Back in January hundreds of students walked out to the streets of downtown Tucson to protest against the cancellation of the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program at the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).

A request filed last month by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund on behalf of Latino plaintiffs to reinstate the MAS programs at TUSD has been denied this week.

The MAS at TUSD program was officially suspended on January 10th after Arizona State Superintendent John Huppenthal ruled that these high school courses were in direct violation with a segment of the Arizona law HB 2281, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010. The segment says a school curriculum in Arizona shall not:

-Promote the overthrow of the United States government.
-Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
-Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.
-Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.

Superintendent Huppenthal threatened to keep $14 million in state funding from TUSD if the MAS program was not terminated, according to the NYTimes.

The federal U.S. District Court judge in Tucson, judge David Bury, who denied the request to reinstate the MAS program, said that the elimination of the courses didn’t intentionally segregate students, nor did it tip the racial or ethnic balance of students in any TUSD school.

Read the full story at The Huffington Post