Law & Courts

Tucson Officials Stand by Ethnic-Studies Classes

Ariz. School Officials Warn District May Lose $15 Million
By Mary Ann Zehr — January 04, 2011 4 min read
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.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Includes updates and/or revisions.

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 the state’s 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’s 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. “My firsthand, classroom encounter clearly revealed an unbalanced, politicized, and historically inaccurate view of American history being taught,” Mr. Huppenthal, a former state legislator, said in the statement.

In response to Mr. Horne’s determination letter, John J. Pedicone, who took over as superintendent of the 60,000-student Tucson Unified district last week, posted a letter on the district’s website saying the administration “supports its ethnic-studies programs, and we are encouraged by the real and lasting impact that these departments provide to [district] students.” Mr. Pedicone also said the district will uphold the state’s laws, but he did not single out the law regarding ethnic studies, which went into effect Dec. 31.

The district’s school board, likewise, has reiterated its support for the classes, which have been taught in Tucson schools since 1998. Anticipating Mr. Horne’s announcement, board President Judy Burns sent a letter Dec. 30 to him and Mr. Huppenthal. While urging “a collaborative approach to resolving issues raised by the new law,” 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’s 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’s ethnic-studies courses are taught “in accordance with all applicable laws.”

Mr. Pedicone didn’t respond to Education Week‘s 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 “believe 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,” 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’s 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’s 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’s Mexican-American studies program, so his findings pertain only to that program. He makes no mention, for example, of the district’s ethnic-studies courses about African-Americans or Native Americans.

Interpreting the Law

Mr. Horne contends the program violates the new state law’s 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’t use the word “exclusively” but rather “primarily,” and thus applies to courses in Tucson. He also cites purposes of the courses spelled out on the district’s website, such as that they aim to boost “academic proficiency for Latino students” in making the argument that they are intended primarily for a particular ethnic group.

Mr. Pedicone’s 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 “consequences in accordance with school procedure.” The superintendent also directed employees “not to leave campus with students in the event of a student protest.”

A version of this article appeared in the January 12, 2011 edition of Education Week as Tucson District Holds Firm Despite State Ultimatum on Ethnic-Studies Classes

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Trump Admin. Can Proceed With Ed. Dept. Layoffs, Supreme Court Rules
The Trump administration asked the justices to set aside an injunction blocking its layoffs of 1,400 Education Department employees.
6 min read
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon outside of the West Wing following a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 11, 2025 in Washington.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside of the West Wing following a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 11, 2025, in Washington. McMahon is carrying out a Trump administration plan to lay off roughly 1,400 Education Department employees, a move critics say is aimed at dismantling the agency.
Lenin Nolly/NurPhoto via AP
Law & Courts Opinion How the Supreme Court Is Making Public Education Itself Unconstitutional
In a recent ruling, the high court took a step toward effectively outlawing public schools.
Johann Neem
5 min read
Photo illustration of Supreme Court building and U.S. Constitution.
Education Week + Getty
Law & Courts Supreme Court to Weigh State Laws Barring Transgender Athletes in Girls' Sports
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up transgender sports laws from Idaho and West Virginia, among the 27 states that have such laws.
5 min read
This artist sketch depicts Justice Amy Coney Barrett, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Justices announce opinions at the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 27, 2025.
An artist sketch depicting Justice Amy Coney Barrett, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Justices announce opinions at the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 27, 2025. The Supreme Court on July 3, 2025, announced it will hear cases challenging Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender students from participating in girls’ or women’s school sports, stepping into a high-profile legal battle over transgender rights in schools.
Dana Verkouteren via AP
Law & Courts Appeals Court Backs Fla. Law Barring Transgender Teacher's Use of Her Pronouns
A federal court upheld Florida’s ban on K-12 teachers using pronouns that differ from their sex assigned at birth when speaking to students.
4 min read
A new billboard welcoming visitors to "Florida: The Sunshine 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' State," is seen on April 21, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. Florida's state government and LGBTQ+ advocates have settled a lawsuit challenging a law that bars teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.
A billboard welcoming visitors to "Florida: The Sunshine 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' State," is seen on April 21, 2022, in Orlando. The billboard was a commentary by an LGBTQ+ rights group on a controversial law backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis regarding the teaching of certain topics. A federal appeals court on July 2 refused to block a related law, one barring teachers from using pronouns or titles that don't match their sex assigned at birth.
John Raoux/AP