from YES! Magazine:
A Student Uprising in Arizona
In Tucson, lawmakers want to cut ethnic studies programs. But they'll have to unchain these students first. by Jeff Biggers
posted Apr 27, 2011
Has Wisconsin finally come to Arizona?
In an extraordinary uprising at the Tucson Unified School District board meeting last night, students in the district's Ethnic Studies/Mexican American Studies (MAS) program chained themselves to the board members' chairs, derailing the introduction of a controversial resolution that would have terminated their acclaimed program's core curriculum accreditation.
"Nobody was listening to us, especially the board," said MAS high school student and activist Lisette Cota. "We were fed up. It may have been drastic but the only way was to chain ourselves to the boards' chairs."
While hundreds of their supporters packed the district meeting room, nine MAS students and activists defied security officers and literally took over the board members' places minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/a-student-uprising-in-arizona