Arizona Rep. Proposes Bill Amendment to “Protect” Western Values

Arizona state representative Russell Pearce has proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 1108, originally intended to implement minor changes to Arizona’s Homeland Security advisory councils, that seeks to ban Arizona public schools from using taxpayers’ money to teach subjects considered contradictory to Western civilization or democracy. The measure would also ban students from forming campus groups based on race or ethnicity, like MEChA, a national organization of Hispanic students. The proposal, which was recently approved by the House Appropriations Committee, comes partly in reaction to a controversial ethnic-studies program in the Tucson School District that opponents find “unpatriotic.”