Mesa Public Schools (MPS) ignored additional requests from our reporters to obtain data on how $32.3 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds were spent. In March, MPS toldAZ Free News that no records existed detailing how exactly those funds were spent.
Over a month ago, AZ Free News inquired about records for the chart of accounts related to Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. There were three separate COVID-19 federal relief grants administered: ESSER I, coded under 326; ESSER II, coded under 336; and ESSER III, coded under 346.
We requested those records because the public ESSER report given by MPS in December didn’t offer an in-depth explanation. MPS attributed those tens of millions spent to a variety of ambiguous explanations: “other,” “etc,” “indirect costs,” and “COVID relief positions.”
When we asked for further information about the $32.3 million, MPS told us they couldn’t offer further explanation of those expenditures because they weren’t required by law to create records.
Of the over $4 billion Arizona received in ESSER funding, MPS received the second-largest allotment: around $229.2 million. Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) received the most in the state.
Last October, MPS reported that they had nearly $40 million remaining in their maintenance and operation funds.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Parents pulled their kindergarteners from Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) classrooms after district leadership refused to put an end to one staff member’s discussions of gender ideology. The alleged perpetrator was Mia Perry, a before and after school care assistant who told students that she was nonbinary, an LGBTQ+ term indicating that the individual believes they’re genderless.
It appears that Perry shared more details of gender ideology: SUSD parents reported their kindergarteners came home with concern that they wouldn’t always remain the gender they were, and that they could choose their gender.
One SUSD parent and Arizona Senate candidate, Jan Dubauskas, explained to “The Conservative Circus” that Perry informed the kindergarteners of her nonbinary identity unprompted. At the time of the interview, Dubauskas said she hadn’t received word from SUSD about her complaint filed a week prior.
“This person is alone with small children and unsupervised, and SUSD has known about this for at least eight days,” observed Dubauskas.
Several days after filing the complaint, Dubauskas and several other parents running for office issued an open letter to SUSD.
#BREAKING Today, we signed an Open Letter to @ScottsdaleUSD demanding woke gender indoctrination of Kindergartener students cease immediately.
This is personal. My 6 year old daughter is being indoctrinated. Together, we are fighting to protect our children! pic.twitter.com/BfBbBhUnQW
— Jan Dubauskas for State Senate (@DubauskasJan) May 5, 2022
In response to the parents’ complaints, SUSD Superintendent Scott Menzel defended Perry. During the SUSD Governing Board meeting on Tuesday, Menzel accused parents of Civil Rights violations. Menzel took issue with the fact that Dubauskas issued a press release alongside other political candidates discussing details of the complaint against Perry, claiming that the parents were using the issue for political gain. Menzel said that the parents’ decision to issue an open letter before SUSD concluded its investigation supported his assessment of the situation.
“To target an individual publicly for their personal identity — in this case the individual against whom this complaint was filed does not identify as either male or female — is overt discrimination and inconsistent with state and federal law as well as school district policy,” said Menzel.
Menzel reminded SUSD parents and community members that the district had a commitment to its core values of empathy and inclusion.
“This district will not take adverse employment action against any individual as a result of their identity, no matter how offensive that may be to some,” said Menzel. “Hate and targeted attacks toward individuals on our staff are inconsistent and incompatible with [our] core values. It is my hope that our Scottsdale community will respond with kindness, love, and compassion toward all, as we look to finish this school year on a positive note.”
On Tuesday, SUSD issued a response to the parents’ complaint. SUSD Early Learning and Community Education Director Christine Bonow asserted that Perry hadn’t acted inappropriately when she informed kindergarteners of her gender identity. Additionally, Bonow rebutted the claims that the children didn’t ask Perry about her gender.
“I have found the staff person to be credible and consistent in relating the details of the comments that were made. The staff member did not initiate any conversation regarding gender identity, nor did they engage in any instruction that would be considered sex education. When asked a direct question by a child, the staff member answered briefly, in an age-appropriate manner and honestly,” wrote Bonow. “Simply being aware of a staff member’s gender identity is not inappropriate. Staff members are protected from discrimination based upon gender identity by board policy AC, Scottsdale city ordinance, and state and federal laws.”
Bonow then asserted that action against Perry would be discriminatory.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Monday, the Arizona Supreme Court dismissed claims of insurrection against State Representative Mark Finchem (R-Oro Valley) and Congressmen Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), ruling them valid candidates for the upcoming election.
