It’s hard to say what’s going to happen at the Tucson Unified School District governing board meeting on Tuesday, April 26, regarding the future of TUSD’s ethnic-studies courses—particularly Mexican-American studies.
There’s a 30-minute call to the audience at the meeting, which starts at 4 p.m. at 1010 E. 10th St. Here’s the agenda: April_26_agenda.pdf.
If logic were brought into play, you’d think we’d be having a different discussion on Tuesday. But there’s no logic when it comes to ethnic studies, only strange political maneuverings and opportunism—and the result is heartbreaking.
On Tuesday, TUSD board president Mark Stegeman will bring a resolution to change the existing ethnic-studies classes—currently available to students as requirement-fulfilling courses for English and history—into watered-down classes offered only as electives.
We have to think back to how all of this started, when then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne deemed ethnic studies un-American, Satan-worshiping liberal-brain washing, and on and on and on. Mind you, he never visited a Mexican-American studies classroom.
If Horne’s concerns were real, he would have gone into those classrooms, but he never did. That’s because the case against these classes has always been about political opportunism.
Because Stegeman is a Democrat, the Southern Arizona Unity Coalition’s Solomon Baldenegro Jr. sent e-mails and began a Facebook campaign asking people to call all TUSD governing board members and Democratic Party officials, asking them to pressure Stegeman to pull the resolution from Tuesday’s agenda. They are also sending out e-mails to board member Miguel Cuevas, considered the third vote needed to pass Stegeman’s resolution, with Stegeman and Michael Hicks being the other two probable votes.
This past year, TUSD ethnic-studies teachers and staffers asked the governing board and the TUSD administration to stand behind them and to challenge the law that makes ethnic-studies classes apparently illegal. When John Pedicone took over as TUSD superintendent, he promised to fight for ethnic studies, and in public, he acts as if this is what he’s doing.
In January, I met with Stegeman for a couple of hours, not for an interview, but for background information. During our conversation, he mentioned that the board wants to save ethnic studies, but the question kept coming up during executive-session meetings: How could TUSD explain the loss of $10 million if the state declares the district to be out of compliance with the law? How would the board ever recover in the eyes of an already disgruntled constituency? After all, that constituency hasn’t supported the last few overdrive elections and remains distrustful of a district seen as bloated, admin-heavy and uncaring.
A couple of weeks ago, David Safier, an education-savvy contributor at Blog for Arizona, came out in support of ethnic studies and put it out there that Pedicone has bragged in private that he has three votes in his pocket. In our story this week, Pedicone denies any ill will toward the program.
(This week, Cuevas contacted me and MAS community advisory board co-chair Raul Aguirre to say he was misquoted in my story. I explained to Cuevas that I reviewed my notes, and I stand by the quotes.)
While Stegeman, Pedicone and the board’s particular brand of “support” for ethnic studies often seems downright odd, the timing of this resolution from Stegeman is peculiar, too. The lawsuit filed last year by the 11 TUSD Mexican-American studies teachers only had its first day in court this week. Current state Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppethal’s audit of the classes won’t be completed until mid- to late-May.
Why can’t changes to Mexican-American studies, if any, be discussed after Huppenthal’s audit or after the lawsuit? Logically, it would make sense to wait.
Also, why isn’t Stegeman leading an ideological defense of ethnic studies? Why does it feel like there’s a capitulation to the likes of Horne and Huppenthal?
Auggie Romero, who is responsible for putting together the Mexican-American studies program, told me the secret to MAS isn’t just teaching students a bigger part of the story; it’s also teaching them with love, compassion and an interest in everything about their students — their lives, their families and their dreams.
Rather than focusing on trying to figure out how to dilute what exists, why aren’t critics and the board thinking of ways to expand these concepts in classrooms and departments throughout the district? After all, MAS has been proven to work for students of all races as classes of academic substance. Here are some new statistics to chew on: AIMS_and_MAS.pdf.
But it isn’t just Stegeman and two other TUSD board members who need to be convinced MAS is worth saving. There’s a missing piece — you.
Miguel Ortega, a member of the MAS community advisory board, has explained that the greater community is the missing piece. Those who fought to have a program like University High School, those who came out to save schools from closing three years ago and helped begin projects like the Arizona Education Network, and those who say they care about public education and work to protect it—all of you should join the students, parents and teachers who’ve been showing up on their own to save these classes. They need you now.
Here’s the resolution ethnic_studies_resolution.pdf. I also recommend Safier’s post at Blog for Arizona here.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2011.
