Arizona Ethnic Studies Revisited

One year after the Arizona legislature voted to dismantle a controversial ethnic studies curriculum widely used in its public schools, the most revolutionary course offerings in it remain in use.  “Tucson Unified School District (‘District’) [TUSD] has four courses under the heading of Ethnic Studies,” Tom Horne, the outgoing superintendant of the TUSD reported on December 30, 2010.  “Three of the four programs could be found in violation under criterion three, courses designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.”

“However, all of the complaints received by the Superintendent of Public Instruction have been as to one of those programs: Mexican American Studies, previously known as Raza/Mexican American Studies.” Horne helped to draft the law designed to defund the courses.

“During the hearings of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Ethnic Studies bill, the school sent a number of students to testify how much they loved Ethnic Studies,” Horne stated.  “A senator asked a girl whether she could have learned the things she spoke about in other courses.”

“No,” she said, “before I took this course, I didn’t realize that I was oppressed.”

“Now that [I] took this course, I realize that I am oppressed.”

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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