by David Safier NPR ran a story yesterday about Arizona's mandated four-hour-a-day ELL program, which basically segregates students with limited English skills into "Mexican rooms" and insists only the English language and no other curriculum can be taught. In the story, Horne says he really wasn't so hot on the idea: [Horne] admits that he … Read more
by David Safier Mark this date on your calendar. It's the day I write: The Star editorial is the best piece on the War of Ethnic Studies I've read anywhere, period. Here are a few highlights. You really should read the whole thing. Whether one agrees with Tom Horne's opinion of TUSD's ethnic -studies program … Read more
by David Safier One of the greatest strengths of this country's educational system — which also leads to some of its most intractable problems and its huge expense — is our system of unlimited second chances, which holds that everyone should have the opportunity to go as far in their educational attainment as their ambition … Read more
by David Safier Honestly, it's laughable, except that the man is our Superintendent of Education. John Huppenthal spoke yesterday about his visit to an Ethnic Studies classroom: "My, firsthand, classroom encounter clearly revealed an unbalanced, politicized and historically inaccurate view of American History being taught." Huppenthal, of course is a scholar of American history and … Read more
by David Safier As usual, the cause-effect scenario in the Ethnic Studies battle is only being presented with a conservative spin on it. Horne and Huppenthal are saying, if TUSD doesn't get its act together and change or eliminate Ethnic Studies, it's in danger of losing $15 million. From that viewpoint, it sounds like the … Read more