Modern Language Association: Statement on Tucson Mexican American Studies

[Editor's Note: Are you looking for information about the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies classes at Tucson Unified School District? A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down is here.]

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Modern Language Association's Statement on Tucson Mexican American Studies Program

Recent legislative and policy initiatives in the Tucson Unified School District concern us deeply as teachers and scholars of language and literature.

In 2010, the Arizona state legislature passed HB 2281, which was signed by Governor Jan Brewer. The bill forbade any school district to include in “its program of instruction any courses or classes . . . that promote resentment toward a race or class of people[,] . . . are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group[,] . . . [or] advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal declared in January 2011 that Tucson’s widely admired Mexican American studies program was in violation of HB 2281. The board of the Tucson Unified School District appealed that ruling in June 2011. In December 2011, Judge Lewis Kowal affirmed Huppenthal’s decision, saying that the Mexican American studies program had “one or more classes designed primarily for one ethnic group, promoting racial resentment, and advocating ethnic solidarity” and was thus in violation of state law. Penalties for noncompliance established in HB 2281 would have cost the Tucson Unified School District millions of dollars in state aid.

As a result, the district’s school board voted 4-1 to shut down the Mexican American studies program. The school board president, Mark Stegeman, took several measures to bring that termination about, the most publicized of which involved the removal of several books from ethnic studies classrooms in Tucson and their sequestration in a storage facility.

That removal, in addition to being objectionable, followed from a series of discriminatory acts by Arizona officials, all of which run against principles that the MLA considers vital. Although Arizona HB 2281 was ostensibly passed to ensure that students would be taught as individuals, we see the law as part of an attack on Mexican American citizens and cultures—including, but not limited to, undocumented immigrants. We are unaware of any similar argument or policy initiative aimed at, for instance, Americans of Irish or Polish descent; no one argues that Irish American or Polish American children who learn about their ethnic heritages in school are promoting racial resentment or ethnic solidarity, even though the history of Irish and Polish immigration in the United States is not free of instances of ethnic discrimination. Furthermore, we contend that the law has been discriminatory in effect, insofar as the superintendent’s ruling, the judge’s decision, and the school board president’s order applied it to target and shut down only Mexican American studies programs. We note that programs in Native American and African American studies seem not to have triggered fears and anxieties among the supporters and enforcers of HB 2281.

We believe that teaching Mexican American children about Mexican American history and heritage is teaching them as individuals—indeed, precisely as the individuals they are. But more important, we believe in teaching all American children about Mexican American history and heritage. We therefore reject the reasoning behind HB 2281 and behind the decisions made by Superintendent Huppenthal, Judge Kowal, and President Stegeman, on two counts. First, we reject the idea that Mexican American studies is a subject “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.” Throughout the United States, and especially in the Southwest, Mexican American studies is an integral part of the study of American identity and history; ideally, every schoolchild should be acquainted with that fact. Second, we reject the idea that Mexican American studies promotes “resentment toward a race or class of people” or advocates “ethnic solidarity.” Mexican American studies is a field of inquiry, not a form of propaganda. It is designed to lead to a greater understanding of the histories and cultures of the peoples of the United States, not to any partisan political outcome.

Our beliefs about ethnic studies and about curricular reform generally have been formed by forty years of scholarly research, informed debate, and open-ended discussion. As an organization devoted to the study of language and literature, the MLA is allied with primary and secondary school educators who teach in this field and who participate in the long project of questioning and undoing the biases of the traditional curriculum, which for many years ignored or demeaned the histories and cultures of people deemed “ethnic.” We see that project as central to the mission of American education at all levels. As former MLA President Sidonie Smith wrote in her 2010 letter to Governor Brewer, “ethnic studies curricula have provided important gateways for students to learn about the diversity of heritages in the United States, a key educational goal of the liberal arts education that is the bedrock of American higher education. . . . Policies that curtail this vision will weaken the quality of education.”

Finally, we see in these actions a threat to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry. To pursue scholarly inquiries into the histories and cultures of the United States, teachers must be free from legislative and judicial interference. Allowing state officials to declare legitimate branches of history and culture out of bounds—to the point of seizing and sequestering books—is inimical to the principles on which the United States was founded. And to students in the Tucson Unified School District, such actions send a far more chilling message than anything they might find in the books that have been removed from their classrooms.

We urge all relevant Arizona officials—Governor Brewer, Superintendent Huppenthal, Judge Kowal, and President Stegeman—to reconsider these rulings, reverse these decisions, and reaffirm the freedom of inquiry on which an open society must depend.

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(AICL Editor's Note: Though not dated on their website, the statement was posted to the MLA website on March 6, 2012).

REFORMA Resolution in Support of the Students of the Outlawed Mexican American Studies Program in the Tucson Unified School District

[Editor's Note: Are you looking for information about the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies classes at Tucson Unified School District? A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down is here.]

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February 29, 2012

REFORMA RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE STUDENTS OF THE OUTLAWED MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM IN THE TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, an affiliate of the American Library Association, with nineteen local and regional chapters and at-large members from all parts of the United States, views the dismantling of the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Mexican American Studies (MAS) program as a violation of the core principles of intellectual freedom and equity of access, and a violation of the Library Bill of Rights.¹

REFORMA advocates for and affirms students’ right to have access to accurate and meaningful information that will enhance their critical inquiry skills and understanding of an inclusionary society that honors and respects all of its component members. We support student access to diverse literature that lends to inquiry, conversation, and critical thinking – all strengths that we value in the continued building of our democracy.

