MAS updates. Sean Arce out? Students stay active.

by David Safier

Another domino prepares to fall.

It looks like the TUSD Board is planning to vote against renewing MAS Director Sean Arce's contract for the next school year. Administrators don't have the same kind of protections as teachers and can pretty much be fired at will, so it's reasonably easy to get rid of an administrator. However, the Board is clearly a bit wary about firing Arce and want to make sure they've dotted their i's and crossed their t's. The Exec session will include legal advice about "Personnel issues pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03."

This is supposed to happen at the Board's Special Meeting Tuesday, April 3. I called the District and was told the Board will be in executive session starting at 7pm and the public meeting will begin at 8:30pm.

On another note, during the César Chávez March Saturday I talked with Nico Dominguez, a Tucson High student who is quite active in the MAS battles. I asked him how much attention César Chávez was getting in class in the leadup to the Chávez Day celebrations. He said the classes weren't doing much to cover the event, but he and some other students reserved part of the school last Wednesday for a Teach-In and students could get passes to attend and participate. He told me the THS administrators were cooperative, which is good.

I asked Dominguez about the kinds of discussions classes were having on MAS-related issues, knowing the former MAS teachers have to shy away from saying anything Huppenthal and Horne might frown on. He said initially the students were confused and reticent to bring up MAS-related topics, but lately they've been raising them in class discussions. A reasonable teacher won't stop students from speaking their minds on relevant topics, so this is what the students should be doing. The teachers can listen respectfully without commenting, then call on the next student.

It's encouraging to see these students still feel empowered. Empowerment was one of the strengths of the MAS program. Giving students confidence in their voices and a sense of their own worth is a huge part of what K-12 education is about. That's especially true for students who tend to feel themselves excluded from their school-based education and mainstream society. Motivation is where educational improvement and achievement begin.

Unfortunately, student empowerment for Hispanic students also scares the hell out of the right wing, so the strengths of the program are what make it a target for elimination.

UPDATE: BOARD MEETING POSTPONED: Just received news that the scheduled Tuesday Board meeting has been postponed. No word yet about the new date.