Cam Juarez

TUSD candidate forum: What about TUSD’s finances and projected budget shortfall? (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

This is the fourth video in a series shot at the Tucson Unified School District candidate forum hosted by Drinking Liberally Tucson on September 26, 2012.

In this segment, candidates talk about budget cuts and the district's finances. Each candidate got 1.5 minutes to answer the question; three candidates were allowed 30 second rebuttals because they or their policies were specifically attacked by another candidate.

If you want to see the TUSD candidates live, the League of Women Voters, YWCA, and others are sponsoring a debate tonight, Monday, October 1.

Watch this video after the jump. Watch the whole collection here.

TUSD candidate forum: What about teachers’ unions? (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Besides their views on Mexican American Studies, one of the most telling questions at Wednesday's Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) candidate forum was about labor unions. There were definitely differences of opinion about the role of teachers' unions and how the union issue relates to the shift toward charter schools (which are not unionized).

Seven of 12 candidates for TUSD governing board candidates participated in a candidate forum sponsored by Dinking Liberally Tucson.

After the jump, listen to the candidates' thoughts on working with labor unions. This is the third in a series of videos from the forum. Here is a link to my You Tube channel where this and other video clips reside.

TUSD candidate forum: What about Mexican American Studies? (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Seven of 12 candidates for the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) governing board candidates participated in a candidate forum sponsored by Dinking Liberally Tucson on September 26, 2012.

After the jump, listen to the candidates' thoughts on the controversial Mexican American Studies program. This is the second in a series of videos from the forum. Here is a link to my You Tube channel where this and other video clips reside.

TUSD candidate forum: Hear their words (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Blog for Arizona was well-represented at the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) candidate forum, sponsored by Drinking Liberally, last night. As Dave said is his post earlier today, he was the moderator. Sitting next to him, I filmed the entire forum, and, of course, nearby was the "Father of Drinking Liberally Tucson," Mike.

The evening was cordial. There were no outbursts from the candidates or the audience of about 35, which included current TUSD board member Adelita Grijalva.

Unlike Dave, I'm not going to offer candidate critiques, except to say that we disagree. What I am going to provide is the candidates' unedited voices in a series of videos. The first one is attached to this post below.

Dave (and audience members) asked several great questions on a wide range of topics including Mexican American Studies, TUSD's budget, teachers' unions, school closing, administrative downsizing, and many more. Each candidate got one minute to answer each question, plus a 1.5 minute opening and closing statement. If one candidate directly critized another one, the defendant got a 30-second rebuttal. As a result, Kristel Foster and Betts Putnam-Hidalgo gave Dr. Mark Stegeman and Miguel Cuevas a few extra minutes over the course of the evening. 

After the jump, watch the candidates' closing remarks.

Questions about employment and MAS purity: Will the real Kristel Foster please stand up?

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Activist and educator Kristel Foster began campaigning for a seat on the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Governing Board not long after the board voted 4-1 to shut down the embattled Mexican American Studies (MAS) program– rather than lose $15 million over a program that had been declared illegal by the state of Arizona.

From the get-go, Foster made it clear that she was running as a "save MAS" candidate. In fact, when Foster and fellow "save MAS" candidate Ralph Ellinwood spoke at Drinking Liberally (DL) in June, the audience was twice the normal size, due to a strong showing of MAS stalwarts who came to cheer them on– including ThreeSonorans blogger Abie Morales and Tucson Weekly reporter Mari Herreras.

Unfortunately for Foster, since the August 8 Drinking Liberally kibitz fest, Morales has started attacking her for being an MAS turncoat. (He's even calling for MAS supporters to suggest possible write-in candidates.)

The special guest for the August 8 meeting was supposed to be Cam Juarez (also a "save MAS" candidate). Unfortunately, it poured down rain that night, and the DL turnout was very low. As a result, Drinking Liberally reverted to DL Classic Mode (ie, everyone sits around and endulges in free-form political discussion, with no official speaker). On that fateful night, four TUSD board candidates were present– Foster, Juarez, Betts Puttnam-Hildalgo, and incumbent Mark Stegeman. 

Stegeman asked the others the $15 million question: Would they have voted to shut down MAS in order to avoid the $15 million fine from the state? Puttman-Hildalgo and Juarez said, No. They said they would have defied the state ruling and voted with board member Adeltia Grijalva to retain the program– regardless of the cost to the district. (This is the MAS true believer stance.) Foster said she would have voted with the majority to shut down MAS, hence the attack from the ThreeSonorans blog. This looks like a giant flip-flop from a long-time, in-the-trenches MAS supporter.

After the jump is her Facebook explanation. Also, the plot thickens with the question: Should a Sunnyside School District employee vote on the next superintendent of TUSD?