A nonprofit promised an entire grade of elementary school students free college tuition should they graduate from high school. Not only will the tuition be covered: books as well as room and board will be covered as well.
The 63 third graders attend Phoenix’s Bernard Black Elementary School in Roosevelt School District No. 66. A nonprofit in Avondale, the Rosztoczy Foundation, raised the funds through their College Promise program. The foundation has also provided scholarships for Hungarian students to research with U.S. college professors.
The students must graduate from their elementary school, then graduate from a school within the Phoenix Union High School District. The students may apply their tuition at any one of Arizona’s state universities or community colleges. They also have the option to attend a private or public post-secondary institution outside of Arizona, with the possibility of receiving funding up to the maximum available to students attending comparable in-state universities or community colleges.
While in college, the student must maintain a 2.0 GPA to continue receiving the scholarship. They must also be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours each semester, with regular progress toward a degree. The scholarship may only apply for four consecutive years. If the student finishes their undergraduate before four years are up, they may apply the remaining scholarship toward their graduate school fees and costs.
The third graders were surprised with the news at an assembly at the end of April.
This isn’t the first time that the Rosztoczy Foundation has done this: in 2012, they awarded about 80 third graders in the Michael Anderson School within the Avondale Elementary District with the same scholarship. They would have graduated high school last year, and those enrolled in college will be completing their freshman year this month.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
A little but major piece of Arizona was planted recently in the downtown of California’s largest city. Arizona State University (ASU) expanded their operations to include a Los Angeles campus last fall through their ASU Local initiative. The new campus offers a hybrid of online and in-person learning.
ASU President Michael Crowe explained to the Los Angeles Times that the number of those rejected from University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) drove the decision to establish ASU in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times partnered with ASU to offer 20 self-paced online courses; subscribers have the added perk of 25 percent off other online courses.
The satellite campus moved into the historic building that once housed the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. ASU celebrated the launch with a tour of the facilities last August. The well over 87,000 square feet making up the satellite campus, dubbed the latest “ASU California Center,” cost $40 million to renovate. Construction began in September 2020, ending just ahead of the open house last August.
ASU's California Center opened its doors in 2021, bringing new possibilities to local learners as ASU Local's newest college experience. Read more about these programs in the latest edition of #ASUThrive magazine, in mailboxes now.
ASU California Center students receive a 20 percent discount on the online, nonresident tuition, which can range from $13,000 to $16,000 annually. Efforts to establish this Los Angeles location launched officially in 2019.
ASU Local also has locations in Washington, D.C. and Yuma. Like the newly-established Los Angeles campus, the D.C. campus was settled in a historic building that came with a similar price tag: $35 million.
ASU began expanding into California over a decade ago. In 2013, ASU announced its other ASU California Center in Santa Monica. They have also accrued partnerships with 116 California community colleges to ensure students advance to earn a bachelor’s degree.
One of the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) high school counselors that organized a drag show featuring students was arrested last week for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Tucson High Magnet School counselor Zobella Brazil Vinik, a 29-year-old woman, was charged with one count of sexual conduct with a minor.
Vinik worked alongside fellow counselor Sunday Hamilton, a transgender man, to create their first annual drag show. That event was supposed to take place on May 7 — two days after TUSD put Vinik on administrative leave and launched an investigation into her, and four days before Vinik turned herself in to police.
As AZ Free News reported, TUSD spokeswoman Karla Escamilla explained that not allowing the drag show to occur would constitute as gender expression discrimination.
Vinik and Hamilton also oversaw the high school’s LGBTQ+ student club, “Q Space.” The club encouraged students to explore their identities as they learned about LGBTQ+ history.
Vinik’s ex-wife initially informed police that she and Vinik allowed the 15-year-old victim to live at their residence. According to the police report obtained by KVOA, the ex-wife discovered Vinik’s underwear under the pillow of where the minor slept. Further police searches of phone records uncovered intimate conversations between Vinik and the minor.
Regarding Vinik’s arrest, Escamilla didn’t respond to specific questions submitted by AZ Free News. Instead, she shared TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo’s statement on the matter:
On May 4th, 2022, detectives from the Tucson Police Department Sexual Assault Unit informed the administration of Tucson High Magnet School of an ongoing investigation into one of its counselors, Zobella Brazil Vinik. The administration was informed of an alleged inappropriate relationship between the counselor and a 15-year-old student from Tucson High.
Working with the Tucson High administration, the District administration acted swiftly to remove the counselor from campus and place her on administrative leave. Our School Safety Department immediately initiated a comprehensive investigation into this alleged incident, which is currently ongoing.
On Thursday May 5th, 2022, Ms. Vinik resigned her position from the Tucson Unified School District and is no longer an employee of the district. The Tucson Unified School District administration will continue to cooperate with the Tucson Police Department in its ongoing investigation. Our administration will continue to emphasize the health and safety of our students as our highest priority.
The social media account created for the high school’s inaugural drag show, @tucsonhigh_drag, posted an eight-day countdown featuring some of the students that would be participating. The event also featured adults that would be performing alongside students: local performers under the stage names, “Erotica Powers,” “Onika Grande,” and “Sophia G. Lauren.”
The account deleted its initial post on the page announcing the event.
Arizona school counselor who arranged drag show for students is accused of having sex with a 15 year-old student pic.twitter.com/l2Q7AlZrGY
It appears the drag show did occur. The event hashtag, #thmsdragshow22, was used by at least one of the minor participants who posted pictures related to their attendance. According to an email from Vinik, the drag show occurred on school grounds and received help from other teachers and organizations such as the University of Arizona’s (UArizona) Institute for LGBTQ Studies and the Southern Arizona Aids Foundation.
