A shroud of secrecy has enveloped the Tucson Unified School Board District recently, so much so that vital information is even kept from Governing Board members. That is the case in the matter of the District’s Culturally Relevant classes and a recent review of some of those classes by the Arizona Department of Education.
Governing Board meetings have been cancelled to accommodate out of state travel, meetings held at the last possible minute to meet State requirements, formal Requests for Information from a variety of individuals and organizations have been ignored, and carefully selected information has made its way into the press.
Some of that carefully selected information was made known to Governing Board members only after their need for it, which resulted in the board falsely affirming that the district’s curriculum met State Standards.
The Governing Board was asked this Monday by District Superintendent H.T. Sanchez, in a special meeting of the Governing Board, to affirm that the district’s curriculum conformed to State Standards. However, in the letter dated October 3, the District was notified by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) that the Culturally Relevant classes did not appear to meet State Standards. This finding is consistent with a letter delivered to the district on August 7, 2013, prior to the commencement of the fall school session.
In that letter, officials with the ADE notified the district that trained educators from the ADE had reviewed the Culturally Relevant Social Studies and English classes at Cholla and Pueblo High Schools. They observed two Junior English classes, one from Mexican American perspective, and one from the African-American perspective.
They observed one U.S. History class taught from an African-American perspective, which they questioned due to a “good” use of “a video documentary which presented students with opposing viewpoints,” but questioned the connection between illegal immigration and the African-American perspective of U.S. History.
The ADE observers visited three classes at Pueblo High School: “a U.S. History course, a Senior English course, and a Government course, all from the Mexican-American perspective. The rigor and intent of the literacy standards was not modeled or evidenced by the lessons or the students’ products we witnessed.”
Observers offered an example, ” Groups of senior students for each asked you to define a single word, political cartoons were assigned without explanation or example, and the writing assignment for the senior Government class was a 3 paragraph journal diary entry or personal letter. The alignment to Arizona’s College and Career (Common Core) Standards appear insufficient.”
Observers briefly noted a concern with posters in the Senior English class and in the Social Studies classroom, “References to levels of oppression and liberation were problematic particularly in light of the written feedback we’ve provided in our previous curriculum review.”
“These materials raise concerns in so far as they reflect past practices that caused the Department to find the District in violation of ARS 15–112,” observers concluded. “At this time, we do nothing any specific teaching practice or instructional material that would cause Department to take further action to enforce ARS 15–112.”
In August, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal, challenged the characterization by the Tucson Unified School District Superintendent when Sanchez made the claim that the state had approved the new “Culturally Relevant” curricula. Huppenthal said that the public and the Board were misled when they were given the impression that the state had approved the curriculum.
In a memorandum from the state dated August 7, the District was advised that the classes did not align to state standards and would likely violate the law which prevents the teaching of hate and the overthrow of the government.
Huppenthal, who has been known for his cautious and conciliatory tone with TUSD throughout the years long battle between the state and the district, was unusually strong in his statement about the curriculum. The same curriculum, under the old Mexican American Studies label, was found to be in violation of state law due to the fact that the pedagogy promoted resentment toward white people and segregated students into separate classes based solely on their ethnicity, and the color of their skin.