WHEREAS the 2010 Census found that Arizona’s Hispanic/Latino population accounted for 29.6% of the state’s total population,² and Tucson’s Hispanic/Latino population accounted for 41.6% of the city’s total population³, with both the state and the city having larger Hispanic/Latino populations than the national average; and

WHEREAS Dr. Arnulfo Trejo, educated in TUSD schools and the University of Arizona and later serving on the faculty of the University of Arizona’s Graduate Library School, in 1971 founded REFORMA and provided its driving force; and  

WHEREAS reading list titles associated with the MAS program consist of works written by nationally and internationally renowned, award-winning authors, including but not limited to Sherman Alexie, James Baldwin, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Francisco Jimenez, Matt de la Peña, Carmen Tafolla, and Luis Alberto Urrea, whose stories reflect this country’s rich and diverse heritage; and

WHEREAS these books have been removed from classrooms related to the MAS program, and the TUSD school libraries do not contain all of the removed titles, making this literature inaccessible to all TUSD students;⁴ and

WHEREAS REFORMA views teachers as brothers and sisters in the same mission of fostering the love of reading and education by promoting books, literacy, and critical thinking; and

WHEREAS REFORMA is outraged by the confiscation and removal of these materials from classrooms and asserts that their lack of availability in all school libraries creates de facto censorship;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking:

1. Condemns the dismantling of the MAS program at TUSD and the removal of textbooks from the classrooms;
2. Affirms that exclusion of and/or restriction of access to the multiple viewpoints, experiences, and histories expressed in books fosters antagonism, isolation, and withdrawal from a pluralistic and inclusive society,
3. Encourages all REFORMA members and member libraries to take local action by creating book displays of the confiscated materials, creating educational programs about the value and meaning of intellectual freedom and censorship, and creating resources in support of the students of the MAS program to further their pursuit of learning; and
4. Commits to developing resource tools and action kits in support of the MAS students’ right to pursue their intellectual, informational, and recreational needs; and be it further

RESOLVED that REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking):

1. Unanimously supports the excellent service delivery and specific actions taken by our REFORMA-Tucson Chapter, such as the planning of a 2012 Latino Literacy Roundtable, and their compilation and dissemination of the Outlawed and Threatened Book List entitled “THE CHILLING EFFECTS: A Mexican-American Studies Challenged and Outlawed Reading List;” 
2. Unanimously affirms the January 2012 American Library Association, Office of Intellectual Freedom Resolution OPPOSING RESTRICTION OF ACCESS TO MATERIALS AND OPEN INQUIRY IN ARIZONA ETHNIC AND CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAM,⁵ the January 2012 American Indian Library Association STATEMENT ON ETHNIC STUDIES PROGRAMS IN ARIZONA,⁶ and the January 20012 Progressive Librarians Guild STATEMENT ON CENSORSHIP AND THE TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT; ⁷  and
3. Unanimously applauds the TUSD students who protested the dismantling of the MAS program and affirmed the changes the MAS program made in their lives, and the teachers and parents who spoke out against the program’s dissolution: MAS Students Speak Out About Their Classes and Books Being Banned in Tucson http://youtu.be/-OUSbELFpX8 and TUSD-MAS Historical Trauma and Sadness http://youtu.be/k4g4Mv3RpUo

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¹American Library Association. Library Bill of Rights. Accessed from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill on February 11, 2012.

²United States Census Bureau, 2010 Census Interactive Population Search: Arizona. Accessed from  http://2010.census.gov/2010census/popmap/ipmtext.php?fl=04 on February 11, 2012.

³United States Census Bureau, State and County Quick Facts: Arizona, January 17, 2012. Accessed from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04000.html on February 11, 2012.

⁴Alexis Huicochea, “TUSD Rejects Reports of Book Ban,” Arizona Daily Star, January 18, 2012. Accessed from http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/tusd-rejects-reports-of-book-ban/article_d2790b34-9618-5eed-80f2-80628edc88f4.html on February 12, 2012.

⁵OIF Blog, “Resolution Opposing Restriction of Access to Materials and Open Inquiry in Ethnic and Cultural Studies Programs in Arizona,” January 24, 2012. Accessed from http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=3157 on February 12, 2012.

⁶American Indian Library Association, Statement on Ethnic Studies Programs in Arizona, February 2, 2012. Accessed from http://www.ailanet.org/other/AILA_AZ_StatementCORRECTED.pdf on February 12, 2012.

⁷Progressive Librarians Guild, PLG Statement on Censorship and the Tucson Unified School District, January 21, 2012. Accessed from http://libr.org/plg/tusd.php on February 12, 2012.

Matt De La Pena featured at a Save Ethnic Studies fundraiser

If you're in Tucson next Tuesday (March 13, 2012), head over to the fundraiser for Save Ethnic Studies. Matt De La Pena is the featured guest. Matt's book, Mexican WhiteBoy is amongst those that former Mexican American Studies teachers can no longer teach "from a Mexican American Studies perspective."

New book: KUNU'S BASKET: A STORY FROM INDIAN ISLAND, by Lee DeCora Francis

Put Kunu's Basket: A Story from Indian Island on your to-be-ordered list. Written by Lee DeCora Francis (she's Penobscot and HoChunk), it is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book about a young Penobscot boy named Kunu who is learning how to make the baskets that the men in his tribal nation have made for generations. A huge plus is that book is set in the present day.

The story opens with Kunu sitting at the table in his house, working with ash strips that he is trying to weave into a basket. Frustrated, he takes the ash strips with him outside and sits on a log. Muhmum (his grandfather) is sitting on his porch next door and goes over to Kunu.

Over the next pages, Muhmum helps Kunu make his basket. In that process, Kunu learns a bit of family and tribal history, and he learns about patience, too.

