by Staff Reporter | May 11, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Charter school students are making a name for Arizona schools nationwide: two BASIS Charter School students were named presidential scholars by the Department of Education.
The department selected only 161 high school seniors for the honor, and two of the three came out of Arizona charter schools: Matteo Huish from BASIS Mesa, and Sruti Peddi, from BASIS Scottsdale. The third student, Vivian Saavedra, attends Chaparral High School.
There are an estimated 3.7 million students expected to graduate from high school this year. Out of that total, over 5,700 candidates qualified for the scholars recognition.
The three Arizona students were selected out of 144 Arizona candidates total, and 19 semifinalists from the state. This year’s presidential scholars announcement marks the program’s 60th anniversary.
In a press release, BASIS Charter Schools CEO Carolyn McGarvey said she was proud of Huish and Peddi for their hard work and talent.
“Their achievements reflect the rigorous academic standards and commitment to excellence that define BASIS Charter School campuses nationwide, and particularly here in our home state of Arizona,” said McGarvey.
11 of BASIS Charter Schools were recently ranked in the top 100 public schools out of 24,000 schools in America by U.S. News & World Report, including the number-one school in the country overall: the BASIS Peoria campus. Both Huish and Peddi’s campuses were among the 11 ranked.
Semifinalists represented Bell Academy Homeschool, BASIS Scottsdale (three students), Brophy College Preparatory, Primavera Online High School, Paradise Valley High School (two students), BASIS Mesa (two students), Desert Mountain High School, University High School, BASIS Phoenix, BASIS Chandler (two students), Chaparral High School, The Jones-Gordon School, Arcadia High School, and Northland Preparatory Academy.
Presidential scholars are not selected on an application basis; the recognition comes through invitation only.
Eligible students must have scored exceptionally well on either the SAT or ACT. The Department of Education takes the top 20 male and female scorers in each state, and reaches out to them to submit candidacy materials such as essays, self-assessments, secondary school reports, and transcripts. The department evaluates the candidate materials on academic achievement, personal characteristics, leadership and service activities, and essay content.
Each Chief State School Officer — in Arizona, the superintendent — may also nominate 10 male and 10 female candidates, and partner programs may nominate up to 40 candidates.
Semifinalists were selected by an independent national committee of educators convened by the Commission on Presidential Scholars.
The Department of Education also recognized three Arizona teachers for distinguished teaching paired with their respective 2024 Presidential Scholars: Sadie Puerner, a chemistry teacher out of Chaparral High School nominated by Saavedra; Charity Taylor-Antal, an English teacher out of BASIS Scottsdale nominated by Peddi; and Greg Thorson, an economics teacher out of BASIS Mesa nominated by Huish.
The department also recognizes presidential scholars in the arts as well as career and technical education. This year, however, Arizona didn’t have any scholars listed in those categories.
BASIS Charter Schools has had one or more Presidential Scholars in seven years since its inception in 1998: 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2013.
The network of charter schools has 40 campuses serving over 24,000 students in Arizona, as well as Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, D.C.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Elizabeth Troutman | May 9, 2024 | News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
Starting in November, recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in Arizona and nationwide will be able to obtain health care under the Affordable Care Act.
The Biden Administration finalized the rule Friday surrounding President Joe Biden’s efforts to urge Congress to establish a pathway to citizenship for “dreamers,” young people who have grown up as Americans but do not have citizenship.
“Dreamers are our loved ones, our nurses, teachers, and small business owners,” President Biden said in a statement. “And they deserve the promise of health care just like all of us.”
Biden announced plans in April to open Obamacare and Medicaid rolls, both subsidized by American taxpayers, to nearly 600,000 DACA illegal aliens.
Mario Montoya, a DACA recipient who has lived in the country for over two decades, told KTAR News 92.3 FM he wants to inform almost 21,000 dreamers in Arizona about the expansion of Obamacare coverage.
He said the final rule from the White House was a step forward but fell short of his expectations by not including access to Medicaid or funding under the CHIP and Science Act, as was initially proposed last year.
While Montoya advocated for the expansion of federal programs accessible to dreamers, he acknowledged that the fate of these programs is uncertain at this time.
“The DACA program is still being litigated at the courts and the Supreme Court is ultimately going to have the final decision to see if the program is going to stay,” Montoya said.
U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat who represents District 7 in southern Arizona, said in a statement that he thinks the move will expand access to affordable health insurance for thousands.
“Illness does not discriminate on the basis of documentation or legal status,” Grijalva said. “Access to timely health care is advantageous for those families and our communities as a whole.”
Senators J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., as well as several House Republicans, lobbied Biden to drop the plan last year, but the administration moved forward anyway.
“By providing health insurance to DACA recipients, this policy further burdens programs intended to serve U.S. citizens and simultaneously encourages more aliens to enter our country illegally in the hopes of receiving similar protection and services,” the Republicans wrote. “Unfortunately, this approach appears to align with the open-borders agenda advanced by your colleague, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with hundreds of thousands of aliens apprehended trying to enter our country illegally every month.”
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Elizabeth Troutman | May 8, 2024 | Education, News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
Parents are taking back the power over their children’s education, according to a new report, and Arizona is the second-highest on the parent power chart.
