Mexican American Studies

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.

TW and AZ Star on TUSD board race: Contrasting coverage shows media biases

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by Pamela Powers Hannley Undoubtedly one of the more contentious local races this election season is the non-partisan 12-person race for three unpaid positions on the Tucson Unified School District's (TUSD) Governing Board. In this race, there are two University of Arizona professors, a call center supervisor, a Sunnyside School District employee, a self-employed landscaper, a … Read more

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?

Cuevas and Stegeman respond to MAS protests at their homes

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

TUSD board members released the following statement after Mexican American Studies (MAS) supporters demonstrated in front of Mark Stegeman's house and made unannounced visits to the homes of Miguel Cuevas and Michael Hicks.

MIGUEL CUEVAS AND MARK STEGEMAN CALL FOR CIVILITY

July 25, 2012 – Tucson, Arizona – Over the past few days, Miguel Cuevas, TUSD Board President, and Mark Stegeman, TUSD Board member, have each had their personal residences violated by pro-MAS groups. The same groups that have chained themselves to desks in the TUSD boardroom and tossed smoke bombs at public meetings have staged protests outside the homes of both board members.

“Not only do I work during the day, but I live with my grandparents. So when I got the call telling me that protesters were at my home, I had to call my father and send him over to my house. By the time he got there, my grandmother was in tears. She was terrified of the protesters and my father had to tell them to vacate our property,” said Miguel Cuevas.

“Not only did demonstrators come to my house last week while I was at work, but last year protesters came to my workplace, disrupting a class that I teach at the University of Arizona and plastering posters around my office. Students who pay to come to school to learn should not be subjected to such rude behavior,” said Mark Stegeman.

Mr. Cuevas and Dr. Stegeman agree that it is time to call for civility and are asking the community to support that effort. “We are elected by the community, serve the community, and sometimes make hard decisions for the benefit of the community as a whole. Our work should not expose our homes and families to invasion and harassment.”

Video after the jump.

MAS: Use critical thinking skills when reading the news

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Truthmeter-3 ar-nolayers-sm

by Pamela Powers Hannley

The state of news in Southern Arizona is fractured. Tucson's former flagship newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, was loping along like a dinosaur trying to outrun an asteroid– until the owners fired dozens of writers and other staff last summer. Now a collection of wire stories and full-page ads, this dinosaur of the print era is barely viable.

Pesky blog sites like this one report the news while the newspaper is in typesetting. Still, a handful of beat reporters file regular stories, and the editorial page occasionally includes an opinion piece not written by an out-of-town pundit.  

One of those beat reporters, the Star's Alexis Huicochea covers education– including the story too tough to die– the ongoing tug of war known as the Mexican American Studies Program (MAS). Along side, Huicochea's many articles in the Star are hundreds of blog posts by the Three Sonorans (pro-MAS), the Arizona Daily Independent (anti-MAS), and many others, including two Blog for Arizona bloggers– Dave Safier and me.  

There are so many voices shouting and writing their opinions on MAS that to be truly informed, one must read multiple versions of the same story– with a critical eye– to understand the whole picture.

The saga continues after the jump.