Stegeman: Yes, the Board “approved” 3 MAS texts, but it was “meaningless”

by David Safier

A few days ago, I posted about a constituent letter Mark Stegeman sent, and I mentioned three of the books banned/removed from classrooms of former MAS teachers had previously been approved by the board (h/t to Three Sonorans for posting the document). Stegeman responded in the comments section of the post. You can read his entire comment beneath the post, as well as my comment in response to his.

Stegeman maintains the approval of the three books is "meaningless" because the Board didn't follow procedure.

The board "approved" the books in a long list of books for many different courses, in a routine consent agenda item with no attached information and no board discussion. It was meaningless from the viewpoint of oversight and very far from a proper curriculum approval, by the standards of either statute or TUSD policy.

So, it's an approval that's not an approval, according to Stegeman, even though it's there in black and white for all to see. I wonder, does the TUSD administration and the rest of the Board agree with Stegeman's assertion the approval is meaningless? Stegeman's authority rests on his one Board vote out of five, so his interpretation holds no weight by itself. I wonder if TUSD Supe Pedicone wants to weigh in on this, or if the Board wants to formally rescind its approval, which would mean the current District and Board doesn't stand behind past decisions and is willing to wipe them out retroactively. Either is possible, I suppose, but honestly, TUSD is running out of feet to shoot itself in. It should probably let the approvals stand, though that puts it in another difficult position, prohibiting certain teachers from using books it has already approved. The district can't seem to win for losing.

Later in his comments, Stegeman claims I was "factually incorrect" when I stated some of the banned texts are still being used in classes not run by former MAS teachers. My reply includes quotes from The Star and The Weekly backing up my assertion, plus a bonus quote from Huppenthal himself, who says, "The books aren't of concern at all." You can read my whole response in the comments beneath the post.