Tucson is a community in turmoil. It has been tied in knots for more than a year over the issue of how best to educate its children in a world of shrinking resources and high poverty.

Propagandists—both pro and con—have embroiled locals in continuous debate over the merits of the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). Fanning the flames of hatred and hyperbole, supporters and detractors have distributed MAS facts and myths nationwide through blogs, newspapers, public appearances, radio broadcasts, e-mail blasts, and social media. Charges of racism and white privilege are hurled at those who ask for program evaluation data or information on course content; from the right, MAS instructors are called “bullies” and “thugs” who are indoctrinating children with Marxism and hatred.

On January 10, 2012, rather than face a $15 million fine, the TUSD Governing Board voted to not fight the state’s legal ruling against the MAS program. MAS was found to be in violation of state law banning any school curriculum that promotes resentment against a race or class of people, is designed primarily for one ethnic group, and advocates for ethnic solidarity, a law that was created by former Superintendent of Public Instruction and current state Attorney General Tom Horne specifically to bring down the MAS program.

Contrary to what you may read in other blog posts, in Save Ethnic Studies e-mail blasts or on facebook, this law did not ban Ethnic Studies and it didn’t eliminate Mexican American Studies in other school districts (like Sunnyside). The law (which I hope will be found to be unconstitutional) was finely targeted by Horne and the Arizona Legislature to take down the MAS program in TUSD.

Although MAS was created to improve dropout rates among Latino students and may, in fact, do that at least among low income students (see graphics below), the program had been serving fewer than 1 percent of the 32,000 Latinos enrolled in TUSD. Since school year 2000-01, MAS has served 8656 Latino students and 1107 students of other ethnicities, according to data provided by the TUSD Governing Board. Between fall 2000 and fall 2010, Latino enrollment in MAS ranged from 153 to 1002 per semester, with an average of 412 students taking at least one MAS class per semester. During this same time period, the percentage of Latino students enrolled in TUSD increased as white students left the inner city district. In 1996-97, 45.4 percent of TUSD students were white, and 41.8 percent were Latino. In 2010-11, the breakdown had shifted to 28.9 percent white and 56.2 percent Latino.

What has MAS in its current format done for the thousands of Latinos in TUSD who are not taking their classes?

What about the Latinos in TUSD who are not Mexican American? Are they being served?

Does TUSD need another Blue Ribbon Panel like the one that created MAS in 1999? My personal opinion is: YES. Pasting some Mexican American information and history into other classes won’t cut it. For several reasons fighting to keep the MAS status quo also doesn’t cut it:

1) The MAS reach was too small to make a significant impact on overall graduation rates (one of the original goals);

2) Non-Mexican Latinos, refugees, and other ethnic minorities are not being served by the current Ethnic Studies structure (ie, Mexican-American Studies, African American Studies, Native American Studies, and Pan-Asian Studies);

3) There is conflicting evaluation data.

4) Gender has been ignored in many MAS and TUSD academic achievement analyses. (Graduation rates and academic achievement among boys in the US has plummeted and continues to decline. This is a trend that will have serious negative consequences on the fabric on American society if left unaddressed.)

Yes, there are many, many anecdotal stories from individual students about the value of the MAS classes. Let’s build on the positive aspects of MAS– the impact on low-income students (see graphics below), the self-esteem-building, the small class sizes, and the high teacher involvement. No program is beyond improvement.

What can we as a community to do ensure a quality education for all public school students? Let’s stop the name-calling, stop the incendiary e-mail blasts, stop the hype, and come together– all of us.

On this anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, let’s make a commitment to start talking and start building a better future for all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, income, gender, or sexual orientation.

For some insight into MAS program evaluation and the challenges facing TUSD as it moves forward, check out the following data slides, which were prepared from data provided by TUSD.

TUSD enrollment shows that the percentage of white students in the district has declined steadily. In the 1996-97 school year, the district was 45.5% white and 41.8% Hispanic, with the remainder made up of the other races. By 2010-11, the percentage of white students in TUSD had dropped to 28.9% and the Hispanic proportion has risen to 56.2%. Overall enrollment in TUSD also declined during this time period. The percentages of Native Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans did not change significantly.

