John Huppenthal | |
---|---|
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction | |
In office January 3, 2011 –January 5, 2015 | |
Governor | Jan Brewer |
Preceded by | Tom Horne |
Succeeded by | Diane Douglas |
Arizona State Senator | |
In office 2005–2010 | |
Constituency | District 20 |
Arizona State Representative | |
In office 2000–2004 | |
Arizona State Senator | |
In office 1992–2000 | |
Constituency | District 6 |
Personal details | |
Born | Michigan City,Indiana,U.S. | March 3,1954
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Jennifer Huppenthal |
Children | 2 |
John Huppenthal (born March 3,1954) is an American politician who served as Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2011 to 2015. Prior to being elected Superintendent,Huppenthal served as City Councilman,State Representative,and State Senator. Huppenthal was also a Senior Planning Analyst for Salt River Project. [1]
Huppenthal was born in Michigan City,Indiana and moved with his family to Arizona during childhood. He graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Northern Arizona University. He then obtained a Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University. [1]
Huppenthal was elected to the Chandler City Council in 1984,where he served two four-year terms. [2]
Huppenthal was first elected State Senator in 1992. In the primary election,Huppenthal faced two opponents;former Chandler Mayor Jerry Brooks and Don Goldwater,nephew of Barry Goldwater. Huppenthal won with nearly 50% of the vote. [3] As a state senator from District 6,he was chairman of the Senate Education Committee. [2]
In 2000,Huppenthal was elected State Representative,serving from 2000 to 2004. [4]
In 2004,Huppenthal announced he would seek to reelection to the State Senate. Huppenthal was supported by U.S. Senator John McCain,who issued a statement praising Huppenthal as a "straight shooter" and a "friend of the taxpayer". [5] Huppenthal won by a 60% to 40% margin. [6]
In 2005,an effort to recall John Huppenthal was launched but failed to obtain enough signatures to make it to the ballot. [7] The recall effort claimed he was out-of-touch with District 20 voters. [8]
Huppenthal was elected Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction in the 2010 state election. [1]
Huppenthal ran on a platform of "stopping La Raza" ("The Race",i.e.,Hispanic identity.) [9] He banned state funding for ethnic studies programs,resulting in the Tucson Unified School District ("TUSD") having to shut down its Mexican-American studies program and remove numerous books from classrooms,including William Shakespeare's The Tempest . [10] Huppenthal's ban was based on passage of House Bill 2281 (also known as HB 2281 and A.R.S. § 15–112),which he had co-authored as an Arizona State Senator. [11] [12] [13] The bill targeted the TUSD Mexican-American studies program,based on claims that it was politicizing students and breeding resentment against whites. [13] A subsequent report commissioned by Huppenthal was released in May 2011 finding no evidence of the ethnic studies program being in violation of the law. The study did,however,find that the program was helping to close the achievement gap. [14] "
Huppenthal was defeated in his race for reelection in the Republican Party primary in 2014 by Diane Douglas,who subsequently won the general election,and succeeded him in office in January 2015. [15]
On his last day in office,Huppenthal issued a letter warning the Tucson Unified School District that they were illegally promoting ethnic solidarity and the overthrow of the U.S. government by teaching Mexican history and hip hop. The letter stated that a culturally relevant U.S. history class taught from the Mexican-American perspective violates HB 2281's restrictions against advocating ethnic solidarity because it "includes substantial Mexican history",and that another such history course violates the law's ban on promoting the overthrow of the U.S. government by teaching the Rage Against the Machine song "Take the Power Back". The letter also stated that a culturally relevant U.S. history course taught from the African-American perspective violates the law because it includes "An Introduction to Hip Hop Presented by Master Teacher,KRS-One." [16] The Tucson Unified School District offers these culturally relevant courses pursuant to a federal court order,arising from a decades-long desegregation lawsuit. [13] [17]
In 2017,HB 2281 was criticized for showing "discriminatory intent" and violating the constitutional rights of the students of Arizona from Federal Judge A. Wallace Tashima. [18]
In 2010,as part of a High School television production class project,Keith Wagner interviewed Huppenthal,then a State Senator and running for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction,on the topic of budget cuts for Career and Technical Education ("CTE"). Huppenthal stated that "these are critically important programs",and decried the budget cuts to them as being "simply horrendous". Wagner then reminded Huppenthal that he had voted for a legislative bill to cut $550 million from the Arizona Department of Education's budget,with "a lot of that" cut being in CTE,then asked what factors led to that decision. Huppenthal did not address the question,but,when pressed,walked out of the interview. [19]
In June 2014,an Arizona political blogger alleged that Huppenthal was the person behind pseudonyms used for several years to post anonymous comments on his blog,and other political websites. [20]
The anonymous comments referred to Huppenthal in the third-person,discussed subjects including abortion,the economy,education,child protection and race,and were overtly supportive of Huppenthal's actions and policies. Comments labeled critics as "evil scum",called recipients of public assistance "lazy pigs",and compared the work of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger to the actions of the Nazis. One group of comments included a call to shut down Spanish-language media:"We all need to stomp out balkanization. No Spanish radio stations,no Spanish billboards,no Spanish tv stations,no Spanish newspapers. This is America,speak English. [...] I don't mind them selling Mexican food as long as the menus are mostly in English. And,I'm not being humorous or racist. A lot is at stake here." [21] [22] [23] [24] Media outlets characterized the comments as "harsh","inflammatory",and "racist screeds". [25] [26]
On June 16,2014,Phoenix television station KPNX broke the story,claiming that not only was Huppenthal responsible for the comments,but that he had posted many of them from his office at the Arizona Department of Education. [27] Although Huppenthal did not respond to KPNX's request for comment,two days after the story ran he held a news conference,where he admitted to making the comments,and hundreds of other anonymous posts on political blogs. He defended his positions,but apologized for his "hurtful" comments,stating "I sincerely regret if my comments have offended anyone." [25] [28] [29] [24]
A chimichanga is a deep-fried burrito that is common in Tex-Mex and other Southwestern U.S. cuisine. The dish is typically prepared by filling a flour tortilla with various ingredients,most commonly rice,cheese,beans,and a meat,such as machaca,carne adobada,carne seca,or shredded chicken,and folding it into a rectangular package. It is then deep-fried,and can be accompanied by salsa,guacamole,or sour cream.
Ethnic studies,in the United States,is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race,ethnicity,and nation,but also sexuality,gender,and other such markings—and power,as expressed by the state,by civil society,and by individuals.
Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) is the largest school district of Tucson,Arizona,in terms of enrollment. Dr. Gabriel Trujillo is the superintendent,appointed on September 12,2017,by the Governing Board. As of 2016,TUSD had more than 47,670 students. As of Fall 2012,according to Superintendent John Pedicone,TUSD had 50,000 students. District enrollment has declined over the last 10 years and TUSD lost 1,700 to 2,000 students per year for the two or three years prior to 2012.
Chicano studies,also known as Chicano/a studies,Chican@ studies, or Xicano studies originates from the Chicano Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s,and is the study of the Chicano and Latino experience. Chicano studies draws upon a variety of fields,including history,sociology,the arts,and Chicano literature. The area of studies additionally emphasizes the importance of Chicano educational materials taught by Chicano educators for Chicano students.
Thomas Charles Horne is an American politician,attorney,businessman,and activist who has served as the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2023 and previously from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party,he was Attorney General of Arizona from 2011 to 2015. Horne ran for reelection as Attorney General but lost to Mark Brnovich in the 2014 Republican primary.
Arizona is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States,sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado,New Mexico,and Utah. Its other neighboring states are Nevada to the northwest and California to the west. It also shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest. It is the 6th-largest and the 14th-most-populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix,which is the most populous state capital in the United States.
The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration law in the United States when passed. It has received international attention and has spurred considerable controversy.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Arizona took place on November 6,2012,as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. State voters chose 11 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate,Vice President Joe Biden,against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate,Congressman Paul Ryan. Prior to the election,all 17 news organizations considered this a state Romney would win,or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Arizona was won by Romney with a 9.06% margin. Obama remains the only president to win two terms in office without carrying Arizona either time since the state's founding in 1912. Arizona is also one of only two states that voted against Obama in both 2008 and 2012 that his vice president Joe Biden would go on to win in 2020,the other being Georgia.
Precious Knowledge is a 2011 educational and political documentary that centers on the banning of the Mexican-American Studies (MAS) Program in the Tucson Unified School District of Arizona. The documentary was directed by Ari Luis Palos and produced by Eren Isabel McGinnis,the founders of Dos Vatos Productions.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arizona on November 4,2014. All of Arizona's executive officers were up for election as well as all of Arizona's nine seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections were held on August 26,2014.
The Mexican American Studies Department Programs (MAS) provide courses for students attending various elementary,middle,and high schools within the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). Some key components of the MAS program include student support,curriculum content,teacher professional development,and parent and community involvement. In the past,programs helped Chicana/o and Latina/o students graduate,pursue higher education,and score higher test scores. A study found that "100 percent of those students enrolled in Mexican-American studies classes at Tucson High were graduating,and 85 percent were going on to college."
Operation Streamline is a joint initiative of the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice in the United States,started in 2005,that adopts a "zero-tolerance" approach to unauthorized border-crossing by criminally prosecuting those perpetrating it. Up to 70 people are tried at the same time,sometimes wearing shackles in the courtroom. Entering without inspection is a misdemeanor,and re-entering after deportation is a felony.
Diane Douglas is an American politician who served as Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2015 to 2019. She was elected on November 4,2014,edging out her Democratic opponent,David Garcia,by one percentage point.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arizona on November 6,2018. All of Arizona's executive offices were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat and all of Arizona's nine seats in the United States House of Representatives. The Republican Party won the majority of statewide offices,albeit by much narrower margins than in previous elections,while the Democratic Party picked up three statewide offices.
Richard A. Carranza is an American educator who was the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education from 2018 to 2021. He was appointed by Mayor de Blasio after Alberto M. Carvalho publicly turned down the job in March 2018. He previously was the superintendent of the Houston Independent and the San Francisco Unified School Districts. He is Chief of Strategy and Global Development at IXL.
Librotraficante was an American protest movement. It began in response to a 2012 decision by the Arizona Superintendent for Public Instruction calling for the removal of books from classes that "promote the overthrow of the United States government,foster racial and class-based resentment,favor one ethnic group over another,or advocate ethnic solidarity". Protesters organized a caravan which transported more than 1,000 banned books into Arizona. The caravan was relaunched in 2017 to coincide with a hearing about ethnic-studies courses in the Arizona Supreme Court. The protest received the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award at the American Library Association's Midwinter meeting in 2013.
Roberto Cintli Rodríguez was a Mexican-American journalist,columnist,poet,author,and academic of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona.
The 2018 Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction election took place on November 6,2018,to elect the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction,concurrently with the election of Arizona's Class I U.S. Senate seat,as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Pensamiento Serpentino is a poem by Chicano playwright Luis Valdez originally published by Cucaracha Publications,which was part of El Teatro Campesino,in 1973. The poem famously draws on philosophical concepts held by the Mayan people known as In Lak'ech,meaning "you are the other me." The poem also draws,although less prominently,on Aztec traditions,such as through the appearance of Quetzalcoatl. The poem received national attention after it was illegally banned as part of the removal of Mexican American Studies Programs in Tucson Unified School District. The ban was later ruled unconstitutional.
María Luisa Legarra Urquides was an American educator and proponent of bilingual education. She spent her life in the US state of Arizona,but influenced national educational policies. Urquides served in local and federal roles,and received numerous awards and recognitions for her educational leadership and community work. She has been referred to as the "Mother of Bilingual Education" in the United States. She was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.