by Staff Reporter | Feb 28, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The average eighth grader in Arizona has the lowest reading scores on record, and about the same mathematics scores as nearly 30 years ago.
The Nation’s Report Card (NCR) 2024 Reading State Snapshot Report showed that Arizona’s average scores for eighth grade students declined to 254, the lowest point on record over the past three decades.
Data reveals that gains made by fourth graders in math and reading in recent decades were undone or reduced in the last few years, and by the time the student hit the eighth grade they were at the same level or declining past historic average scoring across both math and reading.
Average reading scores were 208 for fourth graders and 254 for eighth graders.
Fourth graders improved their average reading scores slightly based on records dating back to 1998, matching the national trend of slight improvements to average reading scores before a steep decline the last few years. However, eighth graders have generally declined in their average reading scores based on records dating back to 1998, much aligned with the national trend of average scores.
For eighth grade reading, Arizona was lower than those in 18 states or jurisdictions, not significantly different from those in 28 states or jurisdictions, and higher than those in five states or jurisdictions.
NCR also found that black and Hispanic students in Arizona had average reading scores double digits lower than their white peers: 30 and 22 points, respectively. Neither of these disparities were determined to be “significantly different” from those retrieved nearly 30 years ago (21 and 25 points, respectively). Male Arizona students scored on average 11 points less than their female peers. Students identified as economically disadvantaged averaged 21 points lower in their scoring, again determined to be not statistically different from nearly 30 years ago (23 points).
Average mathematics scores were 232 for fourth graders and 270 for eighth graders.
Fourth graders improved in their average math scores based on records dating back to 2000, matching the national trend of improved average math scores. However, eighth graders declined their average math scores in recent years based on records dating back to 2000, matching the national trend of some improvements around the early 2010s before a steep decline in recent years.
For eighth grade math, Arizona’s average score was lower than those in 24 states or jurisdictions, higher than those in seven states or jurisdictions, and not significantly different from those in 20 states or jurisdictions.
NCR reported that black and Hispanic students in Arizona had average reading scores double digits lower than their white peers: both 32 points, respectively. Neither of these disparities were determined to be “significantly different” from those retrieved a little over 20 years ago (37 and 33 points, respectively). Male Arizona students scored on average six points higher than their female peers. Students identified as economically disadvantaged averaged 33 points lower in their scoring, again determined to be not statistically different from nearly 30 years ago (28 points).
The last science scores gathered date back to 2015, and the last writing scores date back to 2007.
Sandra Christensen, board member with the Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD), claimed the decline in scores was because districts weren’t prioritizing academic excellence or student safety.
“We can no longer afford to govern districts like we did 10 years ago. Our students deserve better!” said Christensen. “We MUST focus on academic excellence and student safety. As a constitutional republic, elected officials report to you! Wake up and stop electing ‘get along to go along’ politicians that don’t listen to your voice!”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Feb 28, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Rep. David Livingston, Chairman of the Arizona House Appropriations Committee, issued a letter to Governor Katie Hobbs this week calling on her to publicly acknowledge her responsibility for a $122 million shortfall in the Arizona State Developmental Disabilities (DDD) program and work with the Republican-controlled legislature to correct the problem. Livingston noted that “Despite repeated requests for meaningful discussions, the Governor and her staff have refused to engage.”
Hobbs has faced sustained criticism from Livingston, the Goldwater Institute, and Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee who described the situation as “unfortunate gross financial mismanagement by the Hobbs Administration.”
In his letter to Hobbs, Livingston wrote, “For the past seven weeks, I have held seven Appropriations Committee hearings, laying out in clear detail how your administration’s budget mismanagement is creating serious financial risks for the state. At every turn, I have asked for serious, responsible discussions to address this situation, yet your office continues to say you ‘aren’t ready.’ Meanwhile, rather than engaging with the Legislature in good faith, you and your staff have chosen to issue public statements, assign blame, and demand more taxpayer dollars—without addressing the broken system that led us here. Here’s the reality:
- The $122 million shortfall in the Developmental Disabilities (DDD) program stems entirely from unilateral decisions made by your administration. The Legislature was never consulted before these funds were spent, yet now taxpayers are being asked to cover the consequences.
- Last week, Democrats attempted to force through $122 million in additional spending without any structural reforms or accountability measures—a short-term band-aid that does nothing to prevent future financial shortfalls. Republicans rejected this reckless approach because real solutions require responsible budgeting, not knee-jerk political stunts.