The reasons the community has not come out to support these classes ought to be clear. The community, except for a vocal minority of zealots, does not support these classes. How many thousands of parents removing their children from TUSD schools will it take before the program’s advocates in the media realize parents want their kids to be educated, not indoctrinated?
By now we should all be aware that Raza supporters have “not been factual” in the numbers they use to report the program’s successes. Instead of the 97% of Raza students who graduate that was publicly used for years, we found out that only 83% of the students taking these classes graduate, and this is the same rate as students who have never taken such classes. Students who take these classes do not go to college at a higher rate than those who don’t despite the claims they did. And, finally, students who take these classes do not pass the AIMS test at higher rates.
The legislature just stole another $190 million from public education to give away to corporations. There was no hue and cry over this because the natural constituency for public schools has been chased away by the dumbed down classes and political indoctrination within TUSD…particularly in the Raza program. When the public becomes aware that the “compassion” Mr. Romero talks about is a smokescreen for the radical Marxist pedagogy of “critical theory” (google the term…) the flight from TUSD will accelerate and more districts will be tarred by the same brush, even those that would never consider such classes.
Taxpayers should NOT have to pay for ethic-specific course PERIOD. Case closed.
It’s REAL simple, an elective is something everyone can participate in that has nothing to do with politics or ethnicity, like Home-Education, Industrial tech, computers, etc, etc.
These are LEGITIMATE courses that deserve taxpayer money, not Mexican, anti-American studies.
In your own words, “the case against these classes has always been about political opportunism”….but isn’t this also the goal of the classes as well? Typical mexican hypocrisy at it’s finest. This is what REAL current mexican education is about:
Crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, identity fraud, murder, gang activity, and how despite having a lower overall population, mexicans/hispanics contribute a higher percentage of crime relative to their smaller overall population.
Marty, I am an education student at the University of Colorado, and I am about to do an advocacy project for the techniques of MAS; i.e. spreading the word. Thus, these counter-claims are *very* interesting to me, I don’t want to be promoting something that does not work. Do you have sources for these counter claims, so I can back them up with something soundly researched? Thank you.
The numbers are on a set of spreadsheets released by David Scott, TUSD’s statistician, in response to a request from a Governing Board member for information. In his original e-mail (before TUSD upper administration twisted his arm) he actually said the data showed no real improvement for students in Raza classes in any of the three areas I mentioned in my prior post. Whatever anyone says about the data is largely irrelevant, but the numbers are the numbers. Unfortunately, it is difficult to upload spreadsheets to comment boxes. I imagine the data is available through TUSD, but given the district’s ongoing attempts to distort the clear meaning of the data, you may need to file a Freedom of Information request.
In terms of my assessment of critical theory…the pedagogy used by Raza teachers…my prime source is the website of Dr. Peter McLaren. This individual has presented at the conference put on by TUSD to train (indoctrinate?) Raza staff and students.
Here is a quote from hMcLaren’s website about critical pedagogy. “This website is developed as a resource for students of critical pedagogy. The critical pedagogy which I support and practice advocates non-violent dissent, the development of a philosophy of praxis guided by a Marxist humanism, the study of revolutionary social movements and thought, and the struggle for socialist democracy. It is opposed to liberal democracy, which only serves to facilitate the reproduction of capital.” You could also google the term “critical pedagogy” and find similar definitions in many places on the web.
Of course, this is never stated so boldly in public meetings of TUSD. Instead, promoters of Raza Studies cover it up by talking about teaching with love. This is precisely what indoctrination programs throughout the former Communist world always said. It was a lie then, and it is no different now.
“Because Stegeman is a Democrat, the Southern Arizona Unity Coalition’s Solomon Baldenegro Jr. sent e-mails and began a Facebook campaign asking people to call all TUSD governing board members and Democratic Party officials, asking them to pressure Stegeman” So it is political……. Here is the best one, these supporters are doing exactly what they accused Tom Horn in doing, medaling in TUSD business.
Open letter to Miguel…do what feels right for ALL the students at TUSD. The Save Ethnic Studies website listed Judy Burns as one of their enemies a few months ago. You will be similiarly bashed, as you have already been, in an unjust fashion.
How can I help!?
@ Joey. I think I am understanding you but please say more.
The way I see it, we should all be held accountable and/or be supported given the issue at hand. Support should not be taken for granted.
Either way, we all need to pull together to defend the MAS program now. Wouldn’t you agree, Joey?
Also, MAS is for ALL students. Any student that wants to can sign up for these courses. It has never been the case that they are only open to Mexican American kids. That has been a false rumor spread around to discredit the program.