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Officials of the Tucson Unified School District are supporting its controversial ethnic-studies courses, despite a warning from the state鈥檚 outgoing schools chief that they must stop teaching them or lose state funds.
On Jan. 3, his last day as superintendent of public instruction in Arizona, Tom Horne announced he had found the Tucson district in violation of a new law that bars public schools from teaching courses that are designed for a particular ethnic group or promote ethnic solidarity. He said the district has 60 days to stop teaching Mexican-American studies or it would lose 10 percent of its state funds. Mr. Horne estimated the district could lose $14.9 million if it doesn鈥檛 comply, but the law permits the district to appeal a determination of noncompliance.
鈥淚t is fundamentally wrong to divide students up according to their racial group and teach them separately,鈥� wrote Mr. Horne, who was leaving after two terms as state superintendent to become the state鈥檚 attorney general.
Meanwhile, John Huppenthal, who replaced Mr. Horne as state schools chief the same day, indicated he is likely to keep up the pressure on the district. He issued a statement saying he agrees with Mr. Horne鈥檚 finding that the Mexican-American ethnic-studies program violates the new state law if the program is the same as it was when he visited it in fall 2009. 鈥淢y firsthand, classroom encounter clearly revealed an unbalanced, politicized, and historically inaccurate view of American history being taught,鈥� Mr. Huppenthal, a former state legislator, said in the statement.
In response to Mr. Horne鈥檚 determination letter, John J. Pedicone, who took over as superintendent of the 60,000-student Tucson Unified district last week, posted on the district鈥檚 website saying the administration 鈥渟upports its ethnic-studies programs, and we are encouraged by the real and lasting impact that these departments provide to [district] students.鈥� Mr. Pedicone also said the district will uphold the state鈥檚 laws, but he did not single out the law regarding ethnic studies, which went into effect Dec. 31.
The district鈥檚 school board, likewise, has for the classes, which have been taught in Tucson schools since 1998. Anticipating Mr. Horne鈥檚 announcement, board President Judy Burns sent a letter Dec. 30 to him and Mr. Huppenthal. While urging 鈥渁 collaborative approach to resolving issues raised by the new law,鈥� the letter also includes excerpts from a resolution approved by the board in May that contends Tucson Unified does not teach ethnic-studies courses in a way that violates the state鈥檚 new law.
Brewing Conflict
The letter followed a special board meeting held the same day to address the controversy. At the meeting, the board adopted a new resolution saying it will ensure that the district鈥檚 ethnic-studies courses are taught 鈥渋n accordance with all applicable laws.鈥�
Mr. Pedicone didn鈥檛 respond to Education Week鈥榮 requests from for an interview.
In this video from September 2010, Tucson High School students contest charges that ethnic-studies courses teach minority students that they are victims.
In October, Tucson teachers and administrators filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the state ban on ethnic studies. The teachers 鈥渂elieve that the act is the product of racial bias aimed specifically at Hispanics, is unlawful, [and] results in impermissible deprivations of rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution,鈥� the lawsuit says. It contends that the law violates the First and 14th Amendments of the Constitution, including the equal protection and due process clauses.
The lawsuit also argues that Mr. Horne has no evidence to show that the Tucson district has violated the state鈥檚 ethnic-studies law in the way that it has designed and teaches the courses.
Mr. Horne, a Republican, was a leading proponent of the ethnic-studies law approved by the legislature last year, sparking protests in some Tucson high schools. Mr. Huppenthal, a fellow Republican, also criticized Tucson Unified鈥檚 ethnic-studies courses in his campaign last year to become schools chief.
In his Jan. 3 letter to Tucson school officials, Mr. Horne wrote that he has received complaints only about the district鈥檚 Mexican-American studies program, so his findings pertain only to that program. He makes no mention, for example, of the district鈥檚 ethnic-studies courses about African-Americans or Native Americans.
Interpreting the Law
Mr. Horne contends the program violates the new state law鈥檚 provision that no course can be designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group. He acknowledges some students other than Mexican-Americans take the courses but says the law doesn鈥檛 use the word 鈥渆xclusively鈥� but rather 鈥減rimarily,鈥� and thus applies to courses in Tucson. He also cites purposes of the courses spelled out on the district鈥檚 website, such as that they aim to boost 鈥渁cademic proficiency for Latino students鈥� in making the argument that they are intended primarily for a particular ethnic group.
Mr. Pedicone鈥檚 letter anticipated the possibility that the growing conflict between the state and the district could spur anew some student protests in support of the continued offering of ethnic studies. He instructed students that they must stay in school and that if they defy that requirement, they will experience 鈥渃onsequences in accordance with school procedure.鈥� The superintendent also directed employees 鈥渘ot to leave campus with students in the event of a student protest.鈥�
