Channeling Raul…

US Congressman Raul Grijalva penned a moderate Op-Ed on ethnic studies for Sunday’s Arizona Daily Star:

Political Fight over Ethnic Studies Should Never Have Been Ignited at All

In his commentary, he places the blame for the problems  facing TUSD squarely where it belongs– with the Arizona Legislature, Governor Jan Brewer, and Attorney General Tom Horne. He ends the piece with a call for public comment, fairness, and due process…

Thankfully, TUSD has avoided premature decisions about the fate of the program. We need to let the legal, administrative and public comment processes run their courses. All of us, whatever our background, share the American history and values of fairness, democracy and due process.

That’s what we need here, not more overheated rhetoric.

Ironically, two days before Grijalva’s piece appeared, I also called for continued free and open public dialogue and less “overheated rhetoric.”

Focusing so intensely on this one small program is clouding the bigger picture: Education in Arizona is in trouble, and public education nationwide is under attack. As long as were fighting and drawing lines in the sand, nothing will progress. We need full transparency, and we need a public forum where everyone’s voices can be heard– not just those who shout the loudest. We need to come together to fix this– or Tom Horne will fix it for us.