For the first time in two generations, programs and policies that give parents more power over their children’s education are accelerating across the United States, according to the 2024 Parent Power! Index from the Center for Education Reform.
“Not since the beginning of the education reform movement when, between 1991 and 1999, states created 36 new laws providing parents power over their children’s education have we seen such a rapid expansion in an accelerated period of time for education innovation and opportunity,” Jeanne Allen, CER founder and CEO, said in a statement.
Florida is first on the parent power chart, followed by Arizona and Indiana.
Between 2021 and April 2024, 26 new and expanded laws governing parental options, additional flexibility to innovate, and education transparency have taken effect. At least another 600,000 students gained access to a variety of learning approaches across all education sectors.
Recent U.S. migration trends show that three of the top five states in the 2024 Parent Power Index are also among the top five states where people are moving — Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina. More than one million students left public schools to pursue other education opportunities in states with more options for parents.
“Whenever parents are engaged, change occurs,” Allen said. “Time and time again, we’ve seen that information in the hands of parents is power. When parents are able to make informed decisions about their children’s education, and states and communities are permitted to offer a myriad of pathways to enable those decisions, education works better for all students.”
State rank and policy environments are improving overall, particularly in states that have tended to embrace education freedom in general, such as Iowa, West Virginia, Ohio, and Arkansas, the data shows.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 3, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A recent Arizona poll had bad news for the state’s second-year governor.
On Tuesday, Emerson College Polling published its survey of swing states in the 2024 election. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, garnered 38% approval, compared with 42% disapproval from respondents (with 20% neutral).
Hobbs’ results were some of the worst in the swing states among her fellow governors. Her approval rating was the lowest of the seven polled, and her disapproval numbers were one percentage point lower than the highest – which went to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, also a Democrat.
The swing states polled were Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The Arizona governor’s approval was two percentage points lower than President Joe Biden’s in her state. Biden obtained a 40% approval and a 51% disapproval.
Emerson College showed that former President Donald J. Trump held a four-percentage point lead in a head-to-head match-up in Arizona with current President Joseph R. Biden – 48% to 44% with eight percent of respondents undecided. When additional ballot options were added to the polling question, Trump maintained his four-point advantage in the Grand Canyon State – 44% to 40%.
Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, highlighted that “Independent voters break for Trump over Biden in Arizona (48%-38%).
The country is quickly heading toward the November 2024 election, with Arizona figuring to feature a prominent role in determining the individual who will assume the reins of the Executive Branch of the nation for the next four years. Most polls this year have shown that President Trump has built a lead over Biden in Arizona, though much time remains until the fall showdown.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 2, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A new poll from Emerson College and The Hill found that former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in Arizona and six other key swing states.
The poll, released on Monday, reflected a consistency in swing state preferences since last November, according to the pollsters. Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a press release that the main differences concerned a diminishment in undecided voters and increase in support for Biden in Georgia and Nevada.
“The state of the presidential election in swing states has remained relatively consistent since Emerson and The Hill started tracking them last November,” said Kimball. “The share of undecided voters has reduced and Biden gained ground in Georgia and Nevada, narrowing the gap, while Trump has maintained a slight edge on Biden in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.”
Trump leads Biden by four percent in Arizona (eight percent undecided), three percent in Georgia (nine percent undecided), one percent in Michigan and Nevada (11 percent undecided), five percent in North Carolina (10 percent undecided), and two percent in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin (eight percent undecided).
Last November, the pollsters found that Trump led Biden by two percent in Arizona among both registered and likely voters (16 percent and 11 percent undecided, respectively).
In this latest poll, Trump won over more independent voters than Biden in Arizona (48 percent compared to 38 percent), as well as Michigan (44 to 35 percent), Nevada (43 to 37 percent), Pennsylvania (49 to 33 percent), and North Carolina (41 to 38 percent). Georgia and Wisconsin independent voters favored Biden, at 42 to 38 percent and 44 to 41 percent, respectively.
Biden had a 51 percent disapproval rating, compared to 40 percent approval in Arizona. The other swing states had similar dismal disapproval ratings for the president: 52 percent disapproval in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin; 53 percent disapproval in North Carolina; and 51 percent disapproval in Pennsylvania.
Third party candidates reflected a bigger hurt than help for the incumbent president in most swing states, save for Arizona and Michigan, where Biden and Trump came up even for voter support.
The poll found that a plurality of voters in all swing states believed that the New York criminal trial against Trump was appropriate, and not a “witch hunt,” as the pollsters described.
13 percent of Arizona Republicans polled said they would be less likely to vote for Trump if he received a guilty verdict in the trial. Overall, a majority of Republican respondents said they would be more likely to support the former president should he be found guilty.
Independent voters said they would be 32 percent more likely to vote for Trump if he is found guilty, 43 percent said the ruling would have no impact, and 25 percent said they would be less likely to support him.
The poll also asked voters about their U.S. Senate candidates and sentiments of their governors.
In Arizona, 45 percent supported Democrat Ruben Gallego to replace outgoing Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, compared with 43 percent in support of Kari Lake. Gallego had a marginal gain of one percent compared to Lake’s three compared to the pollsters’ previous data from March.
Governor Katie Hobbs received a 42 percent disapproval rating, with 38 percent approving and 20 percent neutral. Hobbs was the only swing state governor on the poll that had a majority disapproval rating.
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