Tucson Officials Stand by Ethnic-Studies Classes

On his last day as Arizona's schools chief, Tom Horne points to quotations from textbooks used in an ethnic-studies class in Tucson. Mr. Horne informed Tucson school officials last week of his determination that such classes violate a new state law.

—Ross D. Franklin/AP

Ariz. School Officials Warn District May Lose $15 Million

By Mary Ann Zehr

Officials of the Tucson Unified School District are supporting its controversial ethnic-studies courses, despite a warning from the state’s 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’t comply, but the law permits the district to appeal a determination of noncompliance.

“It is fundamentally wrong to divide students up according to their racial group and teach them separately,” wrote Mr. Horne, who was leaving after two terms as state superintendent to become...