Posted on February 7, 2013 By Griselda Nevarez Education

A judge has ordered the Tucson Unified School District to end segregation against Hispanic and Black students and reinstate Mexican American Studies. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A federal judge has ordered the Tucson Unified School District to end segregation and implement culturally relevant courses such as the ones taught in the Mexican American Studies program that were recently banned by an Arizona law.

In his ruling announced Wednesday, Judge David C. Bury ordered that the courses reflect the history, experience and culture of Mexican American and African American communities. The courses could be offered to students starting this upcoming school year.

Nancy Ramirez, a lead attorney in the case, applauded Judge Bury’s order, saying culturally relevant courses have been proven to “engage students and helps them do better academically.”

Mexican American Studies could make a comeback

Arizona banned such courses in 2010 when the state legislature passed and Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law HB 2281. Efforts to pass the law were led by former Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, who is now the state’s attorney general.

The law, which targeted the Mexican American Studies program, prohibits schools to teach classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote racial resentment, encourage ethnic solidarity and are designed for students of a particular ethnic race.

Read more: http://www.voxxi.com/tucson-mexican-american-studies/#ixzz2KRvrvz00

February 08, 2013 12:00 am  •  Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star(48) Comments

Now the tough, politically polarizing work resumes for TUSD.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Bury ordered the Tucson Unified School District to put in place what should be its final desegregation plan. If the district complies, it will emerge from the federal order in 2017, 39 years after it was imposed.

Although TUSD agreed in advance to the vast majority of the plan, following it will be difficult -and likely embroil the board in more controversies as well as litigation.

As part of the plan, Bury ordered the district to resume teaching “culturally relevant courses,” which amounts to an order to challenge the new state law governing ethnic studies.

Like it or not, state law prohibits any courses “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.” While Mexican-American Studies and African-American Studies courses are open to everybody, the point of them is to improve the academic performances of students from those backgrounds, as Bury acknowledges.

via Tim Steller: TUSD faces uphill climb on deseg ruling.

Ethnic Studies To Return to Tucson in Court-Backed Desegregation Plan

By Lesli A. Maxwell on February 7, 2013 12:30 PM

Mexican-American studies will return to classrooms in Tucson’s secondary schools in the fall after a federal judge approved the district’s new plan to achieve greater racial balance in its schools.

But the pitched battle over teaching ethnic studies in Tucson may still not be settled even though U.S. District Judge David Bury has given the green light to the school district’s Unitary Status plan, which is meant to bring an end to the decades-long desegregation effort in the Arizona city. A key part of that approved plan—which was written by Willis Hawley, the court-assigned special master—is to offer “culturally relevant” courses that focus on the history, experience, and culture of blacks and Latinos.

The school district shuttered the popular Mexican-American studies program a year ago after state officials said the courses violated a state law that forbids public schools from using curriculum that is designed for a particular ethnic group, advocates ethnic solidarity, or promotes resentment toward a race or group of people. State Superintendent John Huppenthal threatened to pull the plug on $15 million in state funding if the district didn’t cancel the courses. Judge Bury indicated that state officials would still be free to enforce the state law if they believe the new ethnic studies courses are in violation.

via Ethnic Studies To Return to Tucson in Court-Backed Desegregation Plan – Learning the Language – Education Week.

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PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION  February 6, 2013	CONTACT: Donald Gatlin: (202) 821-7923 dgatlin@rabengroup.com Nancy Ramirez: (213) 629-2512 nramirez@maldef.org
MALDEF, TUCSON STUDENTS TRIUMPH AFTER NEARLY 40 YEARS IN HISTORIC DESEGREGATION CASE Court Orders Tucson School District to Reinstate Culturally Relevant Curriculum that Reflects the History, Culture and Experiences of Mexican Americans
TUCSON–  Yesterday Judge David C. Bury ruled in favor of Latino plaintiffs in the longstanding desegregation lawsuit against the Tucson Unified School District (“TUSD”), filed by MALDEF in 1974 in federal district court in Tucson, Arizona.  In his order, Judge Bury adopted the Unitary Status Plan (“USP”), designed to eliminate segregation and improve educational outcomes for Latino students in TUSD, that was jointly filed last year by TUSD, the Fisher Plaintiffs on behalf of African American students, the United States Department of Justice, MALDEF on behalf of the Mendoza plaintiffs who are Latino students, and the Court-appointed Special Master, Dr. Willis D. Hawley. Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel stated, “Once fully implemented, today’s order promises to dramatically improve educational opportunities for Latino students in Tucson. The plan addresses critical issues, such as the education of English learners, discriminatory disparities in access to critical programs, and the restoration of culturally relevant courses to the curriculum. When these issues are addressed, the educational experience of all students will be richer and more equitable.”

via Judge orders TUSD to teach about culture.