Susan Drucker's illustrations of Kunu, his family, their house, and the Maine landscape are a terrific compliment to the story. At her website, she's posted many of the illustrations.

I hope Lee DeDora Francis writes more books. She's got a knack for seamlessly presenting the story and the tribal information necessary without sounding didactic. She lets the narrative do some of that work for her. Some writers put the words into the mouth of the character and that doesn't work. It yanks the reader (me) out of the story. Here's an example. This is the conversation and text that follows the moment when Muhmum goes to Kunu, sitting on the log, frustrated:

"What's wrong, Grandson? Why the sad face?"

"Well, I just want to make baskets like you and my dad. I keep trying, but I can't do it."

Muhmum smiled. All the men in the family made baskets. It was something that they were known for on the island. He was glad to see Kunu with the ash strips in his hands.

See? You and I learn something that Kunu and Muhmum know. If the author had inserted that information into words spoken by Muhmum, it wouldn't work. Later, that information is in Muhmum's words, but the context is right for it. A step in the basket-making process is for Kunu to make a rim. It is hard to do, and Muhmum offers to help Kunu with that step:

Kunu thought for a few moments. He pointed to the pack basket in the corner and asked, "Did anyone help you with the rim on your basket?"

"Yes, my grandfather," replied Muhmum.

Kunu kept listening.

"Basket making is something that the sons in our family have learned from our fathers and grandfathers going back a long, long way. My grandfather taught me how to do the rim just as I'll show you."

See what I mean? This is exquisite writing, and I'd love to see more of it. Thanks, Lee DeCora Francis, Susan Drucker, and Tilbury House! 

Pueblo Stories--in Tewa--Digitized at the University of New Mexico

When I was a kid growing up on our reservation in the 1960s, I'd sometimes go to the tribal office complex where "Mr. Speirs" was holding a language class. I'm currently doing some research on him, but for now, I want to point you to the materials developed in some of those classes. The materials are stories that have been digitized at the University of New Mexico. They are viewable online.

Illustration in Pehtisye Ay

Pehtsiye Ay - Three Stories in Tewa. (1969), Summer Institute of Linguistics, Santa Ana, California. The three stories are:

• Pho Ts'ay Povi-adi In Poeyeh - Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in the Tewa dialect used at Ohkay Owengeh (San Juan Pueblo)
• To P'f Povi - Little Red Riding Hood, in the Tewa dialect used at Santa Clara Pueblo
• In Pojeh Pehtsude ay - The Three Little Pigs, in the Tewa dialect used at Santa Clara Pueblo.  

The illustration from Pehtsiye Ay is terrific! See the ceiling beams and the deeply inset window? That is what our adobe homes look like. The elk on the wall and the rug on the floor reflect the decor of our homes, and baby bear's clothing and the rocking chair reflect some of the non-Pueblo things we incorporate into our lives. 



The second Pueblo item in the collection is T'owa Vi Hae Panyu I, written by Teresa V. Gutierrez, illustrated by Eloy Suazo. The book is not dated. It was published through the Title VII Project at Santa Clara Pueblo.


The digitized collection includes (as of this writing) 80 different items. The majority are Navajo stories and readers. Here's the title page of Ch'at which is a basal reader in the Dine (Navajo) language developed in cooperation with Rock Point Community School in Chinle, Arizona:

A special thanks here, to Paulita Aguilar at UNM, for sending the link about this collection. She is the curator for the Indigenous Nations Library Program at UNM.

CRADLE ME by Debbie Slier

It is impossible for me not to have positive feelings when I look at the faces of babies. Debby Slier's Cradle Me had me happily gazing at the faces of babies from eleven different tribal nations in their cradle boards. Here's the cover:

Inside are babies in their cradleboards, smiling, frowning, peeking, touching, crying, yawning, thinking, looking, sleepy, and sleeping. Beneath each of those words is a line for a parent/librarian/teacher to write that word in--perhaps--the Native language of the child the book is being used with.  It is a powerful book because the images are photos, not drawings, and because Slier included a two-page spread that specifies each baby's tribal nation.

When you use the book, make sure you use present tense verbs! I recommend it and think you'll enjoy it, too. (Note, 3/2/2012: Cradle Me is published by Star Bright Books.)

Note: March 6, 9:30 AM CST
I spoke with the publisher a few minutes ago. If you work with a literacy organization and wish to purchase 60 or more copies of the book, the publisher will give you a 60% discount off the retail price.

UPDATE: April 23rd, 2012, 7:45 AM CST
If you came here from Betsy Bird's post about board books and you're interested in additional books like Cradle Me, see my list of Top Board Books.

February 23rd Update from Curtis Acosta, former Mexican American Studies Teacher, Tucson Unified School District

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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Photo from "A Teacher Put to the Test"

With his permission, I am posting Curtis Acosta's February 23rd update regarding the experiences of teachers and students who were in the Mexican American Studies courses at the Tucson Unified School District. This is his third letter. Click here to read the first one on January 23rd, and here to read the second one on January 26th. At the bottom is a video of Curtis talking about his courses. And---check out "A Teacher Put to the Test" in The Scene, the alumni magazine published by Willamette University in Oregon where he got his degree. Here's his letter:

Dearest colleagues and supporters,

Forgive the lack of communication as of late, but the new situation that we have been handed since the dismantling of our Mexican American Studies program has been overwhelming. In fact, I am fairly certain the reason why my family and I have been sick so much recently is in direct connection to the stress of this situation.

I want to thank all of you who have pledged your support through the No History is Illegal campaign or the other petitions that have circulated. Your testimonials have been inspiring amidst the chaos in Tucson and our students were thrilled to see so many dots on the globe. It is another act that has helped them feel that people care since our district administration has shown little sensitivity to their pain. They did find the time to visit some of our classes to give a thinly veiled threat that students will be punished if they continued to actively protest during school time. One student leader, Nico Dominguez, was threatened with suspension after a respectful, yet critical, statement to the four members of the school board who voted to eliminate our classes. Fortunately, we were able to advocate for him and make sure that there was some accountability for the administration to follow due process and magically the threats disappeared.

As far as in the classroom, I have been exposed to a word that I have never heard before in any of our Mexican American Studies classes, and that word is "hate." On three different occassions I have heard my students comment that they hate something that we were doing in class. First, it happened as I wheeled in the district adopted textbooks into our room over a month ago. I heard two girls say, "Ewww" and another student say, "I hate reading out of those books." I have never taught out of textbooks in my 16 years of teaching so I was struck by the rawness and veracity of the comment. This happened again yesterday in class when a young woman refused to write an essay citing that she feels dumb when she reads out of the textbook and hates it. Finally, a young man in my senior class was taking a quiz at the end of the first Act of Macbeth and said he hated these types of tests. Of course, these are all district approved instructional materials that I was encouraged to adopt in my classes in order to avoid discipline and possible termination. The students know this, but they still yield visceral reactions that break my heart.

In a similar note, you'll be happy to know that upon the first monitoring session of my class last week, I was found to be in compliance. Of course, when I asked for written criteria or an evaluation instrument that was used to make such an assessment, none was provided and no answer was given. For over a month we have tried to get written expectations and have been ignored. Thus, we now have monitors entering our rooms with an invisible checklist for compliance. This will only get more dangerous for us in the coming weeks since the State is now getting involved. Since my last message, the Arizona Department of Education has informed our district that we will be undergoing unannounced observations for our compliance by specialists. This is without the criteria for our safety being defined, and our district still isn't sure who these specialists will be, nor their qualifications or experience in public education. We were also forced to box up more materials for the state including PowerPoints, texts, and even copies of a vocabulary list I use with my students.

We are in uncharted waters in terms of vagueness and our district remains consistent. Their meager defense of our program during the appeal process is closely related to the open door policy they have given to the state department of education. They have continually played Pontius Pilate in this struggle and we are convinced this will be why justice will prevail. As many of you may know, the Arizona legislature continues to target teachers with outlandish legislation about teacher language and partisan instruction. We have told our colleagues for years that our situation is precursor to the types of government intrusion that could happen to us all. During this spring, I fear we will see such a statement become prophecy.

In the meantime, thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts and actions. Our students and community refuse to embrace this awful reality as permanent and are hopeful that our classes will return.

In Lak Ech,
Curtis Acosta

TUSD's Mexican American Students Skype in at Yale University for Teach-In

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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Last night (February 22, 2012), students from the now-banned Mexican American Studies (MAS) classes at Tucson Unified School District skyped in from Tucson to New Haven, Connecticut, for a Teach-In at Yale University.

 

It was an outstanding event, with a great deal of enthusiasm and support for the MAS students. The MAS students spoke of the need to censor the writing they do in classes because their work can be collected and examined to see if former MAS teachers are violating the ban by continuing to teach from a Mexican American perspective. When asked about ways of providing them with support as they continue to fight the ban of the MAS program, one student referenced a letter they prepared that asks people to send photos of teach-ins and letters to TUSD that demonstrate support for the MAS program. (See the letter below.)

Here's two photos. First is the Tucson students. Beneath it is a photo of the overview I presented at the start of the Teach-In. Both photos were taken by Theodore Van Alst, Assistant Dean of Yale College and Director of the Native American Cultural Center.

Panel members were:

• Alicia Schmidt Camacho, Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Race & Migration
• Stephen Pitti, Professor of History & American Studies, Director of Ethnicity, Race & Migration
• Birgit Brander Rasmussen, Assistant Professor, American Studies
• Debbie Reese, American Indians in Children's Literature

Conversations will continue between Yale professors and students, and the MAS students in Tucson.

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To Supportive Educators and Supporters Who Have Access to Students:

UNIDOS is calling upon YOU to help us launch our first NATIONAL YOUTH SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT for the youth and community here in Tucson fighting to preserve Mexican American Studies and stand up for human rights in our society as a whole! This is a moment we can all contribute to in a way that will not only educate youth and students across the country about the injustices going on right here in Tucson, but it will allow for students everywhere to show love and be a part of this movement that belongs to everyone!

UNIDOS has been organizing in Tucson since January of 2011 and hope to continue spreading the message that YOUTH CAN RISE UP! For the latest on the struggle from Tucson, check out our latest media coverage through Real News, and a simple Google News search of "Ethnic Studies in Tucson" will flood in plenty of recent updates and ways to understand the issue.

Attached is a letter calling for National Youth Solidarity, how we hope to gain support and an information political analysis sheet written by UNIDOS to help spark political discussions and spread information directly from youth fighting in the battle in Tucson. Our contact information is provided on the letter and we hope that you can help us forward this first wave of national solidarity to educators and students EVERYWHERE!

If you would like to have educators/students contact us directly, please forward this email and we will be more than willing to introduce ourselves and our intentions to send love to the students still fighting on the front lines. We would love to add more educators' names to our list to outreach to, so please don't hesitate to forward this to friends of friends across the country since this is a NATIONAL solidarity movement!

Thank you so much for your support and we hope this turns into one beautiful push for something Arizona can never take away from us, and something we can continue to grow with everyone's ideas and love!

