The South Tucson City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution to support ethnic studies in the schools and reinforce the importance of Mexican-American studies for students.
After the Arizona Legislature passed House Bill 2281, Gov. Jan Brewer signed it in May. The bill bans classes in Arizona schools that are created for specific ethnic groups, promote the overthrow of the United States government, promote resentment towards a race or class of people and advocate ethnic solidarity.
“They have spoken out when other politicians have not,” said Miguel Ortega, a resident who spoke during the call to the audience during the January 31 meeting.
The resolution states the impact that ethnic studies have on students when they take the Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards test, or AIMS. The resolution states that in AIMS writing, reading and math, ethnic studies students have shown improvement rates of 66.6 percent, 93 percent and 94 percent greater, respectively than non-ethnic studies students.
“We need to stop being a target,” said Tucson High School junior Juan Quevedo, who spoke during the call to the audience and thanked the city council for passing the resolution.
Quevedo went on to say that he thought the resolution would have a “big impact” on the state law. Furthermore, he believes that teachers are afraid to teach certain subjects because of possible legal ramifications.
Mayor Jennifer Eckstrom said the council wanted to show the community and the young people of South Tucson that “we support what classes they want to take.”
“People need to be vocal…this is what we support,” Eckstrom said.
The resolution also declared an “emergency to exist” because of the “institutional challenges to eliminate ethnic studies programs.”
