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.In a ruling last month that conditionally lifted the district’s decades-old racial balance order, a federal judge noted that “it is unimaginable that the eight-staff Mexican American/Raza Studies department would be capable of serving the (district’s) 30,118 Hispanic students.”TUSD’s budget crisis is putting the kibosh on any new money for this coming school year, but Governing Board member Adelita Grijalva says she’s committed to seeing the program grow the following year.For now, she’s asking for a discussion about equity within the ethnic studies’ $2.3 million budget, given that African-American Studies gets more funding and staff in a district overwhelmingly Latino.
Tags: art, hispanic, latino, mexican, raza, school
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