In TUSD, there is a wide income gap between white and Latino students, with 80% very high income students being white and 70% of the very low income students being Latino.

In the last 10 years, overall enrollment of Latinos and non-Latinos in MAS classes has been low, compared to overall TUSD enrollment. An average of 412 Latinos per semester have enrolled in at least one MAS class since 2000-01 school year, while an average of 53 non-Latinos per semester have enrolled in at least one MAS class. Over the 10-year period, 8656 Latino students and 1107 students of other ethnicities/races took at least one MAS class. Currently, 32,000 Latino students are enrolled in TUSD.

This slide shows MAS and non-MAS enrollment by income level. Income definitions are derived from participation in federally subsidized school lunch programs + census track data.

Do MAS classes improve graduation rates among Latino students? The graduation rate among MAS students (in red) is higher than that of non-MAS students in the low and very low income groups but not in other income groups. The total numbers of MAS graduates in each group is relatively small: 10 in the very high income group; 39 in the high income group; 117 in the medium income group; 150 in the low income group; and 57 in the very low income group. When graduation rates of all students-- regardless of income, ethnicity, or gender-- are analyzed, the MAS effect disappears.

When the data are not broken down by race/ethnicity, gender or income, students who have taken at least one MAS class appear to have a slightly higher graduation rate compared with students who never took an MAS class. As with the previous graphic, the total number of MAS students is small.

This graphic shows AIMS test scores for students who took at least one MAS class (blue bars) vs those who never took an MAS class (red/pink bars). These data have been broken down by income but not by race/ethnicity or gender.

In an editorial this past Saturday, the Arizona Daily Star took aim at Mexican American Studies (MAS) Program Director Sean Arce for canceling the annual Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Mexican American Students Awards Ceremony, a 10-year tradition.

Thanks to information provided to them by MAS supporters, just a few days earlier, the Star broke the story of the TUSD personnel action against Arce for canceling the event. Apparently, Arce took it upon himself to cancel the long-standing tradition to honor all Mexican American students without consulting his supervisor, Assistant Superintendent Lupita Cavazos-Garcia. In May, Cavazos-Garcia met with him, encouraged him to have the event on May 21, and offered resources. From the Star…

The following morning Cavazos-Garcia emailed Arce asking if he had secured a location [for the ceremony]. Arce responded with four reasons the district shouldn’t reschedule and noted that he would be in California that weekend speaking about Mexican American Studies at a conference [which was actually a Save Ethnic Studies fundraising event].

The reasons cited were: the certificates of recognition already had been sent out to students; the Mexican American Studies Department wouldn’t be able to put in the effort required to put on the ceremony; any attempt to reschedule would be interpreted as halfhearted and disingenuous; and dozens of parents of Mexican American Studies students were extremely upset because of developments surrounding the program, so rather than allow for an escalation of a delicate situation, he believed that it was best to let cooler heads prevail.

Arce disobeyed his supervisor’s direct request, and this, in turn, led to official disciplinary action against him.

The Star’s Saturday editorial strongly supported Cavazos-Garcia’s action, and so do I.

So it’s puzzling why the program director, Sean Arce, would unilaterally decide to scrap the traditional end-of-the-year awards ceremony that honors the achievements of Latino students. He has been reprimanded for the decision, and we believe rightly so, because canceling the celebration robbed the community of the chance to come together and celebrate the hard work and well-deserved honors the kids have earned.

If the true purpose of the Mexican American Studies program is, as its literature states, to lift students up through education, to help them forge strong community bonds and develop pride in themselves and their roots, then they should have the opportunity to do that.

If the Mexican American Studies program exists to further the political and academic careers of the adults involved, then they should be upfront about those goals. Canceling the awards ceremony takes the focus away from the kids, and puts it on the adults, where it doesn’t belong…

Caught in the middle are the tens of thousands of students in TUSD schools who are in need of a good education that will prepare them for college or work and make sure they have a sense of belonging.

A relatively small percentage of high school students find this connection in the MAS classes, but the need is much greater.

So it is distressing that Arce, the MAS program director, took it upon himself to cancel an event that affected a large number of students – not only kids who take the MAS classes, but all Latino kids.

