Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne issued a statement opposing the State Board of Education’s decision to postpone the rulemaking to strip Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language from Arizona’s teaching standards.
The issue will now be taken up at the Board’s December meeting—a delay Horne warns risks $866 million in federal education funding and violates clear federal civil rights directives.
“I respectfully but strongly disagree with the vote to postpone opening the rule-making process,” declared Horne. “The President issued an Executive Order requiring DEI language to be removed from programs funded by federal dollars. It made it abundantly clear that federal education funding is at risk if DEI language remains in education programs. Failure to comply with federal guidance may result in the loss of an estimated $866 million to Arizona schools. That is a major funding cut to our schools, and we need to begin dealing with this as soon as possible.”
Horne pointed to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), signed by Acting Assistant Secretary Craig Trainor, