Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) narrowly approved a land acknowledgment statement for Native Americans during its regular meeting last week.
The board approved the land acknowledgment statement 3-2. The governing board will read a land acknowledgment statement at every meeting and at all graduation ceremony programs.
Board President Patti Serrano, donned in a pro-Palestine keffiyeh scarf and MEChA t-shirt, joined Member Claudia Mendoza and Vice President Barb Mozden in voting to require the land acknowledgment statement. Members Kurt Rohrs and Ryan Heap voted against the measure.
Serrano said this land acknowledgement statement was necessary to make Native American students feel “safe” to show up and learn at CUSD schools.
Serrano also claimed that a land acknowledgment statement did not mean that the district would be required to accept requests for acknowledgments for other identity groups.
CUSD has posted a land acknowledgment statement and accompanying video on its Indigenous Education Program page since 2025.
That land acknowledgment statement reads that the district exists on lands previously occupied by the Piipaash, Akimel O’odham, Gila River, Salt River, Pima, Maricopa, and Yaqui tribes.
Board member Rohrs questioned whether there would be future efforts to expand the requirement to read a land acknowledgment statement throughout other aspects of district activities, such as student functions like football games, CUSD staff meetings, and the beginning of classes.
Rohrs also said that land acknowledgement statements signaled bias and favoritism toward certain groups. He warned that the board’s approval would lead to demands by countless other identity groups: Holocaust recognition for Jewish students, acknowledgments for the various religious groups, or commemorations of veterans for students in military families.
Rohrs contended that the statement was rooted in “identity politics” that would further cause division in the CUSD community.
“Despite denials, this is clearly a political statement that reveals a preferential and exclusive bias towards a certain point of view of a certain identity group. The district must remain neutral in these matters,” said Rohrs. “For practical matters, this unnecessarily politicizes our board meetings. It has no real purpose in addressing our primary mission of improving academic performance for our students. This statement is an empty performance gesture of wokeness which really doesn’t accomplish anything and distracts from our core mission.”
Board member Heap remarked that the district faces much more pressing matters concerning student outcomes, citing an example of two more students who left the district for homeschooling due to the district ignoring or dismissing requests to curtail teacher and student usage of vulgar language. Heap also remarked that reading scores have declined to the lower 50th percentile.
Heap expressed doubt that the lack of a land acknowledgment statement was having negative impacts on the district, especially the current pressing issues of declining enrollment. According to the board, less than 2% of students will be directly impacted by the land acknowledgement statement.
Heap questioned why there were acknowledgments for certain identity groups but not others, which prompted laughter from the pro-land acknowledgment statement audience in attendance.
“Any time when we choose to highlight a group of students only based on their identity, nationality, heritage, we indirectly eschew — that means, you ignore — other people. We have a Hispanic heritage month. Do we have an Irish month? Do we have an Anglo-Saxon month?” asked Heap. “I don’t think that it’s appropriate for us to engage in that activity, either, because we are now wandering in areas that even if it’s right or wrong, I believe this statement ends up [having] a political connotation. Anytime you do that, you show bias, and that’s going to end up driving away students.”
Mendoza said that the statement was necessary for respecting diversity and belonging.
“By doing this, we are demonstrating that every story matters and every voice has value,” said Mendoza.
Mozden predicted the statement would improve Native American students’ academic performance.
“We have to start somewhere to try to raise our academic performance for some of our subgroups,” said Mozden.
The land acknowledgment incited some community members to call on Serrano to step down from the board, since Serrano led on the effort of its adoption.
Serrano has been accused of imposing a land acknowledgment without board concurrence at board meetings and graduation ceremonies.
Serrano has historically declined to participate in recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and took her oath of office on a fiction book written by Arizona State University professor David Boyle describing the gay sexual fantasies of a boy and his peers and the boy’s rejection of the values held by his conservative, Christian parents.
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American Patriots believe in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. No one should be compelled to oppose their sincerely held beliefs, no matter how silly they may be. Freedom of speech is graciously bestowed upon the wise and the imbecile. It is the latter who scorn liberty and mock our institutions.
Chandler Unified School District (CUSD)
On April 17, 2025, AZ Free News exposed CUSD board president Patti Serrano who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during a school board meeting. Video footage (below) shows Serrano standing, hand-over-heart, lips unmoving. CUSD residents say this is a persistent pattern of distasteful behavior.
