Now that you have seen the fil and read the article by Acosta and Mir, you hve a perspective on what Chicano Studies clases were about at the Tucson school district. classes were elctives and only offered at 6 district high schools. The article and the film address the goal of developing critical thinking as well as lowering the dropout rate. the film also points out the fear and hateful reactionto the program and the Mexican community as well.
the program was closed in 2011 and a subsequent federal court case ruled – two years ago – that the district’s decision to close down the program violated the 14 th amendment of the Constitution and ordered the district to develop a more multicultural approach to educating all students. We are still waiting.
For this final graded discussion board, please share your reactions to the film. Specifically, why do you think the anglo communtiy and many of their Hispanic supportersreacted so hatefully to the program? consider: they criticized and banned books like ‘Pedagogy of Oppressed’ without ever reading them.
