Arizona's outgoing schools chief on Friday declared that TUSD's culturally relevant classes are out of compliance with state law.
John Huppenthal, who lost in the election, said in a news release Friday that the state can decide to withhold funding from Tucson Unified School District for the courses.
"During my tenure as Superintendent, I have been closely monitoring the status of the Tucson Unified School District’s culturally relevant curricula to ensure that all TUSD students, regardless of their race or ethnic background, have access to a high quality education," Huppenthal said in the release. "After a thorough review of materials from TUSD’s culturally relevant courses, I find that the district has failed to meet several provisions of the 2012 Settlement Agreement."
The classes replaced TUSD's now defunct Mexican American Studies courses, which were declared in violation of state law.
People are also reading…
"I am deeply concerned by the fact that the noncompliance appears to extend beyond classes taught from the Mexican American perspective and now also includes classes taught from the African American perspective," the release reads.
He said TUSD has failed to provide adequate information to the state and that he hopes it makes immediate alterations to its curriculum.
“In issuing this finding before classes resume, I am hopeful that the district will take immediate action to comply with the law.”
John
Huppenthal