I think the Star’s editorial writer was spot on. I think using the right-wing’s approval or disapproval of the ceremony as an excuse not to hold it is lame. High school graduation is a major right of passage for students and their parents. Arce’s action diminished their experience; the disciplinary action is wholly justified.

This week thousands of Arizona high school seniors will don caps and gowns and receive their high school diplomas, while others who successfully completed 12 years of schooling but failed the state’s infamous AIMS test will be left feeling dejected and betrayed by our failing public education system. How can students pass all 12 grades and not pass the high-stakes test? What happens to these students now? These are but a few symptoms of Arizona’s broken educational system.

Perhaps also reflecting on graduation day and the state’s failing school system, the Arizona Republic recently published an editorial on education reform: 5 vital ways to reform K-12 education.

The five suggestions read like a right-wing wish list: 1) competition; 2) high expectations; 3) quality teachers; 4) intelligent use of technology; and 5) private sector involvement. Not surprisingly, the editorial was written by Craig R. Barrett, former CEO of Intel and current president and chairman of BASIS, a system of charter high schools.

So, Barrett’s solution to education? Treat it like a business– build in market competition, push for excellence, use technology wisely, and hire quality employees (ie, teachers). In my opinion, there are multiple problems with applying a business model to education– unless of course you are in the business of education, like Barrett and the hundreds of other businessmen who are financially and ideologically invested charter schools.

What has been left off of Barrett’s list is just as interesting as what is on his list: parental involvement, the importance of early childhood education, teacher salaries, class sizes, teaching methods, tutoring for struggling students, English language assistance for students who grew up speaking other languages, poverty and unemployment, and– the big kicker– the crushing influence of Arizona’s right wing Legislature, who offers devastating, bold-faced cuts to public education while incentivizing privatization and profiteering in education. Heavy sigh.

Barrett’s first three paragraphs solicited a loud “duh” from me.

To carry out any discussion of K-12 education reform, you have to focus on both the numbers and the history. The numbers are pretty simple – and pretty devastating. About 30 percent of Arizona kids do not graduate from high school, and of the 70 percent who do graduate, about half do not have an education of sufficient quality to succeed in college.

Of the 35 percent of the total who are so-called college-ready, about a third require some remediation to be able to take college-level math, science and English; and, eventually, only about 25 percent of all kids earn a college degree.

This places Arizona in the bottom half of the United States, which has fallen from No. 1 among countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), insofar as college completion rates, to its current position of No. 13…

The common-sense solutions outlined in all these documents parallel what we find in today’s high-performing education systems around the world. The simplified interpretation is that you need high expectations, great teachers who know their subject material, and some tension or feedback loops in the system to help struggling students, teachers and administrators.

The last paragraph above is capitalist’s spin on education. The biggest problem with education in the US is that we are allowing weak-willed politicians and hard-nosed businessmen to devalue the public education system, while glorifying the for-profit charter school system.

From Democracy Now… interview with two educators…

Karen Lewis [president of the Chicago Teachers' Union]: The problem is the system is obviously broken. I don’t think anybody will argue with that, that the system is broken. It is—it has not basically changed since the 1900s—1800s, for that matter. And as a result, it has never been able to absorb real innovation. And the problem is it’s just a lot easier to test, test, test children. Our curriculum has narrowed in Chicago. If you look at the average day for an elementary school kid, it’s reading, reading, reading, reading, reading, reading, math, math, math, reading, reading, reading, reading, math. I mean, kids are bored to tears. They’re hating school at an early age. There’s no joy. There’s no passion. And the results show that. They’re very indicative of that.

Well, the problem is that the whole idea of the business model doesn’t work in education. In the business model, you can select how you want to do something. You have an opportunity to innovate in a way that discriminates. It’s very easy to do. Whereas in a public school system, where we do not select our children—we take whoever comes to the door—what we need is actually more resources and more support for the people that are there and the work that’s being done. However, again, Arne Duncan [US Secretary of Education], Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein—I don’t know about Joel Klein—none of these people are superintendents. You have to have, again, credentials for that. These are business folks. Look, the business model took this country to the brink of Armageddon in 2008. And yet, we want to follow a failed business model and imprint that on top of public education? No. And these things are not innovative. What they are is they’re terrorism. They’re “my way or the highway.” And they’re still not producing, quote-unquote, “results.”

