“I have seen, first hand, the damage done to our young students by partisans who pretend to be educators. I have seen young students who, through classroom indoctrination rather than instruction, were incited to threaten and harass anyone who disagrees with their position.” Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, a Republican congressional candidate who has been a foe of the TUSD program.
Teachers who promote “partisan doctrine” in the classroom would be automatically fired and districts that allow it would lose state funding under the terms of legislation approved Wednesday by a Senate panel.
The 5-2 vote by members of the Committee on Government Reform came after Sen. Lori Klein, R-Anthem, said she has received complaints about “political indoctrination in the classroom.”
Klein said SB 1202 is designed to ensure that students are given a balanced view on what they are being taught.
But the measure appears to be aimed largely at the Tucson Unified School District amid charges that, despite the decision to scrap controversial Ethnic Studies courses, students are still being taught history and social studies in a biased fashion.
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