Peoria School Board Elects Conservative Mom For President

Peoria School Board Elects Conservative Mom For President

By Staff Reporter |

The newly elected Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) board president is a conservative mother, declining to re-elect the sitting president. 

PUSD elected its new president, Heather Rooks, during Thursday’s regular board meeting following their 8-hour study session. Members Janelle Bowles, Jeff Tobey, and Becky Proudfit voted for Rooks, with only board member Melissa Ewing voting against. Ewing didn’t provide an explanation for her “no” vote. 

Proudfit attempted to re-elect herself, but only Ewing voted for her. 

Public comment on the board president election expressed hope in the prospect of new leadership. 

One mother and community advocate, Nikki Eancheff, explained that Rooks helped her navigate school procedures after her daughter encountered a boy in a girls’ restroom at Liberty High School. 

“What Mrs. Rooks said earlier today in the retreat, that she was elected by parents to be our voice and be our champion and advocate here in the board room and the district level is the truth,” said Eancheff. 

Several other mothers also expressed their overt support for Rooks due to her prioritization of parents while backing public schools. 

Kristen Balthis with the Peoria Principals’ Association said that while their organization didn’t endorse any one candidate, they supported the candidate that “can facilitate the education environment that allows our children to thrive.”

Teddy Todd, who has spoken out against PUSD board policies before, expressed her pleasure with the makeup of the governing board for this year, and said she hoped the president would foster “trust, hope, and collaboration” among all members. 

However, those aligned with the teachers’ unions disagreed with some parents’ desire for change.

Trina Berg, president of the Peoria Education Association (PEA), asked for the reelection of Becky Proudfit for board president. PEA is part of the Arizona Education Association and the National Education Association. Berg questioned whether Rooks’ lawsuit against PUSD presented a conflict of interest.

In September 2023, Rooks sued PUSD for prohibiting her from quoting Bible verses during board meetings. The First Liberty Institute is representing Rooks in her case, which is ongoing. The Arizona District Court scheduled in-person oral argument for Friday in the case. 

Berg also said that Rooks didn’t exhibit the qualities of a president, citing her past decisions to step out of executive meetings she felt should be public as well as Rooks’ decision to not silence certain speech from her supporters.  

“Allowing misconceptions and sometimes downright misinformation to flourish and move through your group of supporters on social media without any correction is not leadership material,” said Berg. 

Devon Moseler, vice president of PEA, also asked for the reelection of Proudfit for board president. 

“We may not always agree with decisions that have been made, but we have appreciated the transparency and willingness to discuss challenging topics in an effort to understand the needs of our educators, administrators, and students,” said Moseler. 

Proudfit’s husband, Taylor Proudfit, urged the board members to change their minds on Rooks and vote for his wife. Taylor claimed that board members supporting Rooks weren’t voting in accordance with their constituents.

Rooks’ rise to the leadership position came, in part, from the elections of new members Bowles and Tobey, ensuring the board’s flip to a majority of more conservative-minded members. 

In recent years, the PUSD board came under community and even national scrutiny for adopting policies that favored progressive ideologies. This included the alignment with the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX which ordered schools to allow bathroom or locker room access based on gender identity. Ewing was one of the defendants of that policy, arguing that discrimination based on gender identity violates Title IX protections. 

Rooks attended PUSD and graduated from Sunrise Mountain High School. Rooks first took office in January 2023. 

Rooks’ campaign platform prioritized parental rights, academics, and organizational transparency. She ran in opposition to mandates for masks and COVID vaccines, Critical Race Theory ideology, and sexual content materials in classrooms.

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.

National Education Association Promotes Gender Transition Guide For Children Following Election

National Education Association Promotes Gender Transition Guide For Children Following Election

By Staff Reporter |

The National Education Association (NEA), a teachers’ union and the nation’s largest labor union, has continued its promotion of gender transitions for children.

NEA posted the guide by Advocates for Youth on Transgender Day of Remembrance last week. The guide was published last year. 

The guide claims that humans are “assigned” their sex at birth based on reproductive traits (genitalia, chromosomes, and hormones), and that while everyone has a gender identity, only some align with their reproductive traits. The guide claims that children inherently know their gender identity as young as 18 months to three years. 