Nobody disagrees with accountability. That’s not the issue. The issue is, what do you use? We still know that high-stakes testing basically tell us more about a student’s socioeconomic status than it does anything else. And until we’re honest about that and want to deal with the fact that we have neighborhoods in our cities and across the nation that have been under-resourced, have been devalued for decades, and for some reason or other, the schools are supposed to fix all that and change that. [Emphasis added.]

In their efforts to reform education, people like Barrett and Duncan ignore a little country called Finland. For years, Finland’s students and its public education system has been ranked #1 worldwide.

Somehow, Finland succeeded in having the world’s best education system– without the help of CEOs, business models, charter schools, privatization, or meddling politicians. How is Finland’s educational system different from Arizona’s? (How much time do you have?)

From the Toronto Globe and Mail…

Finnish children do not begin primary school until they are seven years old. But from the age of eight months, all children have access to free, full-day daycare and kindergarten. Finland has had universal access to daycare in place since 1990, and of all preschool since 1996.

Primary-school teachers all have master’s degrees, and the profession is one of the most revered in Finnish society.

“We see it as the right of the child to have daycare and preschool,” explained Eeva Penttila, head of international relations for Helsinki’s education department. “It’s not a place where you dump your child when you’re working. It’s a place for your child to play and learn and make friends. Good parents put their children in daycare. It’s not related to socio-economic class.”

Yesterday, former Ontario deputy education minister Charles Pascal released a long-awaited report that called for an overhaul of the province’s early-childhood education, which he described as a “fragmented patchwork of supports,” and the introduction of full-day kindergarten for four- and five-year-olds. Elementary schools would be converted into learning hubs with after-school programs and include classes for parents on nutrition and health. The goal is to provide students with a mixed program that would increase literacy, graduate rates and postsecondary participation. [Emphasis added.]

From the BBC World News…

The Finnish philosophy with education is that everyone has something to contribute and those who struggle in certain subjects should not be left behind.

A tactic used in virtually every lesson is the provision of an additional teacher who helps those who struggle in a particular subject.

This video from the BBC offers a great overview of the Finnish system. According to the reporter, Finnish students spend the least number of hours in the classroom of any students in the developed world but receive the highest scores? How does that happen? Besides the fact that the Fins have “a culture that values education”, their classrooms have multiple well-trained teachers. While one teacher is working with most of the students, one or two other teachers are working one-on-one with struggling students.

The BBC reporter ends his story by saying that Finland has “relaxed schools– free from politicians– in which no one is left behind.”

This last sentence is particularly biting– not only because it takes a jab at the United States’ wrong-headed No Child Left Behind program initiated by President George W. Bush, but because our system does leave children behind and then punishes them by not granting diplomas when they don’t pass a test at the end of 12 years.

I was talking with a Tucson second grade teacher at a party on Saturday night. She said that she had a little girl who– at the end of second grade– was having trouble recognizing letters. She said her heart breaks for that little girl because she needs individual attention, but with 30+ seven-year-olds in her class, she can’t give it to her. Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a benchmark for success in the US. Sadly, without intense individualized help, this little girl will be written off by Arizona’s schools at age 8. We Arizonans have failed this little girl and thousands more like her.

This is a travesty. How can one of the world’s richest countries treat its children with such disregard? How can our country– and particularly our state– continue to devalue education and work to de-professionalize the teaching profession and hope to succeed? Our politicians are slaves to the capitalist ideology that values market forces– even when highly inappropriate– and are too weak-willed to fight for increased funding for public education. How can we compete in a global economy when our heads are stuck firmly in the sand?

On Monday of this week, Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Superintendent John Pedicone sent conciliatory letters to two groups integrally involved in the fight to save TUSD’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) program from being reorganized– the MAS Community Advisory Board and UNIDOS (the young adult activists group who chained themselves to the school board dias and shut down the April 26 board meeting).

In nearly identical letters which were meant to smooth tensions, Pedicone said he urged the school board to table the controversial reorganization plan and asked to meet with the two groups.

Buried in the middle of today’s Arizona Daily Star is a follow-up story which states that neither group has responded Pedicone’s letters.

TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone has reached out to supporters of the Mexican American Studies program in an effort to improve relations.