According to AZ Free News, “Serrano’s refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance aligns with her other progressive values: legalizing abortion, increasing gun control, advancing LGBTQ+ ideologies in minors, and supporting Islamic terrorist groups aligned with Palestine.” The article also said Serrano took an oath of office with her hand on the book “Life is a Banquet” instead of the traditional Bible.
What cause did Serrano swear to uphold in place of the U.S. Constitution? After that infamous Pledge of Allegiance, Serrano appears to bow her head in invocation. Since she doesn’t believe in God, who exactly is she praying to? These questions should alarm every CUSD parent and constituent who upholds the rule of law. The answers would be irrelevant if Serrano resigned from public office.
Phoenix Elementary School District (PESD)
PESD—the same district where former board member Jessica Bueno used personal property as collateral to bail out a convicted child sex offender—is home to leftist activist Alicia Vink.
Vink proudly backs the district’s Black Lives Matter Resolution in honor of the deceased convicted felon George Floyd. She has also worn cat ears in support of anti-Christian board members in the Washington Elementary School District (more on that later). Vink was determined to make a fool of herself at the April 8, 2025, school board meeting when she announced:
“I chose not to stand for our Pledge of Allegiance today because I will not stand for a national or state education system that is unjust—and not only doesn’t support our district values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but is actively fighting against us.”
Watch her speech below.
Vink declared that she “would not stand for any behavior that puts our kids at risk” as she proceeded to poison the mind of every student who attended or watched the meeting. Her self-serving antics are an embarrassment to all Arizonans and will only continue to drive families away from this failing institution.
PESD would be better off without Vink’s presence on the school board.
Washington Elementary School District (WESD)
In 2023, the WESD governing board voted 5-0 to terminate an 11-year student-teaching partnership with Arizona Christian University. WESD board member Tamillia Valenzuela took charge by removing the agreement from the consent agenda, claiming that ACU’s core beliefs on biblical marriage made gender-confused people feel “unsafe.”
Her sentiments were echoed by former board member Nikkie Whaley and current board members Kyle Clayton, Jenni Abbott, and Lindsey Peterson (Valenzuela, Clayton, and Abbott identify as LGBTQ). In July 2022, Whaley, Abbott, Peterson, and current (re-elected) board member Bill Adams voted in favor of an LGBTQ Resolution for elementary students. Adults who promote and celebrate multiple sexual identities in children bring shame and disgrace upon civilized societies. Note that during the ACU discussion, Valenzuela cited this resolution as just cause for discriminating against Christians.
Valenzuela, also known as “Cat Ears” among community members, has never stood to face the flag or recite the Pledge during school board meetings. However, she does take ownership in reading a land acknowledgement to shame Glendale and Phoenix residents with no connection to events that may have occurred over 500 years ago. Below are a few random timestamps to corroborate my claims:
April 24, 2025 – Valenzuela reads the land acknowledgement and remains seated during the Pledge
February 23, 2023 – Here is the discussion and vote to terminate WESD’s contract with ACU
Where are all the Patriots hiding?
The Founders (any 18th-century American, really) would be appalled by our present generation of so-called Patriots. We have the meanest cell phone and keyboard warriors across the Valley who won’t attend a board meeting, not even when something goes horribly wrong. Rather than proactively defend our youth, most constituents retreat to their echo chambers of digital outrage. I’m a member of several Facebook groups wherein parents devour each other while raging against board members, administrators, educators, and staff. This isn’t doing your kids any good.
Parents pay attention! Voters take notes! The issues in Arizona’s public education system must be confronted head-on.
In 2026, Serrano’s term in CUSD and Valenzuela’s and Clayton’s terms in WESD will end. Vink (who ran on an “Equity” platform in 2020) retained her seat, so residents are stuck with her until 2028. Still, two seats will open in PESD in 2026. According to Ballotpedia, the 2024 general elections were canceled for PESD due to a lack of opposition. The school board also gained a new member who never appeared on the ballot. There is no reason this should happen again.
I defy the card-carrying tactics and rhetoric of Patti Serrano, Alicia Vink, and Tamillia Valenzuela. Do Arizonans want to keep taking chances on communist sympathizers and social justice zealots controlling their children’s education? Out of 5 million residents in the Greater Phoenix Area, is no one else willing to publicly defend biblical principles, fight for conservative values, and uphold the U.S. Constitution?
