Precious Knowledge

Tucson ethnic studies student, Mariah Harvey, describes how Mexican American Studies classes at Tucson High School enriched both her understanding of racial difference in her community as well as her own sense of self-identity as a biracial LGBT teen in this companion video the Independent Lens documentary, Precious Knowledge.

Nacho Vejar, an ethnic studies student in a Tucson high school, describes how Mexican American Studies classes encourage critical thinking, community involvement, and the pursuit of new talents in this companion video the Independent Lens documentary, Precious Knowledge.

United States Congressman Raul Grijalva, Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia, and others describe how the struggle for Chicano American rights in Tucson stemmed out of the inequality inherent in the school district in the late 1960s in this companion video the Independent Lens documentary, Precious Knowledge.

As teachers in Tucson's Mexican American Studies Program, teachers Curtis Acosta and Jose Gonzalez successfully engaged students in the classroom, helping to close the achievement gap between white students and students of color. However, a group of lawmakers and politicians saw thing differently, and launched a campaign to end the program.

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary, Precious Knowledge, Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, holds a press conference calling for the end of the Mexican American Studies Program. He believes ethnic studies emphasize ethnic solidarity, rather than assimilation with American ideas, and should be abolished.

In 1997, community activism led the Tucson city council to set up a study committee to look at ways of boosting Latino student achievement and reducing dropout rates. Based on its findings, the school board unanimously voted to create what would become the Mexican American Studies Program.