The Tucson Unified School District board voted unanimously last week to comply with a federal letter about diversity, equity and inclusion programs or lose $72 million in federal funding next school year. But Arizona’s State Superintendent Tom Horne signaled that just signing the letter isn’t good enough.
Horne came to Tucson Monday to deliver a message: Diversity, equity and inclusion have no place in our schools and districts have until April 24 to sign the letter or lose funding.
At the gathering of Pima County Republicans in Marana, he encouraged people to keep an eye on schools and use a special hotline to call in complaints. He said he and others will watch the district and pressure it to comply, or it will be reported to the federal government and could lose those federal funds — 10% of its annual budget — if found in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
To retain federal funding, each district must pledge not to discriminate based on sex, race or nationality. The U.S. Department of Education letter was forwarded from Horne’s office to Arizona school districts earlier this month. As of Tuesday, 450 of Arizona’s 658 school districts have signed the letter, Horne’s office said.
“If they don’t sign a statement by April 24, they will lose their funding. And if they sign it and don’t mean it, we have a hotline and an investigator,” Horne said. People can report their concerns via a Department of Education website, via email or phone.
Horne’s tough talk at The Bridge Christian Church on the northwest side, was greeted by applause from the group of about 50 people. And he was peppered with dozens of questions about how he aims to enforce compliance, especially within TUSD, Southern Arizona’s largest district with about 42,000 students, 80% of whom are from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
“The letter is something we are in compliance with because we are a district that had a desegregation case and we are court-mandated to carry on,” TUSD board member Sadie Shaw told Arizona Luminaria. “We didn’t want to do anything drastic because people’s jobs are on the line and we don’t want to put anyone in the district at risk.”
Horne has a history with TUSD. During his previous term as Arizona’s top education official, he successfully lobbied a GOP-led state Legislature to approve a 2010 law to restrict ethnic studies education courses, including ones that are “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.” The legislation stood for seven years, until the judge in a federal lawsuit brought by Latino students and their parents found the ban was racist.
About $72 million in federal funds are at stake for TUSD, which the district cannot afford to lose as it faces a budget shortfall of $8.6 million heading into next fiscal year. Declining enrollment is the main reason for the budget crisis, said Ricky Hernández TUSD’s chief financial officer.
In a statement from TUSD, the district affirmed “it will comply with all Federal statutes relating to nondiscrimination, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
“Tucson Unified’s history of being under court supervision in a desegregation case until very recently means that the district takes its commitment to creating an educational environment free of unlawful discrimination very seriously. The governing board affirms that it will not operate programs that violate Federal Civil Rights laws. TUSD would not have been released from court supervision had it not been able to convince a federal judge of that very commitment.”
But some at Monday’s event questioned TUSD’s dedication.
“I am concerned about indoctrination and based on the DEI executive order we finally have some authority to change a broken system,” said Kimberly McAllister, a mom of seven with 16 grandchildren who attended Monday’s event. McAllister, 54, started The Bridge with her husband, David, in 1992 and her children attended public schools in Marana. She said she is concerned specifically about Q Space, a Tucson High club for LGBTQ students and a drag show it sponsors each spring.
When she and others asked Horne what they can do about DEI non-compliance, the superintendent encouraged them to report any findings to his office and he will investigate and pass along results to the federal government.
“Will TUSD comply? I feel equipped to move forward, to advocate for kids and protect their minds and hearts,” McAllister said. “LGBTQ is not education. It’s not for schools to tackle. Let families deal with that.”
But the queer club was family to Tucson High graduate MJ Vega.
“I did definitely get that support at school especially in the early phases of my transition,” said Vega, now a 19-year-old freshman at St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn, N.Y. “It was a place to exist and a stage to exist and that was really life-changing. I would have stayed trapped in a life that didn’t belong to me if it wasn’t for Q Space and the drag show. I do think it is a beautiful thing. Time will prove us right.”
The nursing student said the tenuous connection between DEI and sexual orientation is meant to erase queer people.
“Q Space, the drag show, they’re just students existing and there’s no real issue with it,” she said. “The name DEI is meant to foster all different kinds of perspectives: And a queer perspective is the same as a Mexican perspective, same as a white perspective. It’s all diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Title VI does not cover gender or sexual orientation. It protects individuals against discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
Keeping the federal money is vital, said Brieanne Buttner, a former Q Space sponsor during her four years as a Tucson High teacher. She is now a district parent.
TUSD is not doubling down on the usage of those three words: Diversity, equity and inclusion, Buttner said. “We do not want to lose $70 million for our students.”
Clarifications and Corrections: This story has been updated to reflect that a federal letter asks school districts to acknowledge they comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The headline has been updated to reflect that the TUSD board voted April 15 to sign the letter.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
