Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

State Considers Appealing Ethnic Studies Ruling

Ross D. Franklin, File/Associated Press

Arizona officials are considering appealing a U.S. judge's decision to block a ban on ethnic studies programs in public schools.

State attorney general's office spokesman Ryan Anderson said Thursday that it would consult with Superintendent Diane Douglas about appealing the case.

Following a seven-year court battle, Judge A. Wallace Tashima issued a final judgment over a 2010 state law that he found to be motivated by racial discrimination and politics.

Lawmakers passed the ban after Tucson Unified School District began offering classes in 1998 focused on Mexican-American history, literature and art.

Steven Reiss, an attorney for Tucson students who sued over the law, says he's pleased that the district is now free to revive the program.

Attorneys for the state have denied that racial discrimination played a part in the law.