Pedicone sent letters Monday to the youth-formed coalition Unidos and to the Mexican American Studies Community Advisory Board asking for an opportunity to speak and listen to one another.
He said he has yet to hear back from them.

Relations between the groups and the district have been strained since former Arizona schools chief Tom Horne declared the Mexican American Studies program in violation of state law.

In my article about the letters, I stated that I supported Pedicone’s suggestion to table the reorganization plan, and I hoped that UNIDOS and the MAS Board would accept his peace offering. Sadly, five days later, they haven’t.

UNIDOS and the Latino activists, educators, and politicians (Councilwoman Regina Romero and Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias) on the MAS Board should put down their sabres and step up to the table for an open discussion with Pedicone, representatives from the Center for Civility and Understanding, and others. They also should be willing to participate in a community forum– where everyone is allowed to speak– not just those who shout the loudest.

The time for fighting and divisive language by MAS supporters– including their attack dog blogger– is over. This behavior is tearing our community apart.

It has been reported that soon– maybe even later today– State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal will announce his finding regarding MAS compliance or non-compliance with HB2281 (the legislation that started all of this last summer when governor Brewer signed it). If MAS and TUSD are found to be out of compliance, the district will be fined 10%– in the neighborhood of $15 million. On facebook, MAS supporters are calling for TUSD to ignore the fine and fight the state in court. There are too many questions about exactly what is being taught in the MAS classes; there has been anything but transparency.

I think it would be fiscally irresponsible for TUSD to lose $15 million– enough to fund 500 new teachers– over this battle. TUSD has to think about all of the 50,000 students it serves; they should not bow to the tyranny of the minority.

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John Pedicone, the much-maligned Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Superintendent, has extended an olive branch to the supporters of the Mexican American Studies Program.

On Monday, in nearly identical letters– one to UNIDOS (the young adult activists group who chained themselves to the school board dias and shut down the April 26 board meeting) and the Mexican American Studies Community Advisory Board– Pedicone said that “actions taken by the district have resulted in high levels of concern and, in many cases, frustration[understatement of the year].” He goes on to say that he has recommended that the TUSD board withdraw the proposal to reorganize Ethnic Studies, brought forth by Mark Stegeman, TUSD board president.

The intensity of the discussion has reached a point where it makes it difficult to consider any resolution at this time. [duh] The deep-seated feelings surrounding this program, either as a result of a strong affiliation to its purpose or, in other cases, a rejection of the premise for its inclusion has created a counter-productive atmosphere that must be changed.

This is a smart move by Pedicone, and I hope the board takes his suggestion. The hate speech fueled by a continuous blogging drumbeat and media blitz on radio and social media often distorted the intent of the proposal and blew the situation way out of proportion. On the day that Osama bin Laden– the world’s most wanted man was captured and killed– what was on the front page of the TucsonCitizen.com? Five stories related to Mexican American Studies.

Since the April 26 board room takeover, there have been several calls for civil discourse to bring out the facts surrounding the Mexican American Studies debate and allow for open discussion with respect from all sides (1, 2, 3, 4). Maybe the hate speech and spin will stop for a while, so this can be accomplished– before Attorney General Tom Horne and State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal step in.

It’s time for radical love for humanity.

From the Arizona Daily Star…

A former TUSD teacher and opponent of Mexican-American Studies has filed a defamation lawsuit against the district and two of its employees.

The lawsuit, filed by John Ward on Monday, names the Tucson Unified School District along with Mexican-American Studies Director Sean Arce and Jose Gonzalez, a curriculum specialist.

Ward is seeking damages for harm to his reputation and for mental pain and suffering; compensatory and punitive damages; and other relief as the court deems proper.
He alleges that defamatory statements by Arce and Gonzalez have damaged his reputation as an educator.

The lawsuit stems from statements made late last year in which Arce and Gonzalez reportedly said that Ward was removed from a Mexican-American Studies classroom because he had used profanity and was slamming books in front of students – statements that Ward says are false.

Ward argues that while employed at TUSD, he was recognized as an outstanding teacher. But conflict arose when he began voicing opposition to instruction in his U.S. history class that was to be taught from the Mexican-American perspective.

He felt that rather than teaching American history, the students were being taught a politicized view of the mistreatment of Hispanics, the suit states.

