Mexican American Studies Department Programs, Tucson Unified School District

The Mexican American Studies Department Programs (MAS) provide courses for students attending various elementary, middle, and high schools within the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). Some key components of the MAS program include student support, curriculum content, teacher professional development, and parent and community involvement. In the past, programs helped Chicana/o and Latina/o students graduate, pursue higher education, and score higher test scores.[1] A study found that "100 percent of those students enrolled in Mexican-American studies classes at Tucson High were graduating, and 85 percent were going on to college."[2]

The program was targeted by politicians like Tom Horne, who wrote Arizona House Bill 2281 that was signed into law by the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer in 2010, which effectively banned the program.[3] The ban was ultimately ruled unconstitutional in 2017.[4] The ban of the programs also inspired educators in California and Texas to introduce ethnic studies into schools.[5]

  1. ^ Acosta, Curtis (2013). "Raza Studies and the Battle Over Educational Reform". Utne Reader.
  2. ^ Depenbrock, Julie (13 August 2017). "Ethnic Studies: A Movement Born Of A Ban". kpbs.org.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference latimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arizona’s ban on Mexican American studies was racist, U.S. court rules was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Matthew, Fellion; Inglis, Katherine (2017). Censored: A Literary History of Subversion and Control. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 392–393. ISBN 9780773551886.

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