Love,

--
U.N.I.D.O.S.
(United Non-discriminatory Individuals Demanding Our Studies)
unidos.tucson@gmail.com


NATIONAL YOUTH SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT

In Tucson, Arizona, youth have been fighting for education and human rights in the midst of systematic racist attacks against people of color throughout the state and country. The influence Arizona has had on the rights of youth of color and our families across the country has become absolutely intolerable. Through anti-migrant bills, tactics to push out Latin@ youth from schools and measures to split apart families, Arizona has become the pillar for racism.

BUT YOUTH IN ARIZONA ARE RISING UP AND TAKING A STAND TOGETHER
FOR OUR FAMILIES, EDUCATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS NATIONALLY!

WHO WE ARE

UNIDOS is a youth-led coalition of critical thinkers whose purpose is to stand in defense for all injustices within education and in our communities. While defending ethnic studies is the backbone to our creation, we stand as a direct force to mobilize, empower and educate youth to take a stand against all injustices in our community and society as a whole.

In January of 2012, Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal declared Mexican American Studies in the Tucson Unified School District "illegal." The district immediately forced teachers to put books away in boxes and has now censored teachers and students from discussing anything related to political issues or Mexican American history.

Mexican American Studies is not just a course; it?s our history!

The ban on Ethnic Studies in Arizona is part of a larger battle being fought and with your support, solidarity can become powerful!

OUR DEMANDS:

1. We want Mexican American Studies curriculum to return to its successful
   structure and books to be placed back in the hands of the youth taking these
   courses. 
2. We want the repeal of HB 2281
3. We want Tucson Unified School District board members Michael Hicks, Miguel Cuevas and Mark Stegeman to immediately resign for cowardice decision-making.
4. We want the immediate resignation of TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone for his bullying tactics against MAS teachers, students and Tucson community members.

What YOUTH SOLIDARITY Looks Like!

As part of a larger youth movement, UNIDOS wants to encourage educators throughout the nation to inform their schools about the injustices happening in our classrooms and how solidarity will help us fight back!

With your classes, youth can create powerful images like the photo of ARISE High School in Oakland, CA! Take a photo with your students and send love directly to the youth and teachers fighting for Mexican American Studies in Tucson and across the country!

UNIDOS has attached a political analysis information sheet of the opponents that wouldn't have ever expected youth to rise up nationally. Use that for your reference and discussions as well as contacting us directly for tips on how to begin conversations about the battles in Arizona. We would also love the opportunity to Skype with your classes if students would like to know more directly!

We want an educational system where many cultures fit and a society where borders are obsolete!

Love,

UNIDOS (United Non-Discriminatory Individuals Demanding Our Studies)

Please send photos, letters of solidarity, donated books, checks ($), ideas
or thoughts to:

Email: unidos.tucson@gmail.com

Mailing Addresses (For Books/letters/checks [payable to UNIDOS]):

Derechos Humanos (UNIDOS Donation)
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Or
Derechos Humanos (UNIDOS Donation)
631 S. 6th Avenue Tucson, AZ 85701

Sherman Alexie on Tucson student reading TEN LITTLE INDIANS

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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This is a screen grab from Sherman Alexie's website:

Do you know someone in a self-involved bubble that insulates them from the fact that our civil rights are under assault by well-funded conservative politicians? If so, tell them about what is happening in Tucson, where the conservative-power-elite wrote, passed, and enforced a law banning the perspectives of Mexican Americans...

Where that same conservative-power-elite is now trying to get a law passed (SB 1202) that prohibits teachers from teaching partisan documents like Barack Obama's 2004 DNC speech in social justice courses...

And where that same conservative-power-elite is also trying to pass a law that prohibits teachers from using words that violate the obscenity and profanity guidelines set up by the Federal Communications Commission. If passed, what will that mean for teachers who teach young adult literature that has the F-word in it?

Who is among that conservative-power-elite? The Chicago Tribune article points to Floyd Brown, the founding chairman of Citizens United. He complained to school administrators that a teacher used the F-word in class, but, he says, they didn't take him seriously. So he went to Klein, and now, that complaint is a bill that has passed one committee and will be voted on by the house and senate in Arizona...  The photo that accompanies the Trib article shows Brown and his now-home-schooled daughter, sitting before a pile of books that includes William J. Bennett's Our Sacred Honor: Words of Advice from the Founders in Stories, Letters, Poems, and Speeches. I wonder if that book would be in violation of the "partisan" documents bill?!

There are people who don't think either bill will pass. They might not, this first round. The Ethnic Studies law didn't pass the first two times it was considered. Third time? It passed and was signed into law by Jan Brewer.

We have to get people around us out of their bubbles of ignorance.

Update: Wednesday, February 22, 9:45 AM ET
Andrew Breitbart's "Big Government" website has a story on SB 1202. It references other states where "liberal agendas" are in place, including actions of teachers in Racine, Wisconsin, and Oakland, California.  The closing line is chilling:

Arizona’s SB 1202 is an encouraging sign that lawmakers are taking the indoctrination issue seriously. Hopefully, the discussion in Arizona will sparking similar public debates in statehouses across the country.

Repeating what I said above: We have to get people around us out of their bubbles of ignorance. 

Stories, essays, speeches, poems, and music banned in Tucson

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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When the Mexican American Studies Department in Tucson Unified School District was shut down, books on the Cambium audit and referenced in the finding of the administrative law judge could no longer be taught. The volume of materials is far more than those books or the seven books that the district boxed up. For example, the following short stories, essays, speeches, poems and music are no longer being taught. They were used by Curtis Acosta in his social justice course, housed within the Mexican American Studies Department.

