Order allows students to challenge ethnic-studies law

A federal judge’s order has opened the door for more students in Tucson Unified School District to sue the state and challenge the constitutionality of the law that bans racially divisive courses in Arizona schools.

Hours before the district’s governing board on Tuesday decided to suspend the controversial Mexican-American studies courses, Judge A. Wallace Tashima of U.S. District Court in Tucson issued an order finding that TUSD students, such as Korina Lopez, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, have legal standing to pursue a federal case that argues the state law violates their First Amendment rights.

Richard Martinez, the attorney for Lopez, didn’t immediately return phone calls seeking comment. A spokesman for state schools Superintendent John Huppenthal said Huppenthal is still reviewing the judge’s order. The district also declined to comment, saying it is not a party to the suit.

Huppenthal helped craft the ethnic-studies law while he was a state senator. The law bans classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, encourage resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed solely for students of a certain ethnic background and advocate for ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of students as individuals.

Last week, Huppenthal announced that to force TUSD’s compliance, he would cut $4.9 million in state aid from TUSD’s budget for violations of the law, and potentially $14 million by the end of this fiscal year, June 30, if it failed to modify or eliminate the program to comply.

Tashima wrote that Lopez has standing in the argument that her constitutional rights are under threat because the Mexican-American studies courses she wants to take next fall are at risk of elimination and because, under the law, the state appears to be trying to restrict her First Amendment right to the Mexican-American studies texts and materials that it finds objectionable.

By providing the court a list of the classes she would take, including Mexican-American studies courses, “Lopez has established a concrete and non-speculative injury sufficient to establish standing,” Tashima wrote.

In the same order, Tashima addressed other issues up for debate in the case. He:

Rejected a request by Martinez, Lopez’s attorney, for an injunction to stop the state from cutting millions of dollars in state aid to the district for violations of the ethnic-studies law;

Dismissed the claims by teachers and Sean Arce, the program director of the district’s Mexican-American studies, that their jobs are at risk if the program is eliminated. This means they are no longer parties in the case;

Rejected the state’s arguments that the federal courts should abstain from consideration of the case.

Several parents have asked the five-member TUSD governing board to join the lawsuit or appeal Huppenthal’s decision through the state Office of Administrative Hearings, which handles issues related to state-agency policies.

The board, in a 4-1 vote, said the suspension of the Mexican-American studies program would help the district avoid a costly lawsuit and protect the district from losing millions of dollars in state aid.

Board member Adelita Grijalva was the sole opponent of the program’s suspension. She advocated having the district join the lawsuit led by the teachers and students, or appealing Huppenthal’s decision for a new hearing or review.

In a statement released by his aides Wednesday, Huppenthal said that he is encouraged by the board’s vote.

Huppenthal said he is reviewing the board’s resolution to suspend the program and “upon consultation with TUSD representatives, will make a determination on appropriate method to verify their compliance” with the ethnic-studies law, he said.

TUSD officials didn’t return phone calls seeking further comment Wednesday. Board president Mark Stegeman has said the program’s suspension is immediate and students who had enrolled in the Mexican-American studies courses will be transferred into other classes.

Board members said TUSD will work to have a plan by August that, with the board’s oversight and state officials’ input, will integrate some portions of the Mexican-American studies curriculum into other social-studies courses.

With more than 55,000 students, TUSD is one of the state’s largest districts. About 58 percent of its students are Hispanic, state reports show.