- Your budget proposal is grossly unbalanced, leaving out over $800 million in expenses. Yet, your office suggested to reporters that lawmakers should simply “pass it” and trust the same administration that created this crisis to handle the details. That is not how responsible government works.”
Livingston emphasized that while Hobbs has opted “instead for public statements and political posturing,” Arizona families have suffered the consequences and “remain uncertain about critical services.”
In his letter, he implored the Governor, “You have a choice: You can work with us to fix this problem responsibly, or you can continue making public statements while Arizona families and service providers face uncertainty.” He added, “What we need is real accountability, long-term planning, and meaningful reforms to ensure this program is funded properly—not just for today, but for the future.”
The Appropriations Chairman closed his letter on an affirmation that “The Republican Majority in the House and Senate is committed to responsible budgeting and ensuring that Arizona families have the services they need—without reckless overspending.” He offered Hobbs a final recommendation: “It is time for you to step up, take responsibility, and come to the table.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Feb 28, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A series of posts to X on Tuesday sparked a firestorm of controversy when Merissa Hamilton of Strong Communities Action-EZAZ.org made a bombshell allegation that Maricopa County Election officials were made well aware of the potential for printing and supply issues during the 2022 statewide elections. Hamilton alleged that county officials moved forward without addressing the issues, citing a series of emails detailing the Maricopa County GOP raising concerns to then-Recorder Stephen Richer and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ Election Manager Scott Jarrett.
The post gained national attention when it was shared by X owner and de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk.
In the initial post Hamilton wrote, “Remember in 2022 when the nearly 70% of voting centers in Maricopa County failed on Election Day causing massive, long lines and voter disenfranchisement resulting in @KariLake and @AbrahamHamadeh barely losing? Maricopa County knew in advance their Election Day plan was set up for failure, and THEY LET IT FAIL!”
Hamilton noted that the emails were obtained for Strong Communities Action by The Gavel Project and civil rights activist and Arizona election attorney Ryan Heath saying, “Without his legal muscle we wouldn’t have secured it!”
In the thread that followed, Hamilton released several emails from then-Chairwoman of the Maricopa County Republican Committee Mickie Niland to Richer and Jarrett saying, “I remember hearing from Scott (Jarrett) at some point after the primary that there was a problem during the primary with some tabulators not reading correctly due to low ink. How long does it take you to get paper or ink to them if they run out? Is there a process for the voting locations to report when they are half out of paper? How far are the restocking trucks from the voting centers? Are you using the length of the lines to help you determine when more supplies are brought to the centers?“ She also asked if there was any way she could help.
Jarrett responded, “We’ve been monitoring turnout and are prepared,” adding that there was plenty of ballot paper and normal paper to print control slips as well as “sufficient toner and printer drums.”
Hamilton explained, “Several days ahead of Election Day, the Maricopa County GOP leadership warned Maricopa County that their Election Day plan would fail and disenfranchise voters. The Maricopa County BOS Election Director Scott Jarrett insisted everything would be fine saying he was ‘confident.’”
Niland, representing the Maricopa County GOP, even followed up with an email warning, “Trust is low and voting in person is the topic everyone wants to discuss with us. To us if you are basing your decisions off of history, we think things are different now.” Niland added, “Please consider this email the official raising of that flag.”
According to an investigation of the 2022 Maricopa County Election, former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor found that “many of the Oki B432 printers were not capable of reliably printing 20-inch ballots on 100-pound paper under election-day conditions.”
McGregor added, “The combined effect of the heavy paper, longer ballot, and intermittent burst of print demand pushed the printers to perform at the very edge of or past their capability, so that any decrease in fuser performance in an individual printer could result in problems.”
Replying to the post by Musk, Hamilton thanked the X owner for “bringing attention to this vital matter!” She also raised allegations that Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Galvin has blocked newly elected County Recorder Justin Heap from accessing “the IT staff and responsibilities assigned to him in AZ law to secure and run our elections!”
Later in the afternoon, Maricopa County published a post to X that outlined the October 2024 agreement, which demarcated the election responsibilities of the Board of Supervisors and the Recorder’s Office. Galvin shared the post as well.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Feb 27, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
With the 2026 election just around the corner, Governor Katie Hobbs is adopting right-leaning policies and stances.
