas they believed in. Additionally, all ethnicities are welcomed intothe program and these very students of multiple backgrounds are being inspired and taught in thesame manner as Mexican American students. All evidence points to peace as the essence for program teachings. Resentment does not exist in the context of these courses.

[papapj]

09:19 AM on 01/14/2012

All of us have been subject to the 'Ethnic studies' imposed upon us as what the dominant ethnicity thinks ought to be; subconsciously (and consciously, sometimes) imposing their values and viewpoint as de facto Americana as if it were meant to be. The ethnicity we've been learning about invariably is European or European American. The historiography of 8% of mankind has been foisted on us and our mental ability has been graded using a culturally slanted, eugenically based testing system cooked up by neo-fascists in the early part of the 20th century (IQ).

Times are changing as is the American demographic. That which was, at one point, considered unquestionable and true is now being challenged from several quarters which don't pay instant homage to the notion of European primacy....and they're gaining prominence, as they should, as the nation 'browns'.

This recidivist move by the Tuscon educators is but reactive nonsense akin to King Canute trying to hold back the tide, and part of a broader move by the shrinking majority to 'take their country back'.....The dinosaurs are watching the meteor come straight at them, and there's little they can do about it save obstruct and obfuscate with futility...

[TexasTreader]

02:42 PM on 01/15/2012

"Dinosaaurs" is an interesting analogy since the ethnic studies affected by this ruling are in no way enlightened. Mexican culture to this day is ruled by oppression, crime and ambition. The biggest political force in Mexico is the cartel and the biggest export is ilicit drugs.

[papapj]

06:28 PM on 01/15/2012

Well of course I could expect little but denigration of the Mexican culture; it is, after all, pretty cosmopolitan in foundation and heritage so your judgement is to be merited accordingly..especially since you want to view it from the particularly myopic lens of latter day influence of the drug trade which services, in the main, a ravenous demand from a rapidly decaying and decadent culture run by the said dinosaurs...No demand..no supply...

[Elecktra001]

03:20 PM on 01/15/2012

Whenever you post and discuss the changing demographic, I am ever more energized in the pursuit to colonize Mars. You and your ilk will eventually turn our entire planet into thecesspool you emerged from. We will need a place for our intellectuals to prosper.

[papapj]

06:31 PM on 01/15/2012

"I am ever more energized in the pursuit to colonize Mars'

I wish the likes of you would hurry up and do so...Leave Mother Earth to those who can really appreciate her.

Don't worry, we''ll clean up the pig-sty you left and felt so comfortable in, just promise to disappear as you as you can, or die off quietly...toodles!

[sandyangel4ever]

10:34 PM on 01/16/2012

If you are evidence of these intellectuals you speak of then we should be okay... you'll probably have tons of misspellings and take a wrong turn and end up on the wrong planet...

[Hoodooman]

10:40 PM on 01/13/2012

The hate that this particular class exposes these impressionable kids to is the real problem.

[Razpooten]

04:57 PM on 01/13/2012

Superintendant Huppenthal AKA "Sheriff Arpio of ethnic studies."

[Just-a-Guy]

01:55 PM on 01/13/2012

One solution might be to pull your kids out and home-school them.

If you don't like the fact that this program is getting shut down, pull your kid out and teach him (or her) at home in a manner you see fit.

That's what many conservatives have done out here in California.

[raptor8154]

02:10 PM on 01/13/2012

I agree. Unfortunately, it's just not an option for most people in this current economy. Perhaps, people can pool money together and create a small set of private schools. Of course these private schools won't have as many resources as a publicly funded school, but at least students will be taught the truth, and not be forced to follow someone else's agenda.

[TexasTreader]

02:44 PM on 01/15/2012

How is money an issue? Public libraries lend books at no charge and most have free internet services.

[Razpooten]

05:51 PM on 01/13/2012

It is not just "your kids" that need to learn more inclusion; all students would benefit by understanding the diverse cultural roots of this nation. Many Anglos ignore that they have Spanish blood in them. The English intermarried with other Europeans. ie, King Henry VII married Catharina de Aragón.

[huntinglefty]

10:13 PM on 01/13/2012

diveristy is just another lie sold by the left that hurts the american culture. sort of like 'takes a village to raise a child' should be layed at the door of taxpayers.

[raptor8154]

11:33 AM on 01/13/2012

To the moderators of this site. If you are going to delete entire posts, which were not inflammatory in the least, then you are no better than the legislatures in Arizona.

Your dialog boxes only allow a certain amount of text. What I wrote was split into three parts, not two. Without the middle section, my post doesn't make much sense. Maybe this is your intention. IDK, I thought HP was better than this, and encouraged constructive dialog.

[rt1027]

01:07 PM on 01/13/2012

you thought wrong

[Razpooten]

04:58 PM on 01/13/2012

It varies with the weather.

[raptor8154]

11:17 AM on 01/13/2012

Another point, it is nearly impossible for me to find reliable references of people who are willing to acknowledge history is whitewashed. The very people who whitewashed the history are the ones who make the references. So if it takes a peer-reviewed article in order for you to trust something, then I am talking in vain.

The only way I can prove that something is a lie, when virtually every reference say it's true, is by logical deduction. Examples:

1. How did Columbus discover America when people were already here?
2. How did Pythagoras discover his theorem, when Egyptions already had pyramids?
3. How did James Tweedie discover the Petunia in South America, when South Americans had been using it for hundreds of years?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petunia

Using that logic. If I translate an Advanced Calculus book to Swahili, did I invent Calculus?

My anger wasn't with you, it's with the collective American society. How can we purposefully hide a group's history, and then pretend we want that group to succeed? It happened to me in high school, and now I see it happening to Hispanics. It honestly makes me want to vomit. Maybe, when idiots tell me to leave the country, they are actually on to something.