Grooming happening at Tucson Magnet HS. Counselor that organized the school approved drag show was arrested for having sex with 15 year old student. Maybe don’t approve drag shows at school and just teach class? https://t.co/0ZBU11xd8vpic.twitter.com/A1hMsGy85C
Last month, the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) gave a company $180,000 to do work already within the outlined responsibilities of its leadership: future planning and creation of a new mission statement.
In an email obtained by AZ Free News, Interim Chancellor Steven Gonzales insisted that the need to outsource the mission statement and strategic plan was due to the capacity constraints of the district’s Institutional Research/Effectiveness (IR/IE) experts normally responsible for those duties.
He further claimed that the increased community diversity necessitated a mission statement makeover and brand-new strategic plan. The allusion to diversity likely came, in part, from MCCCD’s new partnership with the technology company Intel to launch a semiconductor manufacturing bootcamp using American Rescue Plan funds — the entirety of the first class were women.
Today, @intel and @mcccd launched a semiconductor manufacturing bootcamp, funded in part by the American Rescue Plan.
The first class will be all women, strengthening Arizona’s pipeline of female technicians.
Thank you @FLOTUS for joining members of @MCCCD during today’s visit of @intel’s Ocotillo campus. As part of our commitment to #workforce development, we continue to build innovative programs like the Semiconductor Technician Boot Camp in order to meet growing industry demand. pic.twitter.com/OWDnzjgcX9
— Dr. Steven R. Gonzales (@MCCCDChancellor) March 8, 2022
Gonzales projected that the new mission statement and strategic plan would be ready by New Year’s Eve, with implementation following in January of next year.
Although Gonzales said that the district was under capacity constraints, they formed a steering committee to offer resources to the vendor: MGT of America Consulting. The company has held many contracts throughout Arizona: they were hired by the city of Glendale, city of Scottsdale, city of Goodyear, Maricopa County, Coconino County, and Mesa Public Schools over the past few years.
The announcement came shortly after the Phoenix Business Journal selected Gonzales as one of the “Most Admired Leaders of 2022.” Gonzales assumed the interim chancellor role in January 2020.
Incredibly humbled to be selected as one of @phxbizjournal's Most Admired Leaders of 2022. This honor is a reflection of every @MCCCD employee, and their unwavering commitment to serving our students and communities, our success is made possible by them. https://t.co/vBtxRF1ob9
— Dr. Steven R. Gonzales (@MCCCDChancellor) March 23, 2022
75 percent of MCCCD’s income comes from property taxes. Only 23 percent comes from tuition. According to a railbird, MCCCD’s enrollment dropped to one-third of its previous enrollment.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
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.
The latest endeavor from Arizona State University (ASU), a full-time online high school that awards university credits, offers a curriculum focused on woke ideologies on the taxpayer’s dime.
The bulk of the program relies on daily seminars in addition to online lessons, small-group tutorials, and peer tutoring. The sample of seminar subjects challenge students on ethical norms, such as editing the human gene pool, freedom of speech versus “freedom of reach,” social media moderation, and life extension. The seminars are student-led and supported by learning guides and guest experts.
All this at no cost to students who are Arizona residents. Instead, the state covers the cost. Students in other states would pay close to $10,000 a year, and students outside the country would pay nearly $13,000.
The program, ASU Preparatory Academy’s Khan World School, is poised to launch in August with 200 students to start. If all accepted students were Arizona residents this fall, that would cost taxpayers anywhere from $2 million to $2.6 million.
Rather than tests, the academic model emphasizes discussion with teachers, peers, and “industry experts” for learning and assessment. Students advance through a mastery-based model. At the end of the program, students will receive a transcript with final grades for college admissions and scholarships.
Specifics on curriculum weren’t offered. The program asserted that each student would receive their own custom plan.
Governor Doug Ducey called the program a “groundbreaking innovation.”
“Choice in education works and Arizona leads the nation in school choice!” tweeted Ducey.
Another groundbreaking innovation from @ASU, @michaelcrow, and Salman Khan!
Choice in education works and Arizona leads the nation in school choice! https://t.co/SzzjG6JnnL
ASU offered a quiz for students to determine their fit for the program. Only one of the seven questions related to academic competency.
The first question asks the student to select the desk that best represents their mind: “Albert Einstein’s Mess,” “Marie Curie’s Order,” or “Katherine Johnson’s Spotless.” The second question asks the student what time their alarm wakes them up: before the sun, before lunch, before dinner, or “lol, what alarm?”
A third question asks the student how many books they read in a month: none, one or two, or three or more. A fourth question asks the student who they turn to for answers: Google, their friend, their family, or themselves. A fifth question asks the student which animal best describes their learning pace: slothful, steady, or sprinting.
It’s not until the sixth question that the student is asked about something to do with core subjects. The student must answer a math question about where the vertex of a parabola would fall.
The seventh question reverts to a social question about the student’s way of thinking versus that of their friends.
Announcing Khan World School (https://t.co/b0rtuTMbcX ), a partnership with Arizona State University. It is a fraction of the cost of comparable world-class online high schools (and FREE to any Arizona resident). Please spread the word. pic.twitter.com/fr9M5AtVds
The online lessons are a mix of Khan Academy and ASU course content. In order to be admitted, students must be entering their freshman year of high school, proficient in Algebra I, earned grades A or B in 8th grade Math and English Language Arts, and in possession of a computer with a web camera and internet access. Algebra I proficiency appeared to be measured by proof of program completion. Other than that, admissions doesn’t require a GPA or any other academic standards.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
