by Staff Reporter | Dec 11, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Board of Education (ASBE) removed language relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from state teaching standards and English language learning courses.
This follows a delay in their decision on the matter several months ago.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne published a press release approving ASBE’s decision to go forward with removing DEI language from Arizona education.
Arizona’s federal funding for 2026 amounts to about $870 million; should Arizona schools not purge DEI, that federal funding may be refused, per the Trump administration.
Horne said the DEI divestment not only counted as compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order conditioning federal funding on the absence of DEI, but as a philosophical good for students.
“All people should be judged based on their character and ability, not their race or ethnicity. DEI language and programs promote the exact opposite, and they have no place in the classroom,” said Horne. “These terms do not belong in teaching standards, which are meant to direct educators on the most effective ways to teach students’ core academics. Every instructional minute is precious, and DEI efforts distract from that essential mission.”
Multiple federal courts issued nationwide preliminary injunctions against the DEI ban earlier this year. However, the proceedings of those cases were impacted by the Supreme Court ruling in June through Trump v. CASA that declared these and other nationwide injunctions improperly exceed the authority of federal courts. The Supreme Court determined that lower courts must offer specific relief to the involved parties, and generally can’t issue nationwide injunctions to non-plaintiffs.
Following this decision by ASBE, a dedicated working group launching in February will draft materials purging DEI from the Arizona Professional Teaching Standards and Structured English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement Course Frameworks.
These materials will define DEI-related language in order to determine which language to remove or revise.
All 15 counties will have representation in this working group. There will be special considerations to include teacher representatives from General Education, Special Education, and the various teacher subgroups such as English Language Learning, Gifted, and Talented programs.
Stakeholder input will be collected from the three public universities, county education superintendents, school administrators, Arizona Rural Education Association, Arizona Educators Association, and current Structured English Immersion course providers.
ASBE is scheduled to consider these materials next September.
While the state’s top education authority supports these modifications, other stakeholder groups oppose them.
The Arizona Education Association (AEA) submitted a letter to ASBE urging rejection of the proposed changes. AEA leadership claimed over 22,000 educators statewide signed onto the letter in their press release. That’s roughly one-third of the teacher workforce in the state. However, the letter clarified that AEA counted mere membership with their organization as equivalent to all members signing on to their letter.
AEA President Marisol Garcia said without DEI Arizona education would cause a “race to the bottom” — vulnerable to constant changes and little of the continuity required for imparting a strong education — as well as a purging of history.
The other major teachers unions at the national level — the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, as well as the civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — sued the Trump administration to stop the DEI ban.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Dec 10, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
The University of Arizona’s (UA) newly implemented civics requirement, adopted under an Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) mandate, is intended to ensure every graduate receives instruction in American government and constitutional principles. But critics warn the university’s rushed structure may undermine the very purpose of the reform.
Under the proposed plan, UA students will fulfill the entire ABOR civics mandate through a single three-credit general education course. As mandated by the ABOR policy, the curriculum requires instruction in seven areas “at a minimum,” including U.S. history’s impact on the present, core principles of constitutional democracy, our major founding documents, landmark Supreme Court cases, practical civic participation, and basic economic literacy, material that peer institutions typically divide across multiple courses.
Mark Stegeman, an associate professor of economics at the University of Arizona and longtime member of the university-wide General Education Committee (UWGEC), recently described the policy proposal as “a car crash in the making” in an op-ed for the Tucson Sentinel. Stegeman cited both academic and procedural concerns with the program’s development and execution.
Stegeman noted that a former UWGEC chair admitted the committee was “just throwing stuff against the wall” during a previous breakneck approval process. He added that at the last meeting of the committee, no one present could answer his questions about seat capacity and course availability by spring 2027. He asked whether UA can reliably offer enough sections of the new civics course to accommodate all graduating students without creating scheduling bottlenecks that delay completion.