Click here for the rest of the story.

I find it highly ironic that this story appear in the Star on the same day I posted this story about stopping the smear spin and reporting the news accurately.
In Mexican American Studies debate, Tucsonans need less spin and more truth

You know how Internet surfing goes. You click here, click there and all of a sudden, you’re not in Kansas anymore. Well, that happened to me today.

I followed a few links and stumbled upon two blog posts related to John Munger’s interpretation of what is being taught in Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) Programs. (In case you don’t know who Munger is, he’s a bigwig lawyer, former Republican candidate for governor in 2010, and former head of the Arizona GOP.)

Basically, Munger requested copies of MAS text books and wrote a critique of the curriculum based upon the text books. In his original blog post from January 2011 and in the abbreviated recent post on The Cholla Jumps blog, Munger makes a strong case that MAS courses are teaching communism. Earlier this week, I ran across this video claiming the same thing: MAS courses are teaching communism. (The Three Sonorans also stumbled upon this video and linked it here.) Now, I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but without even trying, I stumbled upon 3 conservative blog posts pushing the same communist indoctrination story.

Here is an excerpt from Munger’s analysis…

What they [MAS text books] did provide was a showpiece of classical Marxist oriented indoctrination of cultural and political oppression, incessant deprecation of anything not “Chicano,” including the US Constitution, capitalism, and European culture. Students are taught that they are part of an oppressed minority of “indigenous” people (how those who are principally Mexican in background are “indigenous to the Southwestern US is not explained), whose lands (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) have been stolen by the Europeans and should be taken back as a separate “Chicano” nation they call “Atzlan.”

They want political separation from the US based almost entirely on race and based on a Marxist economic model. Students are taught (sometimes subtly and sometimes expressly) that their “indigenous” culture has been corrupted by the predominant European culture of the US, that “Chicanos” should refuse to assimilate and instead should come together in “colonies” to exercise maximum political power until they are able to retake “Atzlan” as a separate nation— an explicitly “bronze” nation, incidentally, based almost entirely on racial profiling.

In the meantime they should recognize that capitalism is corrupt and they should work towards complete redistribution of wealth; that everyone is entitled to a home, healthcare, reasonably equal income, etc. Presumably Atzlan would be a place where Communism would finally, and happily, flourish.

Having read the books the students must read, as well as the Principles and philosophies of MEChA, I found many interesting quotes and facts.

First, there is NO book presenting American History generally, nor even the standard view of Southwestern American History—ALL the books speak solely from the point of view of the oppressed “Chicano,” with no effort to teach alternative thought or facts.

Second, the concepts and language in the materials is, frankly, classic Marxist indoctrination based on oppression and inculcation of hatred of anyone European or who might identify themselves as an American…

The results of this indoctrination are astounding. I have a photograph of one student of this program carrying a sign and protesting recently. The sign held by this student shouts in bold letters: “Dumb F*** Gringos. You Are Standing in Mexico Right Now!” Anyone who does not believe that racism, hatred, apartheid, and Marxism are being actively promulgated in these programs should think again. Every Arizonan should take the time to evaluate exactly what is being taught our children, with taxpayer money, in these Ethnic Studies programs and MecHa. [Emphasis added.]

This communism charge is significant because Arizona has laws on the books specifically prohibiting teaching communism– Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 16-805. Arizona law has a lot to say about keeping us safe from communist indoctrination, but 16-805D is the real kicker. Basically, Arizona recognizes academic freedom– except when it comes to teaching communism.

D. It is the public policy of this state to protect the safety of the constitutional government of the state of Arizona by constitutional means and at the same time protect the rights of the members of our free society to speak, to assemble and to inquire, including the principle of academic freedom which by fostering healthy self-criticism is especially vital in the progress of man’s moral values and in man’s exploration of the secrets of the atom on this planet and in outer space. To protect the safety of this state and the right of free citizens in a free society to inquire and to understand totalitarianism, it is essential that the schools, colleges and universities teach objectively and critically the governmental and social forms of past and present totalitarian slave states, including the foreign languages spoken therein. The rights set forth in this subsection do not include the right to embrace Communism or to attempt to persuade others to embrace Communism. [Emphasis added.]