Non-Fiction - Personal Reflections

• My Dungeon Shook by James Baldwin
• La Conciencia de la Mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness by Gloria Anzaldua
  

Short Stories

• Selections from Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie
• Eleven by Sandra Cisneros
• Vatolandia by Ana Castillo
• Love in L.A. by Dagoberto Gilb
• Lindo y Querido by Manuel Munoz
• Brisa by Dagoberto Gilb
• Aurora by Juno Diaz
• Lost Girls by Jane Yolen
• Selection from Tuff by Paul Beatty

Counter Story Telling and Cultura Through Teatro 

• And Where Was Pancho Villa When You Really Needed Him? by Silviana Wood 
• Culture Clash in America and Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy by Culture Clash

Shakespeare, Colonization, and Critical Race Theory

• The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Immigration - La Lucha Sigue

• The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea

Resistance Through Rhetoric

• The Puerto Rican Dummy and the Merciful Son by Martin Espada
• Jesse Jackson's speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention
• Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
• Speech at the Afro-Asian Conference by Ernesto "Che" Guevara
• "Women, Power, and Revolution" by Kathleen Cleaver
• "Political Prisoners, Prisons, and Black Liberation" by Angela Davis
• Message to Aztlan by Corky Gonzales
• Message to the Grass Roots by Malcom X
• "Beyond Vietnam" and Where We Go From Here by Martin Luther King Jr.
• "Does 'Anti-War' Have to be 'Anti-Racist', too? by Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez

Resistance/Revolution in Spoken Word, Slam Poetry, and Hip Hop
Poetry

• Selections from William Carlos Williams, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Ana Castillo, Tracy Morris, Paul Beatty

Hip Hop

Selections from Olmeca, Sihuatl-De, Dead Prez, Common, Kanye West, KRS-1, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Rage Against the Machine, etc.

Arizona Republicans propose legislation to "prohibit public school teachers from using partisan books or any partisan doctrine."

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]
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On February 6, 2012, I wrote about a new bill being drafted in Arizona that said, in part:

A teacher who uses partisan books and/or partisan materials or teaches any partisan doctrine or conducts any partisan exercises in school is guilty of unprofessional conduct and his certificate shall be revoked.

Earlier this week, Arizona's Committee on Government Reform approved the bill with a vote of 5-2. It will have to make it through the House and Senate, too, and then be signed into law by Jan Brewer.  I speculated that the bill was aimed at MAS teacher Curtis Acosta because his syllabus for a Social Justice class he taught is on the website for the group that wrote the bill: Tucsonans United For Sound Districts.

News reports out of Arizona  provide additional context.

Gabriela Saucedo Mercer is a Republican who is running against Raul Grijalva for his seat in the US House of Representatives. She testified that even though the MAS classes have been shut down, teachers are ignoring the law by being political in encouraging students to walk-out of school.

The language of the bill is ambiguous. Who will determine if something is partisan? What does that mean for social studies and history classes that study politics, elections, etc.? On its face, it seems ridiculous, but so did the Ethnic Studies law that got passed. We'll see. Will saner minds prevail this time?

Yale holding Teach-in to support Mexican American students in Tucson

This coming Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012, there is a Teach-In at Yale in support of the Mexican American students in TUSD.

William L. Harkness Hall

Organized by Theodore Van Alst, Dean of Native Students at Yale, the Teach-In is a panel composed of the following individuals:

• Alicia Schmidt Camacho, Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Race & Migration
• Stephen Pitti, Professor of History & American Studies, Director of Ethnicity, Race & Migration
• Birgit Brander Rasmussen, Assistant Professor, American Studies
• Debbie Reese, American Indians in Children's Literature

The panel begins at 7:00 PM at William L. Harkness Hall, room 119.

Though New Haven is a long way from Tucson, I think Yale would be smart to send someone to TUSD to encourage students from the now-banned MAS program to apply to Yale.

Critical thinking about Thanksgiving? Not allowed in Tucson Unified School District

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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On their website, Tucsonans United for Sound Districts (TU4SD) posted a series of items taught in the now-banned Mexican American Studies program in Tucson's public school district.

The first is Robert Jensen's "No Thanks to Thanksgiving", published at AlterNet on November 23, 2005.  Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He writes:

In the United States, we hear constantly about the deep wisdom of the founding fathers, the adventurous spirit of the early explorers, the gritty determination of those who "settled" the country -- and about how crucial it is for children to learn these things.

But when one brings into historical discussions any facts and interpretations that contest the celebratory story and make people uncomfortable...

Reading his words reminds me of the things that John Huppenthal, Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction said on NPR on January 18th, 2012. He says he was "challenged" to visit a classroom. Maybe he was invited. Here's what he said on NPR:

And one of the students challenged me. Come on down to our class and sit in our class, so I sat down in the class and up on the wall there's a poster of Che Guevara, and I said - well documented historical fact – Che Guevara helped run the communist death camps. They put 14,000 people to death down there, many of whom their only violation was free speech violation. So you're sort of glorifying him by having that romantic picture of him up there.


Simultaneously one of the creators of Mexican-American studies, right while I'm in there, characterizes Benjamin Franklin as a racist. So I'm, whoa, time out. Benjamin Franklin was the president of the Abolitionist Society in Pennsylvania. Directly he argued and was successful at making Pennsylvania the very first state to ban the slave trade.

Huppenthal was definitely uncomfortable with a full picture of Benjamin Franklin, and I have no doubt he'd object strenuously to Jensen's essay, too.

The second item on TU4SD's site is from Rethinking Columbus, one of the books the district "boxed" up and removed from classrooms because, they assert, the courses are no longer being taught, and the books are no longer needed.  The item is "Plagues & Pilgrims: The Truth about the First Thanksgiving" by James W. Loewen.

Loewen's article begins with:

Textbooks spin happy yarns about the Pilgrims and the "First Thanksgiving." Here's is the version in one high-school history, The American Tradition: 

He quotes from that history text and then does analysis of Thanksgiving and how it is presented in history texts.