He warned that “thousands of students arriving in nine months will face a graduation requirement” built on courses that do not yet exist, with no completed development, approval process, or clear seat-capacity plan.
Those logistical concerns amplify the academic ones. Should the course become oversubscribed or rushed through, the civics requirement could devolve into a mere procedural hurdle rather than a meaningful educational foundation.
The Board of Regents’ directive was designed to restore structured instruction in American institutions across Arizona’s public universities. Other state universities interpreted the requirement differently. Arizona State University requires students to complete both an American institutions course and a civic engagement-focused course. Northern Arizona University has also implemented a two-course model.
As Stegeman summarized: “ABOR’s Civics mandate spans history, economics, landmark Supreme Cases and constitutional debates, information literacy, opportunities to practice civil disagreement and civic engagement, etc. Neither ASU nor NAU attempt to squeeze it all into a single 3-unit course, which would be nearly impossible to do well. UA’s proposal simply omits most of it.”
Beyond the academic criticism, Stegeman raised concerns about how the program was developed internally. According to his analysis, key committees lacked clear structure and broad representation, with significant influence coming from administrative offices rather than a balanced cross-section of departments.
At a time when national surveys consistently show declining civic knowledge among younger Americans, fewer than a third can name most of the First Amendment rights, and only 7% can name all five, according to Annenberg’s 2024 survey.
Many critics among the media and online have argued that universities should expand, not compress, serious instruction in American government.
In March, Fox News’ Jesse Watters shared a segment in which beachgoers in Fort Myers, Florida, failed basic American civics questions alarmingly, including naming the first President of the United States, the three branches of government, and the number of Supreme Court Justices.
In an August 2024 report on youth civics, News21 and the Associated Press noted that in the 2022 midterm elections, only about 1 in 10 voters nationwide was between 18 and 29, according to the Pew Research Center. A June Marist survey found that about 67% of registered Gen Z and Millennial voters said they intended to vote in 2024—compared with 94% of Baby Boomers. After the election, Tufts University’s CIRCLE program estimated that roughly 47% of young people ages 18–29 actually cast ballots in 2024, based on aggregated voter-file data from 40 states. Together, those numbers suggest a generation that is sizable, but still underrepresented and underprepared in the electorate.
When civic education is treated as a matter of efficiency rather than formation, the result can be accurately termed credentialed ignorance: students who pass a requirement but leave without the depth of understanding it was designed—and indeed legally mandated—to provide. The Board of Regents’ civics mandate was supposed to rebuild civic education with rigor and seriousness. Critics like Stegeman argue that UA’s one-course model risks missing that opportunity by prioritizing speed and administrative simplicity over depth.
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 | Dec 8, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
University of Arizona (UA) English professor Dr. Matthew Abraham has filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was blacklisted from key faculty-governance committees after raising concerns about DEI-driven hiring practices within his department. The complaint, filed Nov. 25 in the U.S. District Court for Arizona, names the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) as the sole defendant and alleges retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Abraham, a tenured faculty member, argues that the university systematically excluded him from participation in faculty oversight bodies, including the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (CAFT) and the English Department’s Academic Program Review Committee (APR), after he questioned policies, which he believed to be rooted in racial preferences, through legally protected internal and administrative channels.
According to filings and documentation released by the Liberty Justice Center, Abraham’s concerns date back several years, culminating in multiple internal grievances, public records requests, and a 2022 complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC initially dismissed the complaint but later issued a right-to-sue letter in August 2025, clearing the way for the federal lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Dr. Abraham alleges that UA administrators and faculty leaders applied “confidential” criteria when selecting committee members, criteria he argues were influenced by DEI ideology and were used to sideline dissenting faculty.
Slides and internal correspondence referenced in the lawsuit reportedly categorized certain faculty members as “problematic,” “not appropriate,” or otherwise unfavored for committee roles. Abraham says those labels stemmed directly from his vocal opposition to using race as a factor in hiring or governance.