What makes all of this so dangerous for MAS is that to bring down the program the enemies don’t need HB2281 (the racist bill specifically targeting MAS and signed into law in 2010). You’ll remember that HB2281 is being challenged in court by a group of MAS teachers from TUSD. The teachers could win the battle– their discrimination suit– but lose the war if the right wingers make these communist indoctrination charges stick– either legally or in the public psyche.

These are the true enemies of MAS– not people who want to make some courses into electives. All of the wrangling about School Board President Mark Stegeman’s proposal to reorganize MAS could be irrelevant in the coming months.

Here are the three links if you want to read the full text of the stories or the law.
TUSD Mexican-American Studies curriculum examined by John Munger is a new post on the Cholla Jumps blog. (You remember him. He used to be on the Citizen.)

TUSD Ethnic Studies: A Report of My Review of Textbooks and Program is the original post by Munger.

16-805. Findings of fact and statement of public policy by the legislature of the state of Arizona concerning steps which must be taken to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens of this state and the safety of this state from international Communistic conspiracy is the link to the Arizona Revised Statute.

Hey– the Arizona Daily Star’s editorial writers followed my lead…

All sides have a lot to answer for after the TUSD Governing Board meeting Tuesday night. The board mishandled the meeting and the pro-ethnic-studies protesters resorted to vindictive personal attacks.

To read their entire editorial, click here.

I totally agree with the Star. The next time the TUSD Board hears testimony regarding Ethnic Studies, everyone’s opinion should be heard– not just those who shout the loudest.

Following the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, little Christina-Taylor Green and others at a Tucson Safeway in January, there was a nationwide call for civil discourse. President Obama, the First Lady, and others came to Tucson to help us heal.

Ron Barber, one of Giffords’ aides, spearheaded local efforts to promote civility and humane medical treatment for the mentally ill. Memorials and civil discourse projects began popping up. The Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding was established in Tucson. The National Center for Civil Discourse was established in Tucson. A star-studded concert for “Civility, Respect & Understanding” brought many Tucsonans together to celebrate life and mutual understanding.

It seemed as if as a community we were taking President Obama’s words to heart when he invoked the memory of little Christina and said, “I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it to be.”

That memorial event in January and the civility concert in March seem so long ago. Our community which was pulling together just a few short weeks ago is now being torn apart by violent hate speech, bullying, and mob action by the supporters of the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). These are dark days for our community when people with moderate voices are not allowed to speak or are afraid to attend public meetings– forcing increased security.

With the mob takeover of last week’s TUSD board meeting; the takeover of a University of Arizona economics class taught by School Board President Dr. Mark Stegeman; threats from Unidos that protests at yesterday’s TUSD board meeting would surpass the previous week’s protest; the public and online bullying of anyone who dares to have a different opinion from the MAS supporters; and the relentless smear campaign against Dr. Stegeman and TUSD Superintendent Dr. John Pedicone on the the pages of the Tucson Citizen, on facebook,  and in a e-mail blasts– our community has sunk to a new low.

This spring civil rights activist and Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West gave a lecture to a packed house on the UA campus. Dr. West challenged the audience in the epicenter of hate (AKA Arizona– thanks to the Arizona Legislature) to practice radical love. He challenged us to look beyond race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender and work together against the real enemy of the people– the corporatists who control the wealth of our country and who want to control our government.

The vote on the reorganization of Ethnic Studies didn’t happen at yesterday’s TUSD board meeting, although public comment was heard. The school board will hold a public forum on the proposed plan and vote after that.

In the meantime, I challenge everyone– MAS supporters, MAS detractors, and questioning moderates who support ethnic studies but want transparency and true civil discourse on this important issue– to practice radical love and respect for each other. This is the way to protect democracy and free speech. All voices should be heard at the public forum– not just those who shout the loudest.

The Arizona Daily Star was conspicuously absent last week when the TucsonCitizen.com was all afire with news and opinion and the Tucson Weekly included a background article about Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Board President Mark Stegeman’s proposal to reorganize the district’s Ethnic Studies Program– post notably the Mexican American Studies section.

In Monday’s Star, they made up for their absence by publishing a front page story and an editorial. Here are the links.

New ethnic-studies plan causes TUSD board split

Proposal before TUSD board makes good sense