It’s time we raise our standards and expectations of school district leadership. If we don’t, what hope does the next generation have?
The leader of the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) governing board declines to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, worrying some CUSD families over the implications.
A video obtained by board meeting attendees shows CUSD Board President Patti Serrano exercising her First Amendment right by standing with her hand over her heart and refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Many of those who protest the patriotic recited verse are usually in protest of the current state of the country or the very existence and idea of America.
The Pledge of Allegiance represents a citizen’s oath of loyalty to the American flag and the republic it symbolizes, defined as an indivisible “one nation under God” that affords liberty and justice for all its citizens.
AZ Free News contacted Serrano about her refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance. We did not receive a response.
Last month, a CUSD community member asked Serrano about her refusal to participate. Serrano said she would not respond publicly about her reason for not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, since it was not an agenda item for that meeting.
“I won’t participate in any discussion at this time,” said Serrano. “Public comment is not a time for engagement, and I’m more than happy to reach out to you personally.”
Serrano’s refusal to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance aligns with her other progressive values: legalizing abortion, increasing gun control, advancing LGBTQ+ ideologies in minors, and supporting Islamic terrorist groups aligned with Palestine.
When Serrano took her oath of office for the board in 2023, she swore on the book, “Life is a Banquet,” rather than the Bible. The book, written by Arizona State University (ASU) professor and Drag Story Hour Arizona founder David Boyles, describes the sexual experiences and explicit fantasies of a fictional minor male who goes on to reject the values of his conservative, Christian parents and adopt the progressive ideologies of ASU students.
Boyles likened Serrano taking her oath of office on his book to the Biblical account in which God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Also in 2023, Serrano helped organize the appearance of Democratic Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for an ASU protest in the weeks following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Tlaib has advocated for the eradication of Israel from the land. Serrano organized the event as the southwest regional coordinator for the Progressive Democrats of America.
Following Serrano’s role in the Tlaib affair, CUSD families called for Serrano’s resignation. Their call to action was dwarfed by the appearance of around 150 supporters from inside and outside the district at a board meeting, mobilized by former CUSD board member Lindsay Love. Love was also one to inspire controversy during her time on the board for publicizing political views similar to those held by Serrano. Love left the board after one term, citing tensions with the CUSD community as her reason for not seeking reelection.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Just as with the rest of the activist community, school board members are taking sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) Governing Board member Patti Serrano helped organize the appearance of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12), the only Palestinian-American in Congress, scheduled for last Friday at Arizona State University (ASU). The event has since been canceled. In an email obtained by AZ Free News, Serrano notified Arizona Palestine Network subscribers of the Tlaib event.
Serrano sent the email in her capacity as the East Valley coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and as a co-sponsor of Tlaib’s “Palestine is an American Issue.”
The bottom of Serrano’s email identified other affiliated groups behind the canceled event: Arizona Palestine Network; Palestine Community Center of Arizona; Council on American Islamic Relations of Arizona; Jewish Voice for Peace – Tucson; Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP) at ASU; Arizona Palestinian Solidarity Alliance; Arizona Democratic Party Progressive Council; National Lawyers Guild at ASU; Central Arizona National Lawyers Guild Attorney Chapter; and Middle Eastern Law Students Association at ASU.
Since ASU rejected Tlaib’s appearance on campus, student and community activists convened to protest, claiming freedom of speech was denied. In a statement, ASU said that the event was organized by groups not affiliated with the university and outside university policies and procedures, and therefore not permissible.
“Organizers of events using ASU facilities must be properly registered with ASU and must meet all university requirements for crowd management, parking, security, and insurance. In addition, the events must be produced in a way which minimizes disruption to academic and other activities on campus,” said ASU. “The event featuring Congresswoman Tlaib was planned and produced by groups not affiliated with ASU and was organized outside of ASU policies and procedures. Accordingly, that event will not take place today on the ASU Tempe campus.”
Tlaib didn’t issue any public statements following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Only after Israel issued a response to Hamas in Gaza did Tlaib call upon the Biden administration to advocate for a cease-fire. Tlaib also introduced a resolution facilitating a cease-fire.
The Biden Administration is failing in its duty to protect all civilian and American lives in Gaza.