“University officials cannot blacklist a professor because he dared to question race-based hiring practices,” said Ángel J. Valencia, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, in a press release. “Retaliation for speaking out about unlawful discrimination is itself illegal. We seek to restore lawful, transparent standards for committee service, to remove the stigma the University has placed on Dr. Abraham, and to hold the University accountable for their unlawful actions.”
Abraham’s lawsuit seeks several remedies, according to the Liberty Justice Center, including:
- Removal of “stigmatizing” labels placed in faculty records
- Clear, viewpoint-neutral criteria for determining eligibility for governance committees
- An injunction barring ABOR and UA from using race-based or DEI-based selection practices in committee assignments
- Restoration of Abraham’s participation rights within faculty governance
The University of Arizona declined comment, citing “what is an active legal matter,” according to The Center Square.
Dr. Abraham’s lawsuit comes as public universities nationwide face increasing scrutiny over the role of DEI in hiring, admissions, and internal governance. Arizona’s public higher-education system has been under heightened legal and political pressure in the past year, as previously reported by AZ Free News.
If Abraham prevails, even just by forcing broader disclosure of committee-selection records, the case could become a significant test of how DEI principles intersect with federal civil rights protections and the speech rights of public employees.
The Board of Regents has not yet filed a response in federal court as of this report.
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 | Dec 8, 2025 | Education, News
By Jonathan Eberle |
More than one hundred days after receiving a legislative request for detailed financial transaction records, the Tolleson Union High School District has yet to turn over the documents, prompting renewed scrutiny from Arizona lawmakers.
State Rep. Matt Gress (R-LD4), a Phoenix Republican who chairs the House Education Committee and co-chairs the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, marked the milestone with a sharply worded statement criticizing the district’s continued refusal to release the information.
Gress first requested electronic copies of the district’s financial transactions on August 26, following a legislative audit hearing on Tolleson Union’s fiscal practices. A follow-up letter was issued on September 17. According to Gress, the district has not complied with either request.
“In that time, the district has refused to provide electronic copies, demanded more than $26,000 in fees meant to discourage oversight, and ignored repeated clarifications,” Gress said. “No other public entity in Arizona has ever tried to block access to routine financial information.
The lawmaker said the Legislature has an obligation to track how taxpayer funds are allocated and questioned why the district is resisting disclosure of what he described as basic purchase order and transaction data. He noted that other school districts routinely produce similar exports from their financial software within days.
Tolleson Union has faced heightened public scrutiny in recent months. In November, voters rejected both a bond and budget override measure by wide margins—an outcome Gress pointed to as evidence of waning community trust. “Their message was clear: restore accountability,” he said. “A 100-day refusal to cooperate is unacceptable and cannot continue.”
Gress urged the district’s governing board to direct staff to immediately release the requested records and pledged that lawmakers would “continue pressing for these records until they are produced.”
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Dec 7, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The Tempe Police Department announced last week that they had issued another 249 arrests in one night at Tempe Tavern for underage drinking, fake IDs, and giving false information.
The mass arrests were part of another police sting on the bar, a popular joint for younger adults — especially Arizona State University (ASU) students.
The bar underwent a similar sting back in April, with a similar outcome: about 170 arrests were made. Of those, 165 received citations and were released.
In May, Tempe Tavern issued a statement on the first sting as well as another incident that occurred in the aftermath, in which a Tempe Tavern employee posted a T-shirt likening the police sting to 9/11.
The T-shirt, designed by an ASU student, read “OUR 9-11” on the front and “#TavernStrong” on the back. A since-deleted post sharing the shirt by a Tempe Tavern employee read: “They hit the second tower!” and advised they would be selling the shirts.
“Earlier this week, someone unaffiliated with Tempe Tavern created a shirt that referenced both Tempe Tavern and 9/11. According to what we know, the shirt was designed by an ASU student and circulated in an online student chat. It eventually reached a younger staff member — who did not appreciate the significance of that tragic day — and was shared on Tempe Tavern’s social media account,” said the bar. “Management removed the post as soon as it was brought to our attention. 9/11 is nothing to joke about; the reference was reprehensible. The shirt is tasteless and disgusting.”
Further on in their statement, the bar explained that they scan all IDs for entry into their establishment, but that the current era of fake IDs do scan successfully and appear authentic. The bar advised they provided ID-scan logs and security footage for all bar patrons to back up their claim.
“Tempe Tavern complies with the law, which is why neither the bar nor its employees received citations from the liquor board or the Tempe Police Department,” said the bar.
However, given that there have now been multiple incidents where so many underage drinkers were caught at the establishment, TPD launched an investigation into the bar.
246 of the 249 arrested were given citations and later released. Three went to the city jail.
TPD says they rely on teams with dozens of officers representing the local, state, and federal levels to ensure only those of age are drinking in these establishments. Homeland Security Investigations and Department of Liquor Licenses and Control were present.
TPD called the latest arrest totals “shocking” and indicative of a need for greater crackdowns. Community members were lodging complaints about the bar, hence the second sting operation.
“These are shocking numbers. We don’t celebrate them. Underage drinking puts people at risk — and that’s why we take it seriously,” said TPD.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Dec 6, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
A North Valley elementary school increased the number of Pride posters in its hallways after parents complained about a lesson in which students were taught to play a song about dancing at a gay bar.
As the Arizona Daily Independent (ADI) reported, parents learned after the fact about a recent lesson in a music class at Desert Trails Elementary in which students were directed to play boomwhackers to “Pink Pony Club,” a charting pop song about transitioning to an LGBTQ+ lifestyle and dancing at a gay bar.
The song is by lesbian starlet Chappell Roan, who gained popularity in 2024 from another hit single about her sexuality, “Good Luck, Babe!” Roan, who dresses in the style of drag queens, is widely viewed as an LGBTQ+ icon and advocate.
According to reports and social media chatter, parents were not offered an opt-out or even made aware of the lesson beforehand. According to the ADI, the Paradise Valley Unified School District cleared the teacher to resume classes this week on the promise that he would abide by parental notification requirements in the future.
The educator who implemented the lesson was hired earlier this summer: Jerry Michael Nanney, who goes by Michael Nanney.
Nanney claimed to the school and parents that he didn’t know the context of the song.
“Pink Pony Club” discusses a woman’s desire to leave behind her religious upbringing in the South and join the progressive community out West. The lyrics of the song define identity through sexuality.
In the song, Roan narrates the horror of the woman’s mother “scream[ing]” as “she sees her baby girl” dancing at a club. The woman in the song explains to her horrified mother that she’s “just having fun.”
“And I heard that there’s a special place / Where boys and girls can be queens every single day,” states the song lyrics. “I’m up and jaws are on the floor / Lovers in the bathroom and a line outside the door / Blacklights and mirrored disco ball / Every night’s another reason why I left it all / I thank my wicked dreams.”
As noted elsewhere in other reports and online, “pink pony” has multiple meanings. The term can refer to sex, as well as male genitalia.
The artist, Roan, disclosed the pink and some of the narration for the fictitious club were inspired by a hometown strip club, and the atmosphere and content within the song were inspired by her first visit to a gay bar in California.
All of this information, along with the music video for the song in which Roan, drag queens, and gay men dance suggestively, is available and easily accessible online.
Sleuthing parents and community members with Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity uncovered social media activity by Nanney that undermined his claim that he didn’t know the meaning of the song. Online, Nanney had shared posts by accounts dedicated to drag queen news and culture.
Reports uncovered, further, that Nanney leads the choir for an LGBTQ+-friendly church in Sun City.
These discoveries make Nanney’s claim of no knowledge of the song unlikely.
Nanney also reported obtaining the song as a choice from a list made by other educators who, the district would later confirm, were not within PVUSD.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
