Little changed in last night’s Tucson Unified School District’s Governing Board meetings from previous meetings except the District’s new superintendent. Dr. H.T. Sanchez thanked the Board for his warm welcome and “the opportunity and taking a look at the good work we have to forward.”
The Board immediately went to work after hearing from the members of the public and union who regularly address the Board on the same subjects every time.
Sanchez is striving to maintain the status quo and his first official act was to ask for the appointment of a high school principal, Adrian Vega, from his former district to replace Maria Menconi as the new deputy superintendent. Vega will receive the same salary as Menconi. At the time Menconi was hired her salary was considered excessive, however former superintendent Pedicone pushed it through. Sanchez did not have to make the same effort.
Sanchez then argued on behalf of Pedicone, claiming that if the Board did not award Pedicone $10,000 at the end of the year that he completed, they would be in breach of contract. Mark Stegeman pointed out that Pedicone did end his contract early and as a result there were conflicting legal views on the District’s legal position.
During that discussion, one man shouted from the audience, “Jump ship, collect ten grand!”
Pedicone’s contract contained no provision allowing him to walk away unilaterally, yet Sanchez pushed the issue when Board member Michael Hicks asked for clarification. The money was awarded in a 4-1 vote.
According to the plaintiffs in the desegregation case, Sanchez had not reached out to them before making his recommendation that the Board approve the desegregation budget or the Culturally Relevant Literature curriculum. During the budget portion of the meeting, public school advocate, Mary Terry Schlitz, urged the Board to review the desegregation expenses advising them that many appeared to violate the law. Her well-informed pleas were ignored.
Some plaintiffs had rejected Critical Race Theory has the foundation for the proposed classes. Their pleas were ignored.
Sanchez praised the curriculum developed by the District’s Multicultural Studies Director, Auggie Romero, and seemed to echo the false claims that the curriculum was created by a team of volunteers who did not receive payment for their services. However District records indicate that many of the “experts” were in fact paid.
Julio Commorata, a University of Arizona professor who was instrumental in the student takeover of the school board meeting in the spring of 2011, will receive $3000.00 for professional development services related to the new curriculum. Commorata was also commissioned by the federal court through the Special Master to study the effectiveness of the former Mexican American Studies classes. Naturally, he concluded that they were highly effective.
Click here to view purchase order. Julio Commorata Purchase Order
Contrary to Romero’s claims that all of the work was “pro bono,” his emails show that many of the “experts” were primarily concerned with how and when they would be paid. Many of the “experts” were former teachers and developers of the former Mexican American Studies classes that were found to violate state law due to the fact that they promoted resentment in students and segregated students based on race and ethnicity.
The current classes are expected to do the same, however, the Board voted on a version distinctly different from the materials prepared by Romero and his team of “experts.
Romero’s emails:
AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE: GRADE 12
Course Scope and Sequence: This course explores the ways in which various African American and some Caucasian and other authors have written about race, class and gender. Among the course’s concerns are concepts of African American racial identity, the images that blacks and whites offer each other, overt and covert forms of racism, possibilities for interracial friendships, the intersection of race, class and gender, and the ways in which the writers reflect and or transcend the cultures from which they come. Discussions will focus on some of the following questions: What does it mean to act black, white, privileged, or underprivileged? What do said authors suggest are the implications of racial identity, gender, and class status? How and why are race and class status often conflated in these works? Students will articulate their thoughts and analysis through the writing of expository, analytical and creative essays. Additionally, students will become conversant with the language of literary analysis and rhetoric, including figurative language, diction, style, syntax, tone, etc. Further, students will keep a dialectic journal and engage in Socratic Seminars and Book Talks.
I. Race and Privilege in America
Enduring Understanding: Race is a complex concept; there are differing theories about how it is constructed, some of which helped legitimize the existence of slavery. Racism is an issue that has affected the United States in the past and still affects it in the present.
Public/Board reviewed curriculum:
AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE: GRADE 12
Enduring Understanding: Competent readers can synthesize information from a variety of sources including print, audio and visual. Comparing and contrasting text in a variety of forms or genres provides a full understanding of the author’s message/theme as well as the ideas being explored.
In an email exchange with one of the “experts” and Romero dated February 23, 2013, curriculum developer Penelope Buckely wrote Romero:
“Hi Auggie. I added some of your ideas to the latest revision and would love to hear what you suggest. I feel protective of it so can I ask you to send me suggestions before putting them in? I have tried to tone down some of your rhetoric so this passes inspection. Teachers can add their voice easily to the curriculum and I think that being able to spice it up or tone it down will be essential for selling it to teachers.”
In May, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) advised the District that the newly proposed curriculum, submitted by the District, did not appear to meet state standards and had the potential to violate state law, which prohibits the promotion of resentment in students. The District implied that the state has approved the curricula. Officials with the Department of Education could not be reached for comment.
While the administration claimed that the curriculum was in line with the Common Core standards, the state had previously notified the District that it appeared that it did not meet standards, and in fact, it “looked as if the had been pasted in as an afterthought. Romero admitted in an email that he was simply going to cut and paste the standards into the curriculum template.
One email attachment shows clearly that the curriculum only met 9 out of 42 standards. Click here to view document. Common Core Sequence Review
The Board voted 3-2 to begin offering the classes in August. Sanchez, who expressed his pleasure with the curriculum, said that he hoped that the students who attended schools that were not going to immediately offer the classes would be allowed to be bussed to the classes or attend remotely.
The Board was not offered an opportunity to review the books or other teaching materials to be used in the classes.