Arizona's top education official told Tucson educators they must stop teaching or significantly alter a Mexican-American studies program that is ostensibly in violation of a state law, or else lose millions of dollars in funding from the state. There's just one problem--Arizona's own investigation of the program found that there's nothing illegal about it.
Education?Superintendent?John Huppenthal says the program, which is taught to about 650 high school juniors, violates last year's controversial state law that bans K-12 programs that "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of one ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity," according to The Arizona Republic's Emily Gersema.
The Tucson district can lose about $15 million--or 10 percent of all state aid--if they don't come in compliance within 60 days, the paper reports. However auditors hired by Huppenthal found no issues with the Tucson program. And students support the program. "I get really emotional because this class helped me a lot," Olivia Payne, an African-American student told CNN. "We're a family. We're one, and it's teaching us we can make a difference in this country. I don't want this class to be taken away."
Huppenthal's auditors report that students participating in the program graduated at a higher rate than their counterparts who don't enroll in the program. "No observable evidence was present to indicate that any classroom within TUSD is in direct violation of the law," the auditors said, according to The Arizona Daily Star. They observed 40 percent of the classrooms participating in the program for 30 minutes each.
In concluding the program broke the law, Huppenthal said some course materials referenced white people as "oppressors" and stressed Hispanic unity. More than 90 percent of students enrolled in the courses are Hispanic, which Huppenthal argues advocates "ethnic solidarity" in violation of the law.
Huppenthal also criticized the course's website for language he said indicated?it was originally designed for a particular ethnic group: "formed specifically to enhance the?academic success of Latino students." But the?full sentence says: "While the Mexican American Studies Department was formed specifically to enhance the academic success of Latino students, the?educational model and?curriculum developed by the Mexican American Studies Department help all students." Auditors said they did not find evidence that the program was exclusionary, but raised concerns that the course did not provide enough guidance to teachers to ensure all the materials were appropriate at a high school level.
Tucson officials say the program has helped to lower the city's high school dropout rate and improve attendance, since the kids who take the courses feel more connected to the material. Tucson administrators also say the curriculum is designed to make students examine their assumptions about race and think critically about traditional historical narratives.
Students in the program have told reporters they love the classes.
"Ethnic studies allow me to read and view and analyze different forms of literature and learning from another perspective," student Krysta Diaz, 17, told EdWeek reporter Mary Ann Zehr.
Eleven teachers and the director of the Mexican American Studies Department are suing the state over the law in federal court, arguing it violates the First?Amendment. The former schools superintendent, Tom Horne, had already decided the program was not in compliance with the law before he left office, but Huppenthal commissioned his own investigation before deciding.
(Huppenthal: Ross D. Franklin/AP)