Have a good day.

[Rasebiho]

07:38 PM on 01/13/2012

If you had translated the calculus book early enough you would have been credited with introducing calculus to the Swahili, but you waited too long.

[huntinglefty]

10:14 PM on 01/13/2012

easy. only one group really matters. sooner you come to terms with that, the easier life will be for you

[raptor8154]

11:41 PM on 01/13/2012

Considering whites will soon be the minority in the US, you might come to eat your words.

[raptor8154]

11:17 AM on 01/13/2012

My original point is that we need classes like ethnic studies to counter this propaganda. Without ethnic studies, students only get one point of view. And unless the students know the exact questions to ask, they won't even realize they are being fed propaganda.

Another topic, let me address my previous conversations with you. When I read one of your first posts on this topic, "what's the point of teaching history, if it only causes one group to resent another..."; I assumed you were one of those people for whom intelligent conversation was not possible. I assumed wrong, I apologize.

Having dealt with these people in the past, this is how the conversation almost always goes.

1. I state something which I think is common knowledge.
2. They tell me to give a source.
3. I give a source.
4. They attempt to discredit the source (it's too liberal, too conservative, not reliable, pro-black, pro-hispanic, etc.)
5. I give them another source (usually a peer reviewed journal).
6. They tell me, "If you hate America so much, then GO HOME."

This is why I usually don't spend hours of my life digging up sources for people on a messageboard; people who really aren't going to listen anyways. Honestly, they never really cared in the first place, they were just wasting my time.

[Razpooten]

04:59 PM on 01/13/2012

"History is bunk,": Mark Twain.

[Razpooten]

05:35 PM on 01/13/2012

I don't always give a source; I am a source. You have more patience than I.

[raptor8154]

11:16 AM on 01/13/2012

When reading this thread, I constantly came across comments such as the following:

sibyl9 5 minutes ago(10:23 AM)
“How so? One example, please.”

In response to the constant irritating comments of people asking for examples of how American history is whitewashed, I attempted to give an example. Since this thread is about Mexican-Americans, I chose a topic in which I hoped most of the people asking for examples would be slightly acquainted: the Mexican-American war. In particular, I quoted manifest destiny. My assumption was that most people would at least remember the phrase, but they may not remember with its meaning; therefore I pasted the first line from wikipedia.

My stepson is in the 7th grade. His 7th grade textbook:

"The American Journey". Glencoe/McGraw Hill. (2007) ISBN: 9780078743894

In his textbook, it quotes on pp. 359:

"America's Manifest Destiny to overspread and to posses the whole of the continent which Providence has given us. O' Sulllivan meant that the United States was clearly destined-set apart for a special purpose-to extend its boundaries all the way to the Pacific."

In my eyes, this textbook is just as lame as wikipedia or any other whitewashed source, their really is no difference to me. A lie is a lie, I don't really care who tells it.

[sibyl9]

12:52 PM on 01/13/2012

That's hardly an example. History textbooks often contain a quote from a person who lived at the time. It usually in blue type at the top or begininng of the section heading. Try reading the text. Nice try, though, I guess.

[raptor8154]

01:01 PM on 01/13/2012

The second part of my post got deleted, therefore what I typed doesn't make much sense. The point I was making is the following:

What is the difference between America's "Manifest Destiny", and Hitler's belief that he had the right to build a nation of Aryan people? Both believed it was divine will. Both believed they were doing the right thing. Both murdered millions of innocent people in an attempt to establish a nation of their own.

However, we call Hitler a monster and it's something we teach in every textbook. We tell Mexican-Americans to get over it, or simply deny that it ever happened. Since you are a teacher, you are personally guilty of this.

[cdterm47]

04:38 PM on 01/14/2012

siby19

The liberals will not give the example that the text book allegedly identifies Benjamin Franklin as a racist.

[Captain Ron]

01:03 PM on 01/13/2012

Is that all you read? LOL. Maybe your stepson could read the rest of the chapter to you.

[raptor8154]

01:10 PM on 01/13/2012

I would like to reply to you and sibyl9, but the moderators won't let me posts come through. I'm sure it would have been a stimulating conversation though.

Thanks for responding.

[Huber94]

10:25 AM on 01/13/2012

I question why people in arizona would want to band ethnic studies as a hispanic male i don't get why arizona would want to band ethnic studies. We have a great culture and i think people should know about it. It was there for a reason. Now that i think about it i think that the Goverment wants everything to go back like the old days. There just slowly taking their time with it while we over here thinking everythings okay. This is NOT Okay!!!

Ms.Matthew-Davis Class
2B

[TggerJen]

11:02 AM on 01/13/2012

The people in Arizona have not banned ethnic studies nor is there any intent to ban ethnic studies. Why do you make such a false claim?
Almost all the ethnic studies programs and classes in Arizona are continuing without interruption. This is about a specific program and fixing real issues with that specific program. In fact, fixing the serious issues in the Mexican American Studies program will result in more students learning more about Hispanic culture and the contributions of Hispanics/Latinos as the info is integrated into all Literature, Social Studies, and History classes instead of being taught in separate classes to a small number of students.

[Karen1]

05:18 PM on 03/16/2012

The Mexican-American ethnic studies in the TUSD was banned, and the books removed from the classrooms. Furthermore the ethnic studies class used books by Latino authors but also authors of all races and backgrounds, such as Shakespeare, Thoreau, James Baldwin, bell hooks, and Nelson Mandela. Students from all ethnicites took the class. The case is pending in federal court, so this is not over.

Until the ruling, the school district will probably go back to including one sentence on Cesar Chavez as the sum total of Mexican-American history.

[valarie1]

11:28 AM on 01/13/2012

Ummmm.... Did you graduate from High School? Your spelling and writing suggest that you didn't.