A progressive nonprofit, Free Speech for People, alleged that the three legislators weren’t qualified because they committed insurrection through their actions and speech on January 6, a purported violation of the U.S. Constitution’s “Disqualification Clause”: Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
In response to the ruling, Gosar asserted that free speech prevailed against the Democrats.
Breaking: The AZ Supreme Court just ruled that me, @RepAndyBiggsAZ and @RealMarkFinchem will remain on the ballot. The Democrats lose again and now have to try to beat us at the ballot box. ✔️Free Speech Wins ✔️No “Insurrection” no Disqualification Clause pic.twitter.com/Ct3RvtekSu
The court agreed with the Maricopa County Superior Court’s ruling from last month. Judge Christopher Coury didn’t entertain whether or not the three lawmakers engaged in insurrection. Rather, the courts agreed that the plaintiffs lacked the ability to enforce it. The Arizona Supreme Court agreed with the superior court’s assessment that the U.S. House of Representatives has the sole authority to determine a candidate’s fitness to serve in Congress.
“1) Congress has not created a civil practice right of action to enforce the Disqualification Clause, and the criminal statute prohibiting rebellion or insurrection, 18 U.S.C. § 2382, does not authorize the challenge by a private citizen; 2) A.R.S. § 16-351 does not provide a private right of action to argue a candidate is proscribed by law from holding office; 3) it is unnecessary to decide if the Amnesty Act of 1872 is applicable because no private right of action exists under the United States Constitution or Arizona law; 4) the Constitution reserves the determination of the qualifications of members of Congress exclusively to the U.S. House of Representatives; 5) the doctrine of laches is not applicable at this time; 6) Plaintiffs do not satisfy the legal standards for injunctive relief; and 7) there is no need for an advisory trial. Plaintiffs timely appealed.”
The nonprofit that challenged the qualifications of Biggs, Gosar, and Finchem failed in two similar lawsuits against Congressman Madison Cawthorne (R-NC-11) and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14).
In addition to disqualification of the three legislators’ candidacy, Democrats have called for an investigation into their January 6 involvement.
Our country needs to know what role elected officials played in the Jan. 6 planned insurrection — what they knew, when they knew it. Letter signed by all #AZLeg Democrats asking FBI and @TheJusticeDept to investigate involvement of Rep. Mark Finchem, Congressmen Biggs and Gosar. pic.twitter.com/kUhAQAWkqq
The leader of the activist movement challenging the results of the 2020 election, Ali Alexander of “Stop the Steal,” named Gosar, Biggs, and Finchem as three individuals who helped him organize the January 6 protest.
One of the latest actions taken on these claims came last week when the U.S. House’s January 6 Committee requested that Biggs speak with them.
The Select Committee has requested cooperation from three additional members of the House of Representatives: • Rep. Andy Biggs • Rep. Mo Brooks • Rep. Ronny Jackson pic.twitter.com/ioB1rGxAG5
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) May 2, 2022
Biggs refused to cooperate. He compared the committee’s intentions and tactics to those behind the Salem Witch Trials, with former President Donald Trump supporters being the target.
I will not be participating in the illegitimate and Democrat-sympathizing House Jan. 6 committee panel.
The committee has been a sham since its origins. Its entire purpose is to destroy President Trump and his supporters, intimidate members of Congress, and
This past month, Phoenix preschoolers fundraised for the largest national organization granting wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, Make-A-Wish. Eight of the nine of the preschools in The Learning Experience (TLE) centers challenged each preschooler to raise $40 for Make-A-Wish’s 40th anniversary, which was in 2020.
So far, TLE has raised over $1.24 million for Make-A-Wish. The eight TLE preschools in Arizona have raised over $28,600. The cost of every child’s wish varies, but the average national cost in 2018 was over $11,000.
TLE Ocotillo in Chandler raised over $5,500, over 100 percent of their goal; TLE Eastmark in Mesa raised over $1,200, or 21 percent of their goal; TLE Gilbert-Higley in Gilbert raised over $1,800, or 37 percent of their goal; TLE Gilbert-Morrison Ranch in Gilbert raised over $10,100, or 101 percent of their goal; TLE Dobson Ranch in Mesa raised over $2,300, or 58 percent of their goal; TLE Palm Valley in Goodyear raised over $2,500 or 53 percent of their goal; TLE Phoenix raised over $4,000 or 81 percent of their goal; TLE Surprise raised over $800, or 34 percent of their goal.
