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Radical Education: An Introduction To Paulo Freire, Bryan Wisch

English Faculty Works

In winter 2011, the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal, a former state senator, tried to ban a popular Mexican American Studies program that was being taught in the Tucson Unified School District. He claimed that the course was in violation of AZ House Bill 2281, which prohibits classes that: advocate ethnic solidarity, are designed for pupils of a particular ethnic group, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, or promote the overthrow of the United States government.

To support his claim, Huppenthal pointed to the materials that students were reading. He specifically cited a book called …