A long-running dispute over the fate of a Mexican-American studies program in Tucson, Ariz., came to a head last month when an administrative law judge agreed with the state schools chief that the program violates state law. That ruling will likely force the 52,000-student Tucson Unified School District to decide whether to keep the program or risk losing millions in state funds.
John Huppenthal, the state schools superintendent, declared last June that the ethnic-studies program violates a new state law that prohibits classes that “promote resentment toward a race or class of people.” Supporters say students who participate graduate at high rates and go on to college.
In a separate but related case pending in federal court, a group of teachers and students from Tucson Unified has sued to overturn the state law that bans such courses.
