The new TUSD superintendent, Dr. H.T. Sanchez, attempted to explain to the public and Board members at last night’s Governing Board meeting that the District had no understanding of what Common Core requirements are for Literature, History and Government classes, while he insisted that the classes currently under development would meet those standards by the time they are offered on August 15.
Sanchez dismissed Board member Stegeman’s suggestion that the classes be delayed until the spring semester when they could be fully developed. With his request denied, Stegeman said he did not have a better suggestion and would support the timeline. The measure passed 5-0.
Auggie Romero, the developer of the multicultural curricula, presented the timeline which will require the enrollment of students into traditional classes initially, until the Board approves the curriculum in a vote scheduled for weeks later. Upon Board approval, the traditional curriculum will then be replaced by the “Culturally Relevant” curricula.
While Sanchez and Board member Kristel Foster admitted that the District still does not know what the requirements of Common Core curricula are, they did not seem to fully grasp that if classes did not meet state standards they would violate the desegregation order by Judge Bury.
Two things were clear; Sanchez was left with an inept staff and a difficult situation. However, his eagerness to depend on the same failed staff to move quickly through processes, and his lack of reliable, accurate, or complete information is disconcerting to many District insiders. One insider said they don’t believe that Sanchez “even knows what he doesn’t have to do.”
Sanchez claimed that one of the challenges he faced was that there was not a “model curricula” and as a result he didn’t know what literature, government or social studies that incorporates the rigor of the common core standards would look like, but he assured the Board the curricula would be rigorous. One District insider suggested to Sanchez that he “reach out” to Vail’s superintendent, Dr. Calvin Baker, for assistance with Common Core standards, but that “he seemed uninterested in the suggestion.
Sanchez’s demonstrated lack of understanding of curricula development and no understanding of Common Core Standards or Arizona law which was evident is his position that the Board had little room to approve reading materials that would be incorporated in curricula. Stegeman attempted to say that the Board was elected to review materials and is required by state law to do so. Sanchez once again dismissed Stegeman’s concerns out of hand.
The Arizona Department of Education found the District in violation of state law in 2011 for the Board’s failure to review and approve curricula.
Sanchez appeared to be slightly hostile to the ADE, but stated he would allow their representatives to visit the new Culturally Relevant classes. The concession was gratuitous as the ADE essentially has the right to inspect any publicly classroom about which there are, or have been, concerns or complaints.
Earlier Sanchez blamed the ADE for ‘taking longer than expected to review the curricula’ and did not acknowledge that the District did not make the curricula available until well past any promised deadlines.
“During TUSD’s appeal of the State’s finding that the MAS classes were in violation of state law the Board was criticized repeatedly for its failure to exercise proper oversight over curricula. Sanchez clearly is ignorant of the meaning of Board oversight since he is recommending a repeat of the failures that led to the 2011 crisis,” said one long time educator. “We have seen how much thumbing its metaphorical nose at state law harms TUSD’s credibility with the public. Sanchez clearly has been sucked into the vacuum of groupthink created by Auggie Romero and the rest of the ideologues and ethnic nationalists in TUSD elected and appointed to leadership. He needs to be reminded that those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.”
Sanchez’s position that the District does not the have knowledge to develop a curricula is hard to believe when the Arizona Public Engagement Task Force, joined by Governor Brewer and Superintendent Huppenthal, launched ArizonaCommonCore.org in October, which is a tool for Arizona educators to learn more about Arizona’s Common Core Standards.
Also, the fact that the District is electing to ignore current curriculum developed last year entitled, “Teaching With Diversity.” Superintendent Huppenthal engaged teachers from across the state to develop the curriculum that includes lesson plans. The lesson plans are aligned to Arizona’s Social Studies Standards as well as to Arizona’s Common Core Standards in English Language Arts. These lessons and resources were designed to help educators from all grade levels raise student awareness and understanding of the contributions made by diverse individuals and groups to the historical and cultural development of the United States.
Since the Common Core standards expect the same concepts and information to be introduced across all academic disciplines, the District could have used the state educators’ work as a foundation for their curricula development.
In what was treated as a pressing policy debate, the Board discussed the use of e-cigarettes and tobacco by both students and staff. The lengthy discussion covered everything from Board member Foster’s displeasure with one of her high school teachers who smoked, to a lengthy but undecipherable dissertation by Board member Hicks on the complexities of prohibition. The Board voted 3-2 to prohibit the use of e-cigarettes by staff members and students. Board members Stegeman and Hicks opposed the ban.
Sanchez said it is the District’s job to “promote good behavior and practice.” He said he didn’t want TUSD to be known for allowing e-cigarette usage. “The District is known for so many disasters,” one attendee said laughing after the meeting, “e-cigarette usage just might be the tipping point.”
Sanchez would not comment when asked if in fact the District does not have traditional or culturally relevant curricula that meet the standards would it be possible to develop basic curricula in compliance with standards so that students are all receiving essentially the same basic required information and add the culturally relevant materials to specific classes.