by Matthew Holloway | Aug 9, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Democrat-Socialist endorsed politicians are not only present on Arizona ballots but appear to be thriving in the Tucson Democratic Primary. Miranda Schubert, running in the Aug. 5 primary for the Tucson Ward 6 council seat, and Sadie Shaw, running against incumbent City Councilmember Kevin Dahl in Ward 3, who also sits on the Tucson Unified School District governing board, were both endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America’s Tucson chapter.
In a statement, the Tucson Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) celebrated the early results, saying, “Tonight, Tucson rejected the status quo and supported champions for Public Power and the working class. At a time when big corporations like Amazon are threatening Tucson’s water and a liveable climate, @mirandaforward6tucson’s decisive victory and @sadieforward3 running neck and neck with a well-funded incumbent proves that Tucsonans want elected leaders who will fight for policies like free-transit, affordable housing and public power that will address the crises we are facing and directly benefit the working class people of Tucson. We look forward to working with these two socialists and the most progressive city council in recent history to improve the lives of all people in Tucson.”
According to the DSA, “The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the United States because we’re a member-driven mass organization.”
The unofficial election results showed that Schubert is trending to capture the Ward 6 council seat “by a wide margin.” As of Friday evening, the tally stood at 6,343 votes, against Democrats Leighton Rockafellow Jr., with 2,927 votes, and James Sinex won 365 votes. She is expected to face Republican Jay Tolkoff, who ran unopposed in his primary. Per AZCentral, Rockafellow has conceded the race.
Schubert declared victory and thanked her supporters Wednesday night, telling them, “I love local politics because it’s so simple. It comes down to having conversations, having conversations with your neighbors and with your fellow community members, and so I hope that this can be the start of more conversations and more work to come together to make Tucson a better place for future generations.”
The Ward 6 seat was vacated by former Councilman Steve Kozachik, who handily defeated Schubert by nearly 18 points in the 2021 Democratic Primary. Kozachik later stepped down to take over the Pima Animal Care Center in 2024. He was succeeded temporarily by Karin Uhlich, who later ran in her own right to finish out his term. However, in July, Uhlich announced she would not seek reelection, leaving Schubert as the frontrunner.
In the Ward 3 race, DSA-endorsee Sadie Shaw is trailing Democrat incumbent Councilman Kevin Dahl by just 19 votes as of this report. The councilman claimed victory, but Shaw has announced that she will await the final results once they have been canvassed and certified per Arizona law. The winner will face Republican Janet “JL” Wittenbraker, who ran unopposed in her primary.
Wittenbraker recently made waves in the city election by calling out the Tucson Sentinel for “failure to interview Republican candidates on key issues such as fare-free transit, Project Blue, and TPD funding,” adding this is “emblematic of their bias,” and “very disappointing.”
In a statement following the results, she told the outlet, “Tucson is ready for change, especially in Ward 3, where poverty, homelessness, and high crime rates resulted in a competitive race between Shaw and Dahl.”
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 Jason Bedrick | Aug 8, 2025 | Opinion
By Jason Bedrick & Matthew Ladner |
Every year, a horde of school district officials and their lobbyists come before the state legislature, rattling their tin cups, begging for more money for their supposedly underfunded schools. They tell sob stories about crumbling buildings and underpaid teachers who had to pay for school supplies from their own pockets. Their schools, they say, are financially starved.
Hogwash.
School bureaucrats don’t want you to know it, but school spending is at an all-time high, and Arizona’s school districts are sitting on more than $20 billion in cash reserves and buildings they don’t need while student achievement craters. A new report from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) reveals the shocking scope of waste plaguing our traditional public school system, and it’s time taxpayers demanded answers.
The numbers are staggering. As has been documented, Arizona’s school districts are already hoarding $7.8 billion in cash reserves, up $1 billion since the prior fiscal year. Now we learn they’re also sitting on $12.2 billion worth of excess real estate—78 million square feet of unused and underutilized space that could house 630,000 additional students. Combined, that’s over $20 billion in resources that could be put to better use serving Arizona’s children.
Since 2019, district school enrollment has declined 5% statewide, yet these same districts increased their building space by 3% and boosted capital spending by a jaw-dropping 67% to $8.9 billion. As CSI has documented, districts have added 499 new buildings while losing 47,500 students. This isn’t just inefficient, it’s fiscally reckless.
The massive spending on new buildings might be justifiable if schools were overcrowded or expecting a huge influx of new students, but they’re not. In fact, Arizona’s district schools are already significantly overbuilt, operating at just 67% capacity while charter schools run at 95% capacity and private schools at 75%. CSI estimates that the excess space in district schools could accommodate 630,000 additional students—nearly half the current statewide district school enrollment.
The excess capacity comes at an enormous cost. CSI estimates that the market value of excess district space alone—$12.2 billion—could fund a decade of capital expenditures. Alternatively, eliminating maintenance costs for unused space would save taxpayers $1 billion annually. That’s real money that could reduce taxes, improve education, or address Arizona’s other pressing needs.
There are plenty of willing buyers. Indeed, the fastest-growing school systems—charters and private schools chosen by increasing numbers of Arizona families—struggle to find adequate facilities. Yet school districts often go to incredible lengths to avoid selling buildings to them, such as when Tucson Unified School District sold an unused building for 25% less than what a Christian school had offered, just so that a “competitor” wouldn’t have it.
In response to such cases, Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law requiring school districts to sell buildings to the highest bidder, even if it’s a private or charter school. Now, rather than comply, school districts are just letting their underutilized space languish and forcing the taxpayers to pay the bill.
The wastefulness is also a slap in the face to teachers and students alike.
As we noted previously, the districts have enough cash reserves to raise the average teacher pay from $64,420 to more than $80,000 for 10 years and still have funds left over. If they sold off all their underutilized space, they could raise the average teacher pay to $100,000 for a decade and still have billions left over.
There is no evidence that spending on buildings is contributing to student learning. As the buildings have gone up, math scores have gone down, plummeting 25% since 2019. As CSI documents, the lowest-performing schools have the most excess space, operating at just 19% capacity, while high-performing schools run at 70% capacity.
This isn’t about helping kids learn; it’s about protecting a bloated bureaucracy that puts institutional self-interest above student needs.
Fixing the problem will require realigning incentives. CSI recommends more transparency—including a “Facilities Condition Index” that would give policymakers and the public objective information about the quality of existing school facilities—and more state oversight of severely underutilized facilities. In the meantime, any funding requests from the school districts should be greeted by state lawmakers with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Arizona’s children deserve better than a $20 billion monument to government inefficiency. They deserve a system that puts their education first, not one that hoards resources while performance plummets. If local officials can’t or won’t deliver, then state lawmakers will have to step in.
Jason Bedrick is a Research Fellow and Matthew Ladner is a Senior Advisor for education policy implementation at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy.
by Matthew Holloway | Aug 8, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
In a post to X earlier this week, Chaya Raichik’s ‘Libs of TikTok’ revealed a now-deleted video allegedly created by an educator at the PPEP TEC High School’s Cesar Chavez Learning Center in San Luis, Arizona. The video urged teachers to “teach as hard as you can[.] So your students don’t grow up to be… Trump supporters.”
In a screenshot of the post, a man believed to be PPEP TEC High School teacher Edson Delgado, posting under the now-deleted profile ‘mrfacts5x’ wrote, in full, “This school year… Teach as hard as you can[.] So your students don’t grow up to be… Trump supporters. Make America Smart Again.”
In the caption of the post, he added, “If we don’t teach them critical thinking… someone else will teach them conspiracy theories. Let’s make America smart again.”
Libs of TikTok commented on the post, “Teacher at PPEP Cesar Chavez Learning Center in AZ wants to ‘teach’ students so they don’t grow up to be Trump supporters. Any comment @ppeptechs?? Do you condone teachers indoctrinating kids???”
The individual depicted in the post as ‘mrfacts5x’ bears a notable resemblance to Delgado, an educator who was honored by the office of Yuma County Superintendent Tom Hurt as doing “Great things at PPEP Tech!” In a March 25th post to Facebook and is identifiable through the certifications shown hanging behind him in the post to TikTok.
Several commenters on social media expressed reactions, ranging from concern to outrage. Political commentator Paul Szypula wrote, “Our schools are compromised.”
Columnist Emilia Henderson replied on X, “That teacher is PROGRAMMING kids with hatred for their own country. If PPEP allows this, they’re no school at all.. they’re a political FACTORY pushing Democrat obedience.”
Some critics of the TikTok post called for federal funding for PPEP TEC High School to be terminated, while others called for the teacher’s termination. At least one Arizona commenter, ‘JustADudeAZ,’ stated that he reported the incident to Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. He wrote, “Credit to Tom Horne for listening and getting back to me. He provided where to go to keep people like this teacher honest. If you see teaching like this you can report them directly using this site,” and provided a link to the Empower Hotline.
The hotline is “the forum to report about inappropriate lessons that detract from teaching academic standards such as those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, promoting gender ideology, social emotional learning, or inappropriate sexual content,” according to the Arizona Department of Education.
AZ Free News has reached out to PPEP TEC High School for comment but received no response by the filing of this article.
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 Jonathan Eberle | Aug 8, 2025 | Education, News
By Jonathan Eberle |
As schools across Arizona reopen for the fall semester, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is encouraging parents to be alert to classroom content they believe may conflict with their family’s values. His call follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming parents’ rights to withdraw their children from classes that conflict with their religious beliefs.
“The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that parents have the Constitutionally protected right to opt their children out of classes when their religious beliefs conflict with course material,” Horne said in a public statement. “As the new school year begins, I am urging parents to be aware they have the power to ensure their child’s school is concentrating on academics, not social indoctrination.”
Horne cited a case from earlier this year involving a Tucson-area teacher whose lessons, he claimed, undermined students’ religious beliefs and promoted gender ideology. According to Horne, the teacher has since retired, and the matter was resolved. “This is exactly the type of situation that was addressed in this recent Supreme Court decision,” he said.
To address concerns like these, the Arizona Department of Education operates an “Empower Hotline,” which allows parents, educators, and citizens to report what they view as inappropriate content in the classroom. Horne said the hotline has received complaints about lessons that focus on race, gender identity, or content perceived as deviating from traditional academic instruction.
“Students need education in reading, writing, math, science, history, and the arts,” Horne added. “The inappropriate lessons about which parents are complaining are a distraction from these crucial academic subjects. My principal goal has been to bring back academic focus into the classrooms.”
The Supreme Court decision referenced by Horne affirms long-standing interpretations of parental rights in education but has gained renewed attention amid ongoing debates over curriculum content in public schools across the country.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Jonathan Eberle | Aug 7, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
The Arizona Court of Appeals is set to hear oral arguments on August 19 in a closely watched lawsuit challenging the state’s early ballot signature verification process—one that could reshape how election officials authenticate mail-in ballots. The case, Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Fontes, will be heard by Division Two of the Court of Appeals, which lifted a prior stay in the case following a joint request by all parties to move forward on the merits.
At the heart of the dispute is whether the Secretary of State’s Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) has unlawfully expanded the scope of documents used to verify a voter’s signature on early ballot envelopes. The plaintiffs—Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, and Yavapai County voter Dwight Kadar—argue that Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and his predecessor, now-Governor Katie Hobbs, enforced EPM guidance that violates state law.
Under Arizona statute A.R.S. § 16-550(A), election officials are required to compare a voter’s early ballot envelope signature to the one in their “registration record.” However, the current EPM—originally authored by Hobbs in 2019 and maintained under Fontes—permits election officials to validate signatures by comparing them to any election-related document on file, such as early ballot requests, provisional ballot envelopes, or Active Early Voting List notices.
“The current election procedures manual adopted by the Secretary of State has rewritten state law regarding signature verification for mail-in ballots,” said Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi. “The result is a process that invites questionable methods and opportunities for abuse during the signature review process. It’s time for the courts to bring this illegal EPM practice to a halt.”
The case has had a turbulent procedural history. In 2023, Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper initially ruled that the EPM violated state law, stating that the definition of “registration record” is neither vague nor ambiguous. Napper rejected the Secretary of State’s argument that the term could include any number of election-related documents. However, in a surprising reversal later in the proceedings, Napper ruled in favor of the state—prompting the plaintiffs to appeal.
The outcome of this case could have major consequences for how Arizona handles the verification of early ballots in future elections. Arizona is a state with widespread early and mail-in voting, and signature matching is often the sole method for confirming voter identity on ballots returned by mail. Early ballot voters are not required to provide other identifying information, such as a driver’s license number, date of birth, or the last four digits of a Social Security number.
After months of delays—including a stay prompted by a separate ruling that invalidated the 2023 EPM for procedural reasons—the Court of Appeals has agreed to resume the case. All parties have urged the court to issue a ruling on the merits, regardless of the Arizona Supreme Court’s handling of a related challenge filed by the Republican National Committee.
The court’s decision will help clarify the balance of power between Arizona’s elected officials and its election laws, especially in the increasingly scrutinized area of early voting.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
