Arizona withholds school funding over ethnic studies class

[The Northerner]

Tucson's Mexican American studies program remains in violation of state law, Arizona's public schools chief ruled on Friday, ordering that millions in state funding be withheld from the school district until the program is dismantled or brought into compliance.

John Huppenthal, the state superintendent of public instruction, said the Tucson Unified School District program was in violation of a new state law prohibiting ethnic studies classes that are deemed to be divisive.

Among other things, the law bans classes primarily designed for a particular ethnic group or which "promote resentment toward a race or class of people."

Defenders of the program say it does no such thing. They say the classes push Latino students to excel and teach a long-neglected slice of America's cultural heritage: Chicano perspectives on literature, history and social justice.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ethnic-studies-20120107,0,5378689.story

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

1. "Latino minorities have been and continue to be oppressed by a Caucasian majority."

It might not be such a bad idea to improve test scores in the areas of science, math and reading/writing, before jumping into the political stuff.

Linked from that LA Times story to another...

Reporting from Tucson— Arizona's public schools chief had heard unsettling reports about what was being taught in the Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American studies program and decided to see for himself.

As he sat in on a Chicano literature class, Supt. John Huppenthal noticed an image of Che Guevera hanging on a wall and listened to a lecturer cast Benjamin Franklin as a racist.

And though teacher Curtis Acosta did not directly portray Mexican Americans as an oppressed minority, he discussed educational theorist Paulo Freire and his "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," which the Tucson High Magnet School students used as a textbook. To Huppenthal, the message was clear and disturbing.

"These kids got it," he said. "They understood the framework that was being laid out — that Hispanics are the oppressed and Caucasians are the oppressors. That's very troubling."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ethnic-studies-20111120,0,5116540.story

[Fumesucker]

2. What I want to see is education administrators that can pass the HS exit exam for their state..

I won't believe a word that comes out of their mouths until I see their test scores.

Why would we want people in charge of our children's education who don't know as much as the kids are supposed to?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

3. I don't have a problem with that, but it misses the point.

Rather than teaching children how to be oppressed victims, they should teach them to think, understand and substantiate.

If they do that, children will be equipped with the skills necessary to avoid becoming an "oppressed victim."

[Fumesucker]

5. Eh, at the time and place I grew up Jim Crow was still in force..

I don't believe for a minute that teaching those black kids back then how to think, understand and substantiate would have kept them from being an oppressed minority no matter how many skills they might have.

Edited due to caffeine deficiency.

[Ptah]

6. Do you agree that 10% of the district's funding should be withheld

because of a program that includes 1% of the students?

[Ptah]

4. Reading in your linked article:

Not long after Huppenthal took office in January, he commissioned a $110,000 audit of the program.
To the surprise and relief of the program's defenders, the audit concluded that the program complied
with the law and that "students are taught to be accepting of multiple ethnicities of people."
<snip>
This summer, Huppenthal drew fire after suggesting similarities between the program and the Hitler Youth.
Huppenthal said the remarks were made on "an academic basis" and misunderstood.
<snip>
Supporters like to note that since the program's inception, 89% of its students have graduated
high school — and that some non-Latinos enroll in the classes.

------------------

[pampango]

7. Surprise, surprise! Repubs run a state and it withholds Mexican-American studies money.

Next you'll be telling me that republicans in the South (or MidWest or NorthEast for that matter) want to withhold African-American studies money.

If repubs in Arizona are going to base their electoral tactics on scaring people about Hispanics and illegal immigration, I'll admit that it is consistent of them to not want to fund a Mexican-American studies curriculum. If Hispanics are to be designated as "suspicious" - You can't tell one the is a citizen or legal immigrant from one that is here illegally (They all look alike, you know) - it doesn't make sense to spend state education money in a manner that runs counter to this demonization.

Got to give those repubs in Arizona some credit. They are nothing if not consistent and thorough when it comes to running for office to protect "us" from the brown wave.

[Ptah]

8. Read here for more information

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2011/06/john_huppenthals_big_lie_on_et.php

<snip>
Huppenthal alleged that the MASD classes violate all but the first provision. However, the audit
conducted by Texas-based Cambium Learning, Inc. (which was commissioned by Huppenthal himself)
found that none of the four prongs of the law were violated by any of the various literature, history,
government or art courses that MASD offers.

In addition, the audit, which is overwhelmingly positive, depicts courses that are popular with
students and the community, and, more importantly, effective.

"High school juniors taking a MASD course are more likely to pass the reading and writing portion
of the AIMS subject tests if they had previously failed those subtests in their sophomore year.
Consequently, high school seniors enrolled in a MASD course are more likely to graduate than their peers."

-----------------

You are correct; "They are nothing if not consistent and thorough when it comes to running for office to protect "us" from the brown wave."