by David Safier

Curtis Acosta, MAS Chicano-literature teacher, submitted a column to the Star, which you can read in its entirety below the fold. The Star rejected it, according to Acosta, because the paper said the MAS/Save Ethnic Studies side of the story had gotten its fair share of coverage. That rationale would carry a lot more weight if the Star didn't go ahead and run an editorial a few days later slamming MAS administrator Sean Arce.

The Weekly's Mari Herreras has more on the story on The Range.

I've expressed concern about the lack of communication between TUSD Superintendent Pedicone and the MAS staff administrators and staff members, and I've put the blame on Pedicone's shoulders, since he's the top guy and needs to keep the lines of communication open. Here is what Acosta writes on the issue:

Dr. Pedicone has only attempted to meet with the teachers of Mexican American Studies (MAS) on two occasions. The first was a mandatory meeting on January 3rd where we were told that we must comply with HB 2281 and that the program would be dismantled if any fines were levied by the state. The second meeting on March 29th was also mandatory and was simply to inform us of the pending state and district audit of our classes.

Acosta also notes the "unprecedented surveillance" of MAS classrooms. For me as a retired teacher, the worst part of that is, according to Acosta,

"there were never any follow-up dialogue or discussions, which is customary in education and my 16 years of service for TUSD."

Trust me, if people who do not feel kindly toward you sit silently in the back of your classroom and don't give you any sense of their impressions afterward, you're going to lose sleep wondering what they're plotting. You're going to be looking around you at school warily, waiting for the other shoe to fall. It's very intimidating. If it's purposeful intimidation, that's terrible. If it's just poor communication, it's very bad form, the kind of thing that alienates a staff from administrators and school board members.

I've noted before, I'm not among those calling for Pedicone's resignation, but if I were an MAS staff member or someone in the community who has a personal investment in the program, I think I'd be among those demanding his ouster.

Read Acosta's column, rejected by the Star, after the jump.