Tlaib was censured for her repeated endorsement of the controversial slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” largely understood to be a call for the eradication of Israel from the land.
From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity.
In addition to PDA, Serrano also served as an academic research project director for ASU.
Upon becoming a CUSD governing board member earlier this year, Serrano took her oath of office not on the Bible but on “Life is a Banquet,” a book containing the sexual awakening and explicit fantasies of a fictional 17-year-old and his peers, written by ASU Professor and Drag Story Hour Arizona co-founder David Boyles.
Serrano has led a number of widely-reported protests against elected leaders to advocate for various progressive issues over the years.
In 2021, Serrano was one of the activists that rallied, marched, and sat in on the office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) to demand an end to the filibuster.
In 2020, Serrano helped organize a protest outside the Arizona Republican Party headquarters demanding greater government action to counter COVID-19, such as mask mandates.
In 2018, Serrano went to former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake’s Washington, D.C. office to demand he oppose the confirmation of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, based on the sexual assault allegations.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
State Rep. Jennifer Pawlik (D-LD13) announced on Tuesday that she won’t be seeking re-election. This means the district may experience a fresh slate of leadership come November 2024.
Pawlik stated that she needed to go in a different direction with her political career. Pawlik has also worked as a Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) teacher.
“It’s time to take my leadership and service in a new direction and to open the door for new candidates to run in this district,” said Pawlik.
— Rep. Jennifer Pawlik (@Jennifer_Pawlik) May 3, 2023
District 13 incorporates Chandler, Sun Lakes, and Gilbert. Pawlik was elected to the legislature in 2019, defeating the mother of State Sen. J.D. Mesnard (D-LD13) for the seat.
That same district recently experienced another, different loss with the expulsion of their other state representative, Liz Harris. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is looking for a replacement for Harris.
The seat will likely be one of the more competitive ones heading into the 2024 election, a significant turning point for a closely-divided legislature where Republicans hold a bare majority. Pawlik was the first Democrat elected to the district.
Less than 24 hours after Pawlik’s announcement, former Republican state representative Jeff Weninger filed a statement of interest for reclaiming the seat. Another listed as running for a District 17 seat is Julie Willoughby, another Republican who filed last month and ran last year.
Pawlik earned 35 percent of the vote (47,166 votes); Harris, 32 percent (43,829); and Willoughby 32 percent as well (43,559). Pawlik ran uncontested in the Democratic primary last year.
Prior to Pawlik, the district was held by former Republican legislator Joanne Osborne and current Republican State Rep. Tim Dunn (R-LD25).
During her time in the legislature, Pawlik has only had one bill codified: HB2639 last year, declaring May to be Asian American/Pacific Islander Month.
Pawlik co-sponsored 14 bills that were codified, mainly relating to mental health and racial equity efforts. The co-sponsored bills signed into law were: HB2570 in 2019, establishing a study committee on murdered indigenous women; HB2646 in 2019, allowing Arizona Commerce Authority to review Rural E-Connectivity Pilot Program applicants; HB2672 in 2019, cracking down on “party house” short-term rentals; SB1468 in 2019, requiring the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System Administration to make suicide awareness and prevention training available and requiring educators to include suicide awareness and prevention training; SB1446 in 2020, requiring student ID cards to include contact information for suicide prevention resources, crisis centers, or emotional support services; SB1445 in 2020, requiring instruction on suicide awareness and prevention to be included in school counselor and social worker training programs; HB2098 in 2021, establishing reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies receiving reports of missing, kidnapped, or runaway children; HB2241 in 2021, requiring information about the Holocaust and other genocides to be taught at least twice between grades 7 and 12; HB2705 in 2021, allowing students belonging to a Native American tribe to wear their traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at a graduation ceremony; HB2787 in 2021, modifying criteria for an agency determination of whether a person’s criminal record disqualifies a person for a license, permit, certificate, or other state recognition; SB1097 in 2021, allowing students absent for experiencing behavioral or mental health issues to have an excused absence; SB1376 in 2021, includes mental health instruction in the health education course of study and competency requirements adopted by the State Board of Education; HB2083 in 2022, requiring the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to cover the costs of up to 10 annual program hours of diabetes self-management training if prescribed by a primary care physician; and HB2309 in 2022, requiring a police officer to read juveniles their Miranda rights prior to questioning them in temporary custody.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
