On the last nationwide civics assessment, administered in 2006, two-thirds of students scored below proficiency. Not even a third of eighth-graders surveyed could identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence. Less than a fifth of high school seniors could explain how citizen participation benefits democracy.
…read full articles of "A democracy without civics?"
# The first step to gaining permanent residence for any foreign relative of a U.S. citizen is to file a petition for an alien fiancé/relative to USCIS.
…read full articles of "How to Apply for a Visa to the United States if Your Mexican"
Chicago Public Schools agreed, and in 2005, opened 15 third-shift preschool classes in six schools: Barry, Belmont-Cragin, Falconer, Hanson Park, Lloyd and Schubert. The programs begin at 2:30 or 3 p.m. and end after 5 p.m.
…read full articles of "More late classes for preschoolers"
From: edwatch.blogspot.com:
Calls are heating up to kill the Tucson Unified School District’s ethnic studies program - at the same time it becomes more likely that the district’s most controversial department could expand to reach more, and younger, students. Critics, from the state’s schools chief to lawmakers to conservative talk-show hosts and columnists, have singled out Mexican-American/Raza Studies in particular, saying it’s divisive and turns students into angry revolutionaries. But supporters say the program’s reach is too limited, given that it boosts student achievement by providing relevant and rigorous work to students all too often overlooked.
…read full articles of "Arizona Raza unit survives under fire"
Calls are heating up to kill the Tucson Unified School District’s ethnic studies program — at the same time it becomes more likely that the district’s most controversial department could expand to reach more, and younger, students.Critics, from the state’s schools chief to lawmakers to conservative talk-show hosts and columnists, have singled out Mexican-American/Raza Studies in particular, saying it’s divisive and turns students into angry revolutionaries.But supporters say the program’s reach is too limited, given that it boosts student achievement by providing relevant and rigorous work to students all too often overlooked.
…read full articles of "TUSD’s Raza unit survives under fire | www.azstarnet.com ®"
By DANIELLE SOTTOSANTI
SOUTH SIDE
Toltecalli wins kudos from Chicano group
Visitors to a South Side charter school will see a special sculpture of Mexican-American labor activist Cesar Chavez when they enter, but Chavez’s influence on the students goes beyond first impressions.
“He was a Mexican-American hero,” said Larissa Barreda, a sophomore at charter high school Toltecalli Academy, 251 W. Irvington Road.
Barreda, 15, said she’d like to incorporate some of Chavez’s qualities into her own life.
“He cared about everybody,” she said.
Chavez’s values of community, respect and cultural knowledge permeate Toltecalli Academy on many levels.
…read full articles of "Latino Studies School’s Focus"
The following article, the author discusses something very familiar to Latinos. It discusses the blatant and utter disregard for teaching students the “truth” about history. For decades we as Latinos have had to absorb the clearly White American version of history. We’ve been indoctrinated by their so called “Patriotism” and propaganda. Only to realize (most of us in College) that we were lied to. That the Alamo wasn’t a story of a heroic last stand, but an act of rebellion by immigrants who were allowed to live in what was then Mexico. That Davey Crockett was no folk hero, but a paid mercenary. These and many other “untruths” have been taught to students of all races and colors since the beginning of our country.
Though I agree with the writer, that curriculum in schools should be as non biased as is possible, I find it humorous that the very slanted curriculum that this author is now complaining abut, is slanted, not to exculpate the whites and their atrocities in this country, but in the other direction. That the curriculum he has a problem with no longer is attempting to teach our students that “White is Right”, but that perhaps, we as Latinos have been held back by the white man for decades. Perhaps we should bend the truth in the other direction for a while, if not for equalities sake, then for the possibility that our students will grow to realize that this country is not really all about “Freedom and justice for ALL”.
From: constitutionallyright.com
Immediately it was clear that the class was not a U.S. history course, which the state of Arizona requires for graduation. The class was similar to a sociology course one expects to see at a university.
Where history was missing from the course, it was filled by controversial and biased curriculum.
The basic theme of the curriculum was that Mexican-Americans were and continue to be victims of a racist American society driven by the interests of middle and upper-class whites. In this narrative, whites are able to maintain their influence only if minorities are held down. Thus, social, political and economic events in America must be understood through this lens.
…read full articles of "La Raza Teaching Racism In Publicly Funded Schools"
From: The Wayward Episcopalian:
In a campus-wide email, the Dartmouth chapter of MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), a Latino student organization, brought my attention to SB1108, a bill that recently passed the Arizona House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on a vote of 9-6.
This bill would ban all “anti-American” or “anti-European” teachings from public schools and universities and prohibit racially-based student groups from operating on campus.
Its sponsor, Appropriations Chair Russell Pearce, is in no uncertain terms a racist. It’s one thing to fight illegal immigration, but another entirely to push these policies.
…read full articles of "Racism and arrogance in the Arizona State Legislature"