These two items are at the top of the list at the TU4SD site. Seems to me members of TU4SD put them at the top because they find those two particular lessons especially inappropriate. Critical thinking about Thanksgiving...  No way! Not in Tucson.

District officials say it isn't the books themselves that are the problem. If that was the case, they could have left those books in the classrooms. District officials say it was the way the Mexican American Studies teachers were teaching the material in the books that is the problem.  Other teachers, apparently, weren't committing the violations the MAS teachers were.

I think those who shut down the program are ignorant of what is taught in schools. I wonder if any teachers in the district use Michael Dorris's Guests or Morning Girl. Both are the perspective of Native children who observe newcomers to their lands. I wonder if any teachers use Louise Erdrich's Birchbark House? It, too, offers a Native perspective on those newcomers.

Political leaders in the state of Arizona, speaking from their officially elected positions, have said that the reason they targeted the MAS program and not the other ethnic studies programs is that nobody complained about the other ones.

Complaints led to the dismantling of the MAS program. What else is at risk? Who else is at risk? If I was an elementary school teacher there, I'd be very worried about my job and my curriculum.

Debbie Reese reading from Delgado and Stefancic's CRITICAL RACE THEORY

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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I read from Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic's Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, on page nine.

Director/teacher of "suspended" Mexican American Studies program in NYC March 2-3, 2012

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the national Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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If you are in or near New York City on Friday, March 2nd or Saturday, March 3rd, head over to Teacher's College at Columbia University and learn about the Mexican American Studies program that was found guilty of violating Arizona Law Statute 15-112 that prohibits courses or classes that:

1. Promote the overthrow of the United States Government
2. Promote resentment toward a race or class of people
3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group 
4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treatment of pupils as individuals

 

Find out what happened directly from Sean Arce, who served as a teacher and then director of the MAS program.

 

 

 

 

And, from Maria Federico Brummer, who taught in the now-shuttered program.

 

 

 

In preparation for your visit, read Brummer's article 'My Other Me: Why Ethnic Studies are Good for All' at the website of the National Education Association. 

  

What did Curtis Acosta teach in his Mexican American Literature course?

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the National Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 DNC Convention is among the readings Curtis Acosta taught in his Social Justice, Resistance, and Literature course. 

Ever since January 15th when I read Who's afraid of "The Tempest" in Salon, I've been wondering what the teachers in the Mexican American Studies courses were teaching that led people to write laws to penalize school districts that offered courses that sought to "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government" or "promote resentment towards a race or class of people" or were "designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group" or "advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

Since then, I've learned a lot about the Mexican American Studies (MAS) Department and resistance to it.  There's a lot more to know. I continue to study the historical context that the program and resistance to it are nested within.

It seems the primary targets of the law were ideas taught in MAS history and social justice classes. I say that based on Governing Board President Stegeman's 2011 proposal to make those courses electives rather than allow them to count as fulfilling core course graduation requirements. Students and community that support the MAS program successfully stopped that proposal from being voted on by occupying the board's meeting room. Students chained themselves to board members chairs. Depending on who you ask, it was a violent and threatening event, or, it was a peaceful demonstration.

TUSD's response was to start having heavy police presence at their meetings. This included the use of helicopters, cordoning off streets, and admitting people to meetings only after they were wanded by security. Most of us know about the police brutality at Occupy Wall Street events, but I don't think the police brutality in Tucson is getting that attention. If you've seen it in the national press, please send me links. Here's a video of that brutality (the video is from a story about police brutality at the Three Sonorans page at Tucson Citizen):

What was being taught that moved people to write the law in the first place? What was being taught that motivated supporters of the program to fight so hard to keep the program intact?

Below is Curtis Acosta's syllabus. I didn't get it from him or the MAS program. I found it on the website for Tucsonans United for Sound Districts (TU4SD). Their January 2012 newsletter, written by co-founder Loretta Hunnicutt, takes credit for the shut down of a program that allowed "political predators" in the classroom to be funded by taxpayer dollars. They've got links to the syllabus for eight different courses, but they've reproduced his on their site. Obviously, they view it as evidence of the work of a "political predator."

At present, they are working on new legislation modeled on the Ethnic Studies law that would say "A teacher who uses partisan books and/or partisan materials or teaches any partisan doctrine or conducts any partisan exercises in school is guilty of unprofessional conduct and his certificate shall be revoked."

This new proposal is meant to control what is taught in any classroom by any teacher, but their work to rid TUSD of the MAS program and their use of Acosta's syllabus as an example of inappropriate course content is very telling.

Jane Yolen, author of Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast, has wondered why her book is on the list of books that may no longer be taught by teachers who once taught in the MAS program. When I found Acosta's syllabus, I wrote to Jane to let her know it was her "Lost Girls" story that was being taught. That story is Yolen's take on Peter Pan. In Fairy Tales Reimagined: Essays on New Retellings, Susan Redington Bobby writes that it "subverts a story meant to reinforce traditional gender roles and uses it to reinforce values of feminism" (p. 58).

Race. And feminism, too. What stands out to you? I don't like sounding like a fear mongerer, but I definitely thing we have a lot to be fearful of in the politics of the present time, and I hope you are, too. Could a law like the one in Arizona be passed in your state? Given the money driving politics in the United States right now, I think that the right question is not "could a law" but "When will a law like the one in Arizona be passed in your state?"


