ACLU Demands Audit Records, Says Efforts to Shut Down TUSD Mexican American Studies Program Amount to Censorship
This article speaks about Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal. He is saying that the Mexican American Studies Program in the Tucson Unified School District is violating a state law that went into effect on December 31, 2010. The law explains that it, “Prohibits schools from teaching subjects that promote, “the overthrow of the United States government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic races.”” (A.R.S. 15-112 & Morales, 2011) The Superintendent feels that this course is violating the state law.
The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) wants to see the documentation from the audit that was undertaken by auditors hired by Huppenthal to look into the program. The ALU thinks that the decision to shut down the program is because of Huppentha’s personal opinions. There was another audit done by Cambium Leaning, Inc. and the National Academic Educational Partners that found no evidence that the program was breaking any laws.
Do you think that a course that teaches students about Mexican history would overthrow the US government or promote resentment toward the Mexican race?
I think that Huppenthal is trying to prevent classroom discussion, which is violating the student’s and the teacher’s right to free speech. I think it would be difficult to teach children if they aren’t allowed to discuss the history and the “why” behind how the country began.
Morales, A. (2011, June 16), Aclu demands audit records, says efforts to shut down tusd Mexican American studies program amount to censorship. Retrieved from http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2011/06/16/aclu-demands-audit-records-says-efforts-to-shut-down-tusd-mexican-american-studies-program-amount-to-censorship/
I think we'd need to read the curriculum first before making any assessments. Is it teaching that the US has made some choices which violated the rights and sovereignty of other people or is it teaching that the US should give all lands back and pay reparations? Is it teaching that our government is in the wrong right now on it's policies or does it teach a more balanced view?
ReplyDeleteI think teachers and parents do have the right to challenge materials that are one sided regardless of the side. As for being subversive or advocating the overthrow of the government well I can't imagine a textbook would really go that far and that probably is the opinion of Huppenthal.
Man, I look at the state of Arizona and I have no idea what goes on in their heads. As a Canadian citizen, and as an educated person, I worry about a country that does not tolerate dissent, as annoying as it can be. Otherwise you are just North Korea, where dissent can easily get you killed, or in this case, defunded.
ReplyDeleteWow, Arizona...unfortunately, I'm not too surprised to hear this story. The law in question is ridiculous to begin with. How far of a jump is it before we just start prohibiting schools from teaching anything that portrays the government and/or mainstream white America in a negative light?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lola, that it is hard to make a sound assessment without being able to see the curriculum ourselves. However, I can't help but wonder if this has to do with the new immigration laws that Arizona is under fire for. Could the problem stem from a bias against Hispanics and the sterotyped fence-jumping, job-stealing image?
ReplyDeleteI find this law difficult to enforce. I think just about any subject could be taken by some as going against this law. Some people might consider a teaching about the Holocaust as a reason to not like all Germans. If you teach about a revolutionary, are you teaching an overthrow of the government? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about this a couple of months ago on NPR. One thing they talked about that this audience didn't was the large percentage of Mexican-American kids in the Tuscon school system, and how this program helped them to pay attention in class and care more about the history they were being taught.
ReplyDeleteThere is always much more to learn than we have time to teach; why punish those teachers who want to focus on things that are relevant and interesting to their students? The only reason I can think of is bigotry.
History shows us that many wars were fought because a government wanted to control the people and only allow one viewpoint to exist. Yes, we don't know exactly what the curriculum teaches, but isn't it important to learn about different societies, cultures and histories? In doing so we expand our own viewpoints and are able to make educated decisions so that the negative parts of history (anyone's history) are not repeated. By disallowing multiple viewpoints to be taught this school district is denying many of the basic freedoms on which this country was founded. I am continually disturbed by the numerous laws and regulations that are being made and enforced that remove rights and do nothing to further or protect the country.
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