Make-A-Wish was founded and is headquartered in Phoenix. Currently, they grant a wish about every 34 minutes. According to the average national cost of a wish, that means an eight-hour working day amounts to an average of around $176,000 in wishes.
The most-requested wishes include: getting a puppy, seeing snow for the first time, meeting a favorite celebrity, being a cowgirl, or getting a backyard tree house. About 77 percent of wishes involve travel, with Disney involved in about half of all wishes.
According to their latest data, Make-A-Wish has granted over 520,000 wishes worldwide. One of the organization’s most elaborate wishes granted was for five-year-old leukemia patient Miles Scott in 2013, who wished to become “Batkid,” Batman’s sidekick. The entire city of San Francisco worked with Make-A-Wish to make the little boy’s wish into a reality: a day-long adventure of Scott chasing down the villain, the Riddler, and rescuing a damsel in distress.
Scott has been cancer-free since then. A documentary, “Batkid Begins,” was released in 2015.
The Democrats’ top lawyer and central actor in Russia collusion hoax, Marc Elias, deleted all tweets published prior to April 4. As AZ Free News reported, Elias is assisting several activist groups in their lawsuits against Arizona for enacting a law requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote. According to court filings, only one case has seen action beyond the initial complaint: the court allowed Attorney General Mark Brnovich to intervene in the case filed by Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA).
Elias hasn’t offered an explanation for the sudden purge; he joined Twitter in March 2009. In recent months, federal investigators have closed in on those behind the Russia collusion hoax, or Russiagate.
At the end of March, the Federal Election Commission fined the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign $113,000 for misrepresenting payments for opposition research used to create Russiagate. Elias was Clinton’s general counsel and his law firm at the time, Perkins Coie, billed for “legal expenses” that were used to hire an opposition research firm, Fusion GPS, to do their work on former President Donald Trump.
Fusion GPS obtained the debunked “Steele dossier” linking Trump to Russia from former British spy Christopher Steel, who created the dossier using false information from a Russian analyst living in Virginia, Igor Danchenko, who in turn received some ideas from former Clinton aide Charles Donlan Jr.
Buzzfeed first published the fake dossier in January 2017, ten days before Trump’s inauguration. The lies cast a shadow on all four years of Trump’s presidency.
Although Elias wasn’t President Joe Biden’s general counsel for his campaign — he served as Vice President Kamala Harris’ general counsel during her short bid for president — the Biden campaign and the DNC enlisted his help to counter 65 lawsuits challenging the 2020 election results.
Last August, Elias left his partnership at Perkins Coie to launch his own law firm: the Elias Law Group. He took 10 partners with him.
A month later, a federal grand jury indicted Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussman for making false statements to the FBI concerning alleged communications between Trump and Russia. In a 48-page motion last month to admit additional evidence, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Sussman attempted to manipulate the FBI to advance the interests of his client, the Clinton campaign, by giving then-FBI general counsel James Baker information that Trump was colluding with Russia based on alleged internet server communications between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa-Bank. Sussman’s indictment noted that he billed the Clinton campaign for time spent drafting the document given to Baker.
Then, the DOJ alleged that Sussman turned around and ordered Steele to create reports about the Alfa-Bank communications. After that, the DOJ alleged that Sussman and Fusion GPS employees presented their information to media.
Sussman wasn’t one of the 10 partners that Elias recruited for his law firm.
In January, Elias testified in Sussman’s case. In February, Sussman asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to dismiss the case; Cooper denied the request last month. The trial is scheduled for May 16. At the pretrial hearing, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
While Sussman was dealing with the fallout of Russiagate, his former employer and Elias moved onto other controversial clients.
According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Black Lives Matter PAC paid the Elias Law Group nearly $8,000 for legal services and Perkins Coie over $8,000 for compliance services from January through March. Black Lives Matter came under scrutiny over the last year for its use of millions in donations to purchase mansions.
As for the DOJ case against Sussman, Elias and other top Clinton officials are fighting to keep the work done by Fusion GPS under wraps, claiming that it qualified for the confidentiality required of legal work.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
