11 Tucson teachers sue Arizona over new 'anti-Hispanic' schools law

NOTE: For those of you who read this blog regularly, may have noticed that I have been writing a lot about Arizona. That is because from now until the election, I will be here working for NDN on various projects.

I will occasionally write about other races, and national stories as they develop, but for the most part I intend to write about the congressional races here as well as do some on the ground reporting.

We now return to the regularly scheduled blog post...

Michael Martinez and Thelma Gutierrez of CNN have a story up about a group of Arizona Teachers who are suing the state for passing a law that they feel is "anti Hispanic":

Eleven Tucson, Arizona, educators sued the state board of education and superintendent this week for what the teachers consider an "anti-Hispanic" ban looming on Mexican-American studies.

The law was written by state superintendent Tom Horne:

On Tuesday, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne defended the new law, which will go into effect December 31.

The law authorizes the superintendent to stop any ethnic studies classes that "promote the overthrow of the United States government ... promote resentment toward a race or class of people ... (or) advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treatment of pupils as individuals."

Horne said he would seek the first-ever ban in Tucson for its "raza studies" program, now called Mexican-American studies. Raza means "the race" in Spanish.

Perhaps the most dispiriting aspect of the law is that it actually denies money to schools based on what they teach in their classrooms:

The law allows the state to withhold 10 percent of monthly aid -- which would amount to $3 million a month for Tucson Unified School District No. 1.

The teachers believe that they have a good chance of overturning the law:

The 11 educators in Tucson's Mexican-American Studies Department are asking a federal judge to stay the new schools law, passed last April, because it violates free speech, equal protection and due process, the suit contends.

The video report is below: