by Daniel Stefanski | Jul 3, 2023 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction shared a helpful announcement about a new feature for high school students seeking information about careers in the U.S. military.
In a release sent last week, the Arizona Department of Education revealed that it had “unveiled a one-stop service to help students interested in a military career get information about the U.S. armed forces.” The website – azed.gov/military – was established so that “students can get essential information about the various branches of the service.”
Horne, a Republican, issued a statement in conjunction with the announcement, saying, “With a historic shortfall of U.S. military recruiting goals, Arizona high schools need to do as much as possible to help students get the information they need to learn if a career in the armed services is an appropriate choice for them. Serving our country is an honorable endeavor and our nation will depend on the next generation of those who enlist or become officer candidates so that our military can continue to defend our freedoms.”
The release highlighted that “the need for this effort was presented to state schools chief Tom Horne earlier this year by Raif Byers, a now-graduated Phoenix-area high school senior who was unable to find helpful and detailed information about a military career on the websites for his high school or the district he attends. He found that many other students his age have the same problem.”
Byers added, “I was trying to learn more about a career in the Navy when I was in high school, but it was nearly impossible for me to find any information on my school district website. It’s relatively easy to learn about other types of careers, so I believe it’s just as vital for schools to make armed services information readily available to students. Unfortunately, I learned that in many districts, that’s just not the case. I’m very grateful to Superintendent Horne for creating this webpage where anyone in the state can easily learn about a career serving our country.”
According to the Arizona Department of Education, “the webpage includes links to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, Army National Guard and Air National Guard. It also has details about the various military benefits and information for those interested in becoming officers or enlisted personnel.”
Horne’s efforts join several other similar endeavors from public officials around the state, who are very active in promoting opportunities in the U.S. Military or honoring those who serve. Recently, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers “partnered with local sponsors to host the Mayor’s Military Induction Ceremony” at a Phoenix-area church – with over 350 recruits!
In May, two in Arizona’s congressional delegation, Andy Biggs and Eli Crane, co-hosted a Military Service Academy Conference to give high school students more information about opportunities to learn more information about future military service and career opportunities.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Jul 3, 2023 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona elected officials found no shortage of material to react to from the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest term.
On Friday, the nation’s highest court released its opinion in Biden v. Nebraska, striking down the president’s student loan cancellation program. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the opinion, and he was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The majority opinion stated that “the ‘economic and political significance’ of the Secretary’s action is staggering by any measure. Practically every student borrower benefits, regardless of circumstances. A budget model issued by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania estimates that the program will cost taxpayers ‘between $469 billion and $569 billion,’ depending on the total number of borrowers ultimately covered.”
State legislators were quick to respond to the momentous decision from the Supreme Court. Freshman Republican Representative Austin Smith tweeted, “Canceling student loan debt is and always will be an irresponsible and brainless ‘policy’ proposal. It deserved this fiery death at SCOTUS. Do not take out astronomically large loans for a career with a salary you will never be able to pay off.”
Smith also parried an attack from the House Democrats Caucus, which took to Twitter to pin the decision on Republicans. This tactic didn’t sit too well with Smith, who said, “The Constitution did this. Cope and seethe.”
On the other side of the aisle, Senate Democratic Assistant Leader Juan Mendez released a statement shortly after news broke about the opinion, writing, “Today’s decision on Student Loan Relief is all the evidence we need to rule this court as corrupt. For generations this court as been playing favorites, taking sides and receiving undisclosed donations, all while Congress has been bailing out corrupt corporations, reckless Wall Street traders and forgiving PPP loans for the wealthy.”
Senator Mendez also called on President Biden to take further action, saying, “The Court’s biased decisions can not go unanswered. The President must do everything within his power to set student loan interest rates to 0%, set minimum monthly payments to $25, and revamp current repayment plans to accept volunteerism as payment.”
Earlier this year, Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that she had withdrawn the State from a lawsuit over the president’s actions on student loans, which was initiated by her predecessor, Mark Brnovich. Mayes told KTAR News that “we’re not going to be engaging in political lawsuits at the Attorney General’s Office anymore,” and that “suing the federal government over everything is not the answer and it’s not what the people of Arizona want.” The KTAR recap of the interview noted that the first-year attorney general “said the student debt lawsuit was inappropriate and unlikely to succeed.” Instead, Mayes joined a coalition of attorneys general from around the country to support a “federal proposal to create a more affordable repayment plan for student loan borrowers.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Jul 2, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Thursday, the Ninth District Circuit Court denied Superintendent Tom Horne’s emergency petition for the relocation of a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s ban on boys in girls’ K-12 sports.
Horne filed the emergency petition last month after District Court Judge Jennifer Zipps twice refused to approve his requested change of venue to a Phoenix court. The case sits currently in Tucson.
Horne’s team argued in their change of venue requests that his residency and primary duties as superintendent relegated him to Phoenix, making travel to a Tucson hearing difficult to arrange. They also argued that Zipps failed to follow Ninth Circuit precedent deferring to the state’s strong public policy interest in protecting residents and elected officials subject to frequent lawsuits from inconvenient venues.
“The District Court thus seriously erred and abused its discretion in overlooking or failing to properly weigh the effect of two Arizona statutes requiring suits against public officials to be filed in the county in which they hold office […] and requiring suits against the state to be filed in Maricopa County,” stated Horne. “Because public officials are subject to more lawsuits based on their public service, the State of Arizona has enacted special venue provisions requiring that public officials be sued in a venue that is convenient to the public official[.]”
However, the Ninth District Court determined that Horne hadn’t demonstrated a “clear and indisputable right” to such a change of venue.
In the case, Jane Doe v. Thomas Horne, the parents of an 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy sued the state in April. The parents are seeking an injunction on SB1165, which requires children to play on sports teams aligning with their gender in K-12 sports.
The lawsuit claims that transgenderism — a mental dissonance between one’s perceived and actual biological gender — is a sex-based trait.
The lawsuit also claimed that all individuals have a gender identity — a perception of one’s gender in addition to their biological reality — and that the only proper treatment for those with gender dysphoria was to allow the full exercise of the dysphoric feelings.
The children in the case are an 11-year-old Maricopa County boy that desires to play girls’ basketball, cross country, and soccer, named “Jane Doe” for anonymity, and a 15-year-old Pima County boy who desires to play girls’ volleyball, “Megan Roe.”
“Under the medical standards of care for the treatment of gender dysphoria in adolescents, the only safe and effective treatment for gender dysphoria is to permit transgender adolescents to live consistent with their gender identity in all aspects of their lives,” stated the lawsuit.
Doe hasn’t begun puberty blockers yet, but plans to at the onset of puberty; Roe has been on puberty blockers since 11 years old, and hormone replacement therapy since 12 years old.
Horne told The Associated Press that the lawsuit was “backwards” and an attempt to steal protections instituted for girls and women originally.
“Title IX was aimed at giving girls equal opportunities for playing sports. When a biological boy plays in a girl’s sport, it disadvantages the girls,” said Horne. “There have been lots of news stories about girls who worked hard to excel at their sports, found they could not when they had to compete against biological boys and were devastated by that.”
One mother, who remains anonymous due to concerns over her family’s safety, told The Associated Press that she worries about her son’s mental health due to this lawsuit.
“Jane knows this would be because [he] is transgender, and I worry about how that will affect [his] self-esteem and [his] confidence,” said the mother.
AIA first began to allow transgender students to compete on the sports team of the opposite sex in 2014. The AIA thereafter considered these acceptances on a case-by-case basis. In 2018, the AIA revised the policy to allow students to compete on sports teams that aligned with their gender identity rather than biological sex.
The lawsuit claimed that since no reported harm had come of the several students who exercised this policy, the Arizona legislature had no basis for passing its ban last year.
Attorney General Kris Mayes refused to defend the law in court, prompting State Sen. President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) and State House Speaker Ben Toma (R-LD27) to intervene.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jul 1, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Every year, Cox Communications gives tens of thousands to minority students through its diversity scholarships.
This year, the broadband, cable, and telecommunications company issued $35,000 to 10 students. Each student received $3,500. Cox Communications began offering the diversity scholarships in 2014.
Eligible students can’t be white; they must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA.
Partners to the scholarship fund include YWCA Metro Phoenix, ACEL, Be a Leader Foundation, NAACP Maricopa Branch, One n Ten, Sunnyside Educational Foundation, Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona, Greater Phoenix Urban League, Valle Del Sol, and the Educational Enrichment Foundation.
In a statement related to this year’s scholarship offering, Cox vice president of communications, Susan Anable, said that diversity of race correlates directly to stronger communities.
“Ensuring that diverse students have access to higher education will create stronger communities throughout Arizona,” said Anable. “We know that the cost of college can be prohibitive, and the challenge can be stressful for students and their families. We’re proud to connect families to opportunities like this one.”
In a statement regarding the awardees, Anable clarified that these scholarships were part of their company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
“These annual Cox Diversity Scholarships are how we demonstrate our commitment to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion both within our company and in the communities we serve,” said Anable.
Cox Communication’s DEI initiatives include equitable promotion tracks to match the diversity of surrounding communities and customers. The company also established seven DEI councils across the states and regions it serves: California, Southwest, Central, Southeast, Northeast, Virginia, and Atlanta.
In addition to diversity scholarships, Cox Communications also implements race and identity-based diversity standards for its supply chain partnerships. The company identifies nine different race or identity classifications for diverse suppliers: minorities, women, LGBTQ+, disability, veterans, disabled veterans, and service-disabled veterans. In order to qualify for business with Cox Communications, those businesses must be at least 51 percent owned, operated, or controlled by a diverse group listed.
“We make it a priority to work with diverse-owned businesses and will continue to invest in the inspired talent and innovation diverse suppliers have to offer,” said George Richter, Cox’s senior vice president of supply chain management.
Even those diversity-led businesses who don’t qualify for supply chain partnership may still benefit from Cox Communications DEI commitment. The company offers a scholarship program for diverse-owned businesses through Arizona State University Thunderbird School of Global Management, UNLV Lee Business School, Council for Supplier Diversity, Delgado Community College, and Old Dominion University.
For their DEI efforts, Cox Communications has won multiple awards from DiversityInc over the last two years, as well as numerous diversity awards from Forbes.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 25, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) warned schools that not teaching the English language to migrant students violates state law.
In a press release issued Monday, ADE Superintendent Tom Horne further warned that schools neglecting to teach the English language to migrant students, classified as English Language Learners (ELLs), were at risk of losing funding. A 50-50 dual language immersion model used in some schools, commonly referred to as “dual language” classes, prompted the ADE declaration.
The Arizona Legislative Council (ALC) clarified in a memo to State Sen. Sonny Borrelli (R-LD-30) that ELL students must learn class subjects in the English language.
“If the 50-50 dual language immersion model allows students to be taught subject matter in a language other than English as part of structured English immersion, the model likely violates Proposition 203,” wrote the ALC.
If not, schools stand to lose ELL funds. Any elected school officials or administrators responsible for the violation are also liable to a lawsuit, and could face removal from office and a bar from running again for five years.
State law established by the voter-led Proposition 203, passed in 2000, requires ELL students to be taught English, be placed in English language classrooms, and be educated through a sheltered English immersion environment for at most a year. State law clarifies that no subject matter may be taught in any language other than English within the immersion environment.
The 50-50 dual language immersion model, however, teaches students in languages other than English half the time during the immersion period. As ALC noted, this structure wouldn’t satisfy the statutory requirement for structured English immersion.
“That definition prohibits any subject matter from being taught ‘in any language other than English,’ and the model clearly allows for some subject matter to be taught in a language other than English,” stated the ALC.
Horne said that during his first stint as superintendent 20 years ago, English proficiency increased from four percent to 29 percent within one year. According to Horne, Prop 203 wasn’t enforced throughout the first few years of its existence.
“When I started my first term as state Superintendent of Schools in 2003, the initiative was unenforced, and bilingual education was a method of teaching in Arizona schools. As a result, a pathetic 4% of students became proficient in English in one year. At that rate, almost none would ever become proficient, and they would fail in the economy,” stated Horne. “We implemented structured English immersion, combined with intensive classes, on how to teach English immersion. The rate of proficiency in English within one year went up to 29%. At that rate within three or four years, almost everyone would become proficient in English.”
Horne claimed that “ideologically motivated” professors favoring bilingual education stood opposed to real-world data, and resisted his attempt to impose Prop 203 initially.
“When we taught these classes, a number of teachers arrived hostile, because of ideology,” said Horne. “But by the end, our structured English immersion teachers were getting standing ovations and very high evaluations.”
Horne clarified that this restriction on dual language only applies to students prior to their attaining proficiency in English. After that, students may engage in dual language programs.
“The data shows that structured English immersion is the best way to achieve this, and the law requires it,” said Horne.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 25, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University (ASU) has shut down a prominent free speech center and fired several faculty members following the protest of the faculty who opposed its existence.
The university decided to shut down the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development within the Barrett Honors College following a controversial event featuring conservative speakers hosted earlier this year.
The contested speakers were nationally-acclaimed conservative pundits Charlie Kirk, founder and president of activist group Turning Point USA; Dennis Prager, radio talk show host and founder of PragerU; and Robert Kiyosaki, author of a bestseller personal finance book and PragerU presenter. As AZ Free News reported in February, a group of 39 left-leaning ASU Barrett Honors College faculty led a campaign to prevent the event from happening, which included recruiting students to protest the event.
The two faculty members to lose their jobs following the controversial event were the executive director of the Lewis Center, Ann Atkinson, and the events operator for the Gammage Theater where the event was held, Lin Blake.
AZ Free News spoke with both Atkinson and Blake about their ordeal. Earlier this week, Atkinson came forward in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece criticizing ASU for caving to leftist restrictions on free speech.
“I wasn’t trying to do anything but my job: to do it well, and to keep people safe.”
For ASU’s Gammage Theater, Blake handled the arrangements for events such as calendaring, contracting, and client meetings. Throughout her career, Blake said she always offered the same respect and professionalism to clients, regardless of who or what was behind an event.
“Over the years I have booked and managed many types of events. Every one of them received the same level of professionalism,” said Blake.
Yet, it was Blake’s commitment to equal treatment in a venue designed for free expression that ultimately cost her the job — even though her superiors signed off on the event.
“Basically, I was sacrificed because Gammage executive staff had to do something to satisfy or appease the staff of Barrett Honors College. I was a scapegoat, and was let go at the beginning of April,” said Blake.
Blake recounted that her superior initially praised her for handling the controversial event. A bulk of essential personnel — security officers, backstage crew, and front of house — all called out, and police availability was limited severely due to ongoing staffing shortages and the Super Bowl occurring that same week. It was up to Blake to fill the gaps to provide a safe and successful event. By all accounts, she said she did — even her boss reportedly told her so, using a favorite phrase of his to describe her: “rockstar.”
By the next Monday, however, sentiments shifted. Blake said she walked into work facing a line of questioning. She was reportedly asked by her superior, ASU Gammage executive director Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, why she booked a “white supremacist,” an accusation leveled against the event speakers by opposing faculty. Blake was then required to get pre-approval from both Jennings-Roggensack and management prior to booking any future events.
Blake said the pre-approval amounted to a micromanaging that ultimately served to filter out who could and couldn’t host an event at Gammage.
According to Blake, Jennings-Roggensack had a habit of telling staff that they were aligned in beliefs, that they all had voted for President Joe Biden and Gov. Katie Hobbs — even if they hadn’t.
At a faculty and leadership meeting following the upbraiding from Jennings-Roggensack, Blake said she was singled out to explain Gammage’s core values.
After that, Blake described her remaining months at ASU as a “slow decline.” She was let go in April for “not being a good fit.”
Blake says she’s applied and interviewed for three other ASU positions. Each time, HR has sent her letters that they’re no longer hiring for the position — even though the positions remained posted as available.
“[This is] what happens to those who don’t conform to the prevailing orthodoxy on campus.”
Atkinson retained her position several months longer than Blake did. It was at the end of May that Atkinson learned from Barrett Honors College Dean Tara Williams that her position would end, and that the Lewis Center would be no more.
In an official statement shared widely by the press following Atkinson’s Wall Street Journal piece, an ASU spokesman claimed that the primary donor behind the Lewis Center, the T.W. Lewis Foundation, would no longer be funding the program. ASU also praised the controversial event as a success.
“Ms. Atkinson’s current job at the university will no longer exist after June 30 because the donor who created and funded the Lewis Center decided to terminate his donation. ASU is working to determine how we can support the most impactful elements of the center without that external funding,” stated the spokesman. “Arizona State University remains committed to, in practice, not just rhetoric, all things that support free speech and all of its components. The event in question was held and was a success.”
It appears that demonization by the vast majority of Barrett Honors College faculty over the Lewis Center event was the breaking point for T.W. Lewis Foundation’s founder, T.W. Lewis. He told The Arizona Republic that ASU’s environment is hostile to conservative thinkers.
“The long story short is that conservative viewpoints are not welcome at ASU. Or, at most public universities in America,” said Lewis.
The T.W. Lewis Foundation funds a number of other major conservative organizations and enterprises, such as GreatHearts Academies, Museum of the Bible, The American Conservative, Alliance Defending Freedom, Conservative Partnership Institute, Young America’s Foundation, Foundation for Economic Education, and the Heritage Foundation. They also fund the organizations from which the controversial speakers hailed: Turning Point USA and PragerU.
However, the foundation wasn’t the only funding source possible as ASU implied. Atkinson offered a diversified group of donors to offset the lost funding; she reported that Williams wasn’t interested. Atkinson also collected 18 pages of testimonials from students, families, and past guest speakers. That wasn’t enough to persuade, either.
“What ASU did not say is that the Barrett dean expressed no interest in continuing the Lewis Center,” said Atkinson.
AZ Free News reached out to Williams about the alternative funding. She didn’t respond by press time.
Atkinson believes that, ultimately, ASU policies have allowed this stifling of free speech to take place. Come fall, there will be one less place for free thought on campus.
“I want the right to free speech to our universities to apply to all people. What happened appears to be within the policies of the university,” said Atkinson. “The students lose. I’m devastated for the students. For so many of them, the 7,000 students in Barrett, this has been their home. Now it’s gone.”
As for next steps, Atkinson said she is taking everything one day at a time.
“I’m hoping to show the world what happens to those who don’t conform to the prevailing orthodoxy on campus.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
