Judge Wallace Tashima listened to arguments in the matter of Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies classes yesterday. The hearing addressed summary judgment requests from both sides in the matter.
Attorney General Tom Horne argued for the state and Richard Martinez argued for the two remaining plaintiffs. In an earlier hearing on the matter, Judge Tashima denied the request for an injunction filed by the Tucson Unified School District Mexican American Studies teachers. He removed them as plaintiffs in the case.
Judge Tashima found that the teachers did not face harm in his dismissal of their request for an injunction against the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal. Judge Tashima also found that the teachers lacked standing and removed them as plaintiffs in the case.
The state’s Attorney General’s Office who is representing the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Arizona Department of Education argued that the state has the right to control classroom content and teachers do not have a right to teach whatever they want.
Horne argued against the “racismizing” of students, a term coined by former MAS director Augie Romero. Horne called the classes racist. With well over 90% of the students in the classes, Latino, the classes segregate students based on their ethnicity.
Martinez argued at first that the law was vague and then argued that it was targeted to at Mexican American students only.
According to Romero, the classes “assign” a Chicano identity to students who are struggling with finding an identity.