Watch 2/15/2013: Banned in Arizona on PBS. See more from Need To Know.
Mexican American Studies in Tucson may be banned, but it's not dead.
PBS "Need To Know" traveled to Tucson to report on the controversial ethnic studies banned by the Arizona legislature over allegations that the teachers were politicizing the students. Opening with a scene of teacher Curtis Acosta holding a Mexican American Studies class off campus for a handful of students, the 25-minute documentary tells the story of how the program developed and why the Arizona legislature went after it.
The future of the curriculum remains unclear. A federal court ordered Tucson this month to include "culturally relevant" course material for its Latino students, but the law targeting Tucson's suspended Mexican American Studies courses remains on the books. In the PBS documentary, Attorney General Tom Horne, one of the driving forces behind the Mexican American Studies ban, called the court's decision "wrong," "perverse" and "evil."
If you aren't yet familiar with the story or you want more information, sit back and checkout the excellent documentary above. Visit the "Need To Know" website for more information on the report.
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