Parents, per the guide, shouldn’t be the sole decision-makers about their children. Those parents that rely on information conflicting with or opposing transgender ideology are relying on “misinformation and falsehoods.” Instead, parents should accept information which affirms transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive youth (TNGE).

“Parents have everything they need to begin the journey of supporting their TNGE children,” said the guide. “When making decisions for their children, many parents search for information and resources to support their efforts, but some of what is readily available is misinformation and falsehoods. Parents who are interested in seeking out additional help to support their TNGE children are encouraged to do so.”

As for the role of educators, the guide says that they should “proactively teach the entire school community about gender identity, gender expansiveness, and celebrate LGBTQ history and culture.”

The guide also says that schools should affirm students in their gender identity by using their chosen name and preferred pronouns, regardless of their legal name; ensure students have unencumbered access to their preferred gender-specific facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms; and ensure students may participate in their preferred gender-specific extracurricular activities and athletics.

Per the guide, those who oppose transgender ideology, especially in children, qualify as “extremists” who put out disinformation. 

The guide puts out a number of other contested claims, such as: puberty blockers are lifesaving, not harmful; LGBTQ ideologies contribute to healthy diversity; transgenderism isn’t a mental illness; 

The NEA affiliate in Arizona — the Arizona Education Association (AEA) — has over 22,000 school employees as members (in addition to teachers, their members include librarians, custodians, cafeteria workers, and counselors).

Like the NEA, AEA has actively worked to foster transgenderism and advance other LGBTQ+ ideologies in minors. 

AEA successfully advocated for the repeal of the 28-year-old “no promo homo” law prohibiting the discussion of homosexuality during HIV/AIDS instruction in schools. The law prohibited discussion that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle,” “portrays homosexuality as a positive alternative lifestyle,” and “suggests that some methods of sex are safe methods of homosexual sex.”

AEA also fought against legislative efforts to require the use of bathrooms based on biological sex, and prohibiting access based on gender identity. 

The union also supported gender transitions for children as young as preschoolers, promoting a parent in 2017 who transitioned his four-year-old son into his “daughter.”

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.

AEA President Urges Teachers To ‘Be The Union Thugs We Are Meant To Be’

AEA President Urges Teachers To ‘Be The Union Thugs We Are Meant To Be’

By Matthew Holloway |

A post-election letter obtained by AZ Free News from Arizona Education Association (AEA) President Marisol Garcia to union members, saw the labor leader address AEA members as if reacting to a great catastrophe. Rather than remarking on a largely peaceful and uncommonly decisive national election that provided an unambiguous mandate to the incoming government, she spoke of families and students being “directly in danger,” and that “no one is coming to save us.”

In the text of the letter, Garcia speaks in disturbingly combative terms, suggesting that there are individuals, either teachers or students, they will need to “protect,” because they “are being targeted.”

She also told Arizona educators, “We are going to be the union thugs that we were meant to be…” and added instructions that they “Drink some water, get some rest, get off social media and surround yourself with joy and get ready. Because, it’s on y’all.

AZ Free News independently confirmed the letter was sent to Arizona educators and the language is consistent with Garcia’s post to X on November 6th when she wrote, “Join your union—Unbreakable Solidarity, and “OK take a deep breath, find some space the rest, and know the way through this is through it TOGETHER. Elections are one tactic. Organizing for solidarity and power is another. ✊🏾”

In the full letter Garcia wrote:

AEA,

First, how proud we must be for all the efforts that everyone put into this year’s election work. We all have to be proud of the new leaders that we saw step up. The goals that brave locals made and worked hard to reach, many of which they broke, too much shock to themselves. Ballots continue to be counted in every county and so many of our focus races are yet to be called—so as usual the work continues.

In that vein, our labor work, our power building work must continue as planned, with more clarity on the importance of unbreakable solidarity. The talk, the words, now more than ever become the walk and the work.

 I won’t sugar coat this, many of us, our families and our students are directly in danger. You might recall, last year I reminded the delegates that no one is coming to save us — we have to save ourselves. The mechanism to which we can save ourselves is through good old fashion local organizing work.

Building our smaller circles into bigger circles. Embracing the things we have in common to find solution for the things that threaten all of us. Small group meetings, engaging in difficult conversations and above all listening. Our union knows how to do this, we have the ability to not just work through this, but lead through this, together.