Social Justice, Resistance, and Latino Literature

First Quarter - Contemporary Fiction

Non-Fiction - Personal Reflections

• My Dungeon Shook by James Baldwin
• La Conciencia de la Mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness by Gloria Anzaldua
  

Short Stories

• Selections from Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie
• Eleven by Sandra Cisneros
• Vatolandia by Ana Castillo
• Love in L.A. by Dagoberto Gilb
• Lindo y Querido by Manuel Munoz
• Brisa by Dagoberto Gilb
• Aurora by Juno Diaz
• Lost Girls by Jane Yolen
• Selection from Tuff by Paul Beatty

Second Quarter - Critical Race Theatre

Counter Story Telling and Cultura Through Teatro 

• And Where Was Pancho Villa When You Really Needed Him? by Silviana Wood 
• Culture Clash in America and Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy by Culture Clash

Shakespeare, Colonization, and Critical Race Theory

• The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Third Quarter

Immigration - La Lucha Sigue

• The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea

Resistance Through Rhetoric

Nonfiction

• The Puerto Rican Dummy and the Merciful Son by Martin Espada
• Jesse Jackson's speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention
• Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
• Speech at the Afro-Asian Conference by Ernesto "Che" Guevara
• "Women, Power, and Revolution" by Kathleen Cleaver
• "Political Prisoners, Prisons, and Black Liberation" by Angela Davis
• Message to Aztlan by Corky Gonzales
• Message to the Grass Roots by Malcom X
• "Beyond Vietnam" and Where We Go From Here by Martin Luther King Jr.
• "Does 'Anti-War' Have to be 'Anti-Racist', too? by Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez

Fourth Quarter

Resistance/Revolution in Spoken Word, Slam Poetry, and Hip Hop
Poetry

• Selections from William Carlos Williams, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Ana Castillo, Tracy Morris, Paul Beatty

Hip Hop

Selections from Olmeca, Sihuatl-De, Dead Prez, Common, Kanye West, KRS-1, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Rage Against the Machine, etc.

Live Stream Tomorrow: Teach-In on Tucson with MAS Teachers

[Note: A chronological list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District is here. Information about the National Mexican American Studies Teach-in is here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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Teach, Think, Do: A Teach-In on Tucson will be live streamed here on February 4, 2012, starting at 11:00 AM, Eastern Time.

The Virtual Panel from starts at 11:30 or shortly after and includes two TUSD teachers, Norma Isela and Jose Gonzales and TUSD student, Nico Dominguez. Jeff Biggers and I will join them on the panel. For background and updates, visit the Teach-In on Tucson blog.

TUSD Board Member, Michael Hicks: "if you do not trust your employee, you need to remove the employee."

 [Note: For a chronological and comprehensive list of links to AICL's coverage of the shut-down of the Mexican American Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District, go here. To go right to information about the National Mexican American Studies Teach-in, go here. The best source for daily updates out of Tucson is blogger David Abie Morales at Three Sonorans.]

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On January 10, 2012, the Tucson Unified School District voted 4-1 to shut down the Mexican American Studies (MAS) Department. They passed a resolution (the complete text of the resolution can be downloaded from the TUSD website) that says:

All MAS courses and teaching activities, regardless of the budget line from which they are funded, shall be suspended immediately. 

On January 18, 2012 MAS teachers were given a sheet of "Guiding Principles for MAS Teachers" that says (see the principles here):

• Assignments cannot direct students to apply MAS perspectives.
• The teachers cannot use the MAS curriculum designed individually or by MAS staff in TUSD.
• The focus of student learning must not exclusively trail back to MAS curriculum and issues. 
• Teachers should balance the use of literature focusing on multiple perspectives and varied literature.
• Race can be taught and discussed. However, context is important and the focus should be on using literature content as the teaching focus relative to race or oppression.
• Visitations in class by an administrator will be frequent to insure compliance. (At least one visit per unit of lessons.)
• Teachers will write and submit a syllabus and/or a curriculum map that demonstrates adherence to common, standards based approach to the curriculum. The due date is January 26.
• Student work will be collected by the evaluator when he/she comes into the classroom.
• Teachers can choose to submit student work that would serve as evidence that curriculum is adhered to.

Those guidelines are chilling. Teachers are doing what they can to figure out how they are to go forward. There is an audio recording of Curtis Acosta, the literature teacher, asking his administrators for clarification about how he should teach Shakespeare's The Tempest. As one of the bullet points notes, teachers will be monitored. That is happening. 

In one of his letters, Acosta wrote:

...there have been credible claims that two TUSD Governing Board members have told our district superintendent that any violations by teachers should be disciplined harshly and immediately. Thus, my colleagues and I feel that our jobs are very much on the line...

Yesterday (Feb. 2, 2012), I listened to an internet broadcast of a Tucson radio program in which TUSD Governing Board Member, Michael Hicks was the guest (it is a four-hour program; Hicks was on during the latter part of the broadcast. Update at 7:15 AM--go here to listen just to the Hicks segment.). Again and again as I listened, I shook my head at the things Hicks said, but for now I am focusing on the jobs of the teachers. 

Hicks said that he did not agree with the decision to keep the teachers and students together following the shut down of the program because the teachers are not like "a light switch" that can be turned on or off. His "common sense" tells him that the banned content is still being taught, and that teachers carry the banned materials in with them each morning when they come to school. 

The only way to make sure they don't teach the banned curriculum, Hicks said, is to have monitors sitting in the classrooms, but that he doesn't agree with that. He said "I believe if you do not trust your employees, you need to remove the employee."

Curtis Acosta is right. Their jobs are on the line. 

So far, TUSD has shut down the program and it has banned the books and curriculum. Will TUSD start firing the MAS teachers? 

I've seen videos of teachers in the classrooms, and videos of students talking about the program and what they do. They are inspiring.  Please read Jeff Bigger's profile of former director of the MAS Department, Sean Arce and do what you can to let others know what is going on in Tucson. Turn your outrage into action.