Dear Tucson Students, It Gets Better

03-10-2012 • http://www.commondreams.org, by Jeff Biggers

It's spring-time in the Sonoran Desert, and as la maravilla of the wild flowers stretches across the valleys of southern Arizona, caravans of literary heroes and national education advocates will be descending on the Old Pueblo this weekend for a series of celebrations in support of Tucson's outlawed Mexican American Studies program.

And just in time.

The trauma and stress over the dismantling of the Mexican American Studies program, including the confiscation of books in front of young middle school and high school students, and the unbridled demonization of Tucson's deeply rooted Mexican American community, has never been addressed by Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) officials. In truth, while TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone continues to refer to the whole Mexican American Studies crisis as a "distraction," not one assistant superintendent in his office or member on the Tucson Unified School Board, with the exception of Adelita Grijalva, has ever addressed the emotional, psychological and academic fallout over their hit-and-run decision to pull the plug on one of the most successful and acclaimed educational programs in the nation.