On a personal note, as a product of ancestors who survived hundreds of years of institutional impacts, including genocides, starvation, and military attacks. I’m still here. My great great grandmothers did not give up. They fought back and organized collectively to survive, sharing food, housing, powerful stories and safety. This resilience was passed to their next generations and will continue with my son.

We will not comply in advance, we will not shirk, we will not forget the fights we have survived nor will we not prepare to protect those who are being targeted.

We are going to be the union thugs we were meant to be… we will fight, because together we are always stronger and whether we like it or not, it is our destiny to be in the fight.

Drink some water, get some rest, get off social media, and surround yourself with joy and get ready.

Because, it’s on y’all.

Unbreakable solidarity.

Marisol Garcia, President.

Arizona Education Association

Turning Point Action Field Representative and VP of Greater PHX Republican Women, Alyssa Goncales shared an image of the letter in a post to X, writing, “The AZ teachers union is an obvious branch of the Democratic Party. @MarisolGarciaAZ doesn’t care about the rights of all teachers and students. She’s just spreading fear and pushing the lefts agenda. It speaks volumes to what public school is trying to do to our children. Great push for AZ parents to homeschool.”

Notably in the union’s recommendations for the 2024 ballot, all of the recommended candidates in partisan races were Democrats.

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.

Arizona’s Legacy Media Is Misrepresenting Mesa’s School Board Candidates

Arizona’s Legacy Media Is Misrepresenting Mesa’s School Board Candidates

By Dennis Liles |

School board elections in Arizona are a non-partisan race, by law. In an ideal world, candidates should be focused on the well-being of students, academic achievement, and facilitating as much parental involvement as possible. That’s definitely true in Mesa, where the school board should be comprised of members who want to ensure that students are educated rather than indoctrinated.

But a recent news item by the local NBC affiliate chose to highlight partisan political party affiliation instead of focusing on how each candidate views their role as a potential Mesa school board member.

The story focused on three candidates running for the Mesa School Board as a slate: Courtney Davis, Josh Chilton, and Lacy Chaffee. Courtney Davis, in particular, is a current board member who was appointed by Steve Watson to replace Laura Ellingson in August 2023. The night she was sworn in was the first time she had ever attended a Mesa School Board meeting. The legacy media conveniently left this out. But that’s not all they left out.

In a typical biased move that’s become commonplace for the legacy media, the two opposing candidates—Sharon Benson and Ed Steele—were not offered an opportunity to be interviewed for the story. On top of that, they were given only a few hours to respond before the segment aired.

But here’s the truth about the three slate candidates. Davis, Chilton, and Chaffee have focused their campaign on social issues rather than actual student achievement. All three candidates have endorsements and stated positions that run counter to the values that are expected of elected school board officials. They all support males in female spaces, special transgender rights, Critical Race Theory, and eliminating school choice.

Davis, Chilton, and Chaffee have also been endorsed by Legislative District 9 Democrats, the anti-school choice group “Save Our Schools,” and the teachers’ union, Mesa Education Association.

Digging deeper, the Arizona Education Association endorsed legislative candidate Lorena Austin who promotes drag show fundraisers for her campaign. They have also endorsed Proposition 139, which will allow abortion up to fetal viability and would allow minors to get an abortion without any parental involvement, including notification. 

Right now, the Mesa School District faces some significant headwinds with declining enrollment, reduced funding, and competition for students and teachers from charter and private schools. Shouldn’t that be the top priority rather than radical social issues?

Fixing Mesa’s problems requires new board members like Sharon Benson, who brings both a teaching background and small business expertise, and Ed Steele, who brings a wealth of business expertise and problem-solving ability to tackle the problems facing the Mesa district. Both Sharon and Ed have had children enrolled in the Mesa district and have a vested interest in keeping the district at the forefront of educational excellence.

Their goal is to support academic excellence, parental involvement, fiscal responsibility, teachers, safety, transparency, and accountability.

For this election, voters need to decide what they want: a radically aligned slate that is more interested in indoctrinating rather than educating students, or Sharon Benson and Ed Steele, who have the expertise, conservative values, and vision to keep Mesa Public Schools a leader in public education.

Dennis Liles is a Mesa resident and Precinct Committeeman in Legislative District 10.