Could The Qatar Foundation Save TUSD’s Failing Magnet Schools?
The attack by Tucson Unified School District Superintendent H.T. Sanchez on Special Master Willis Hawley and his magnet school proposal has outraged members of the community across the political spectrum. Sanchez enlisted magnet school teachers in the orchestrated the “public oral assault” at Tuesday’s Governing Board meeting.
At issue is Hawley’s suggestion that five failing magnet school programs lose their magnet status, and the desegregation funding that comes with it. The schools have offered magnet programs that are not attractive to enough students to create the racial balance called for the in court ordered Unitary Status Plan.
Magnet studies have shown the lack of magnetism and the various curricula’s failure to improve student performance. The failing magnet schools offer everything from the gimmicky Reggio Emilia curriculum to the expensive International Baccalaureate program.
A letter written by a self-described progressive group of TUSD educators perfectly sums up Tuesday’s melodrama. They wrote:
To read more: Could The Qatar Foundation Save TUSD’s Failing Magnet Schools? click here
Tucson schools to take $465,000 from Arab charity with Muslim Brotherhood ties
By Eric Owens
Last week, the governing board of the Tucson Unified School District asked the school board to accept a $465,000 curriculum grant from the Qatar Foundation International, a global philanthropic organization with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the parent organization of the terrorist group Hamas.
The grant money is intended to implement “innovative curricula and teaching materials to be used in any Arabic language classroom,” reports the Arizona Daily Independent.