On Tuesday, Hobbs announced the creation of a border task force, Operation Desert Guardian (ODG), to enhance border security. The task force strongly resembles the Border Strike Force (BSF) of Hobbs’ Republican predecessor, Doug Ducey.
This renewed focus on border security and support for a task force marks a significant departure from Hobbs’ initial stance as governor.
Early on in her first months in office in 2023, Hobbs began ending Ducey’s BSF, which included removing shipping containers intended to close off unsealed sections of the southern border. On the campaign trail in the summer of 2022, Hobbs promised to not end the BSF. By November, Hobbs indicated her intent to leave border security and immigration enforcement to the federal government.
Hobbs’ spokesman, Christian Slater, insisted in statements to the media that Hobbs’ task force differed greatly from Ducey’s strike force. However, the two share nearly identical structures and duties.
The BSF launched as an enforcement bureau within the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division. The strike force focused on improvements to addressing border-related crimes (for example: drug trafficking, weapon smuggling, vehicle theft recovery, and violent criminal apprehension) while evaluating and analyzing criminal intelligence and enhancing response capabilities along the border. The BSF combined federal, state, county, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the border region to carry out these duties, especially for disruption of transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).
By comparison, ODG also partners with local law enforcement within the border-inclusive counties to disrupt TCO operations and border-related crimes.
Hobbs reversed course on her support for Proposition 123. While still a state senator in 2015, Hobbs opposed the proposition’s arrangement increasing state land trust dollars to fund schools. Last month, Hobbs advocated for the proposition’s renewal as an “essential” means of providing “critical funding” for the state’s public schools and educators.
Hobbs also reversed course on a significant agency pick, Angie Rogers, opting instead to restore Michael Wisehart as director of the Department of Economic Security (DES); her predecessor, Doug Ducey, installed Wisehart.
Last month, Hobbs appointed another Ducey administration veteran, Kathryn “Katie” Ptak, to lead the Department of Child Services.
Some efforts undertaken by the current administration, often seen as red meat right-wing priorities, have backfired recently for the governor. Hobbs created a new six-figure role within DES (chief, or “senior executive consultant,” of the newly-created Office of Veteran & Military Affairs) that mirrors the work already undertaken by the Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS). The position went to Dana Allmond at Hobbs’ behest, the unsuccessful Democratic 2022 legislative candidate and failed gubernatorial nominee. Republican legislative leaders questioned the apparent duplicity of the new DES position and DVS responsibilities.
Per the secretary of state’s office, 11 individuals have filed statements of interest in the governor’s race: Republican candidates Alan White, Karrin Taylor Robinson, George Nicholson, Scott Neely, Donald Mucheck, Christian “Maverick” Grey, Andy Biggs, and Christopher Ames; Green Party candidates William Pounds IV and Lisa Castillo; and Libertarian candidate Barry Hess.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 27, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona legislators are one step closer to acting on an outdated criminal justice statute.
This week, the Arizona House of Representatives approved HB 2720 “to eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine in Arizona’s legal code.” The bill was sponsored by State Representative Leo Biasiucci.
The bill passed the state House with a 59-0 vote (with one member not voting).
According to a press release from the Arizona House of Representatives, the proposal, if enacted into law, would “consolidate the threshold amount for cocaine base and hydrolyzed cocaine with the nine-gram threshold already established for powder cocaine, eliminat[ing] the outdated 750-miligram threshold for crack cocaine, a policy widely criticized for disproportionately targeting lower-income offenders without scientific justification.”
In a statement that accompanied the announcement of the bill’s progress, Biasiucci said, “For too long, Arizona’s laws have imposed an unjust sentencing disparity on two chemically identical substances. HB 2720 ensures our justice system is guided by facts and fairness, not outdated policies from nearly 40 years ago. It’s time for Arizona to align with the federal government and the majority of states that have already fixed this inequity.”
Representative Biasiucci added, “This is about being smart on crime. Punishment should fit the crime, and our laws shouldn’t unfairly penalize one group over another for the same offense.”
Earlier this month, the Arizona House Committee on the Judiciary gave the bill the green light with a unanimous 9-0 vote.
On the Arizona Legislature’s Request to Speak system, representatives from Dreamcorps, Justice Action Network, Justice Action Network, and Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice signed in to support the bill.
HB 2720 will now advance to the Arizona Senate for consideration.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
