Stegeman embarrassed himself by straying from his areas of expertise

by David Safier

Yesterday was the first hearing on the Mexican American Studies program, with TUSD appealing Huppenthal's decision that the program violates state law. The most detailed and informative reporting on the hearing comes from the Weekly's Mari Herreras in The Range. It's clear she was there taking copious notes. I couldn't tell if that was true of other reporters.

TUSD Board President Mark Stegeman's testimony was the most interesting and troubling. Everyone described him as very uncomfortable. It's a good way to describe Stegeman through the whole MAS ordeal, or at least since he made the wrong-headed proposal to turn the courses into electives. I sense he was overwhelmed by the strong opposition to what he honestly thought was a modest proposal. Then when he felt the sting of personal attacks as well as the disruption of his board meetings, he was shook to the core. Stegeman, who has always been a progressive Democrat on most issues, now finds himself siding more with Huppenthal and Russell Pearce on this issue. "Uncomfortable" is a weak term to describe the position he's in.

Stegeman commented he thought the MAS classes has cult-like qualities. He should be very careful tossing around a word like "cult." It has a very specific meaning in academic circles, though it's thrown around freely in political circles. Stegeman is an academic, but his use of the word "cult" is non-academic in the extreme, and in that sense, it is more of a slur than a thoughtful observation. I expect we're going to hear the anti-Latino, anti-MAS crowd saying, "Stegeman called MAS a cult." If so, his incorrect use of terminology could do a lot of damage.

Stegeman referenced the book, "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer. It's a poor choice for an academic. I read the book when I was a college freshman in the 1960s. It's a very interesting book by a man who was actually a longshoreman in San Francisco, not a scholar. The book as I remember it is an interesting, insightful popularization of the definition of the True Believer, and it was taken seriously in academic circles. But the thing is now half a century old. If Stegeman wants to be credible using terms like "cult" and "true believer," he needs to reference more recent scholarship, and that means he would have to read lots of recent scholarship. (If he has read more recent work in the field, his reference to the Hoffer book is a very odd choice.) Plenty has been written on the subject in the past half century. Stegeman is an economist, not a political or social scientist. He should know to tread very carefully in terminology and subject matter which is out of his field of expertise.

My advice to Stegeman, which I don't expect him to take: He should publicly retract his use of the term "cult." If he's not willing to do that, he should show himself to be an honorable academic and read deeply in the current literature on the topic, possibly consulting some of his colleagues at UA about its specific academic meaning.

According to Herreras,

That cult-like behavior [Stegeman] observed out of the classroom, too, and he found it troubling that classes had a social justice frame. “My overall impression is that what happens in class is collective identity."

If Stegeman found it "troubling" the classes have a social justice frame, that says a hell of a lot about Stegeman.

And this passage, frankly, makes Stegeman seem clueless.

Stegeman shared a story from his notes about a student who came up to him weeping because she was worried about her teacher, Acosta, for his future and his pregnant wife. Stegeman said it made him uncomfortable because teachers are supposed to be caregivers, not students.

Students shouldn't care about their teachers? There shouldn't be a reciprocal warmth and empathy? This, I think, says a whole lot about Stegeman's inability to comprehend the emotive level of education, and a whole lot about why he's uncomfortable with MAS, which appeals to students minds, hearts and souls — in other words, their entire consciousness. Stegeman is a very fact-based person who prides himself of his objectivity. Most of the best teachers at the K-12 level connect with their students on a personal and emotional level as well as an intellectual level. Based on my 30+ years of experience teaching in a public high school, I have a hunch Stegeman, who teaches at the university level, would not be an effective high school teacher, except possibly in the highest level, college prep courses. Stegeman doesn't "get" what makes K-12 education work. That's a problem for someone who heads the governing board of a large K-12 district.

I have been hesitant to say this — more hesitant than most MAS supporters I know — but I think Stegeman has demonstrated a lack of professional competence when it comes to dealing with the whole Ethnic Studies issue. I would like to see him step down as Board President, and I think he should be voted out next election. I knocked on doors for the man during his campaign. Believe me, that won't be happening again.