Mark Stegeman constituent letter needs some clarification

by David Safier

Mark Stegeman sent a letter to constituents discussing his views on what has been called by many, including me, a "book ban" at TUSD. You can read the entire letter after the jump.

A few things in the letter jumped out at me. One is the statement,

When the TUSD board voted (4-1) to end the Mexican-American Studies (MAS) curriculum, ending use of the books had to be part of that package.

No, ending the use of the books did not have to be part of that package. Is Stegeman unaware TUSD's communication director said the books were still OK'd for use by teachers who had not formerly taught MAS courses? For those teachers, some of the 7 books can still be used in the same courses where they are forbidden for use by former MAS teachers. It is not a course-specific ban. It is a teacher-specific ban. That makes a huge difference, and it contradicts what Stegeman wrote.

Then, after Stegeman lists the books, he writes this:

I am not aware of any other school district in Arizona which has approved these books for use in instruction.  If anyone knows of such approvals, then I would be interested to hear about them. 

The key word in the statement is "other," because it looks like one district approved 3 of the books: TUSD. According to a June 12, 20078, document posted on Three Sonorans, TUSD approved the use of "Critical Race Theory," "Occupied America" and "Pedagogy of the Oppressed."

The document looks legit, so I'll assume it is unless someone from TUSD says otherwise. If Stegeman knows the three texts had TUSD approval, he should have made that clear in his letter, then said he believes TUSD is the only district to approve the texts. Possibly he isn't aware of the prior approvals.

Read Mark Stegeman's constituent letter after the jump.

January 22, 2012

Dear friends and correspondents,

Because of the recent media attention on TUSD’s “book ban,” it seems useful to clarify that situation.  TUSD also issued a press release on this subject several days ago, which is posted on the district website.

Every district in the state approves curriculum according to a process guided by statute and local policy, and approving the books to be used is part of that process.  Through such processes a typical district might approve several hundred books for use in instruction.  This leaves millions of books not approved for instruction; it would be silly to say that all of those books are “banned.”

When the TUSD board voted (4-1) to end the Mexican-American Studies (MAS) curriculum, ending use of the books had to be part of that package.  Staff says that the seven titles removed from classrooms and placed into storage are still available in school libraries, and I expect many of the books in storage to be distributed to libraries where they are not already available. 

Because MAS did not actually have a board-approved curriculum, it was not immediately obvious which books to remove, but the staff took guidance from the evidence presented during the hearing on TUSD’s appeal of Huppenthal’s finding against the district.  Because one motivation for the board’s vote to end the MAS classes was to forestall the substantial financial penalty which the ADE threatened to impose, it made sense to remove the books which helped to provide the basis for that finding.

The seven removed books are: 

    Occupied America: A History of Chicanos – Rodolfo Acuña
 
    Rethinking Columbus: The next 500 Years – Bill Bigelow

    Critical Race Theory – Richard Delgado

    Pedagogy of the Oppressed – Paulo Freire
   
    Message to AZTLAN – Rodolfo Gonzales

    500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures – Elizabeth Martinez (ed.)

    Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement – Arturo Rosales

I am not aware of any other school district in Arizona which has approved these books for use in instruction.  If anyone knows of such approvals, then I would be interested to hear about them. 

Shakespeare’s The Tempest is not on this list and never was, despite some media accounts to the contrary.  Instructors are free to use it. 

In the resolution which ended the MAS program, the TUSD board also said:

“The district shall revise its social studies core curriculum to increase its coverage of Mexican-American history and culture, including a balanced presentation of diverse viewpoints on controversial issues.  The end result shall be a single common social studies core sequence through which all high school students are exposed to diverse viewpoints.”

When staff brings this new curriculum to the board, it may or may not recommend that some of the seven books be approved for use in that new curriculum.  I do not expect this to happen any time soon, however.  Developing the new curriculum will be a long process, which will include community input.  Obviously, this time, we want to get it right.

Thank you for your continued interest in TUSD.  The MAS issue has been a long-running distraction for the district, far out of proportion to the small number of students in the MAS courses (currently fewer than 300).  Bringing that issue to closure will increase our capacity to focus on the many large reforms necessary to improve education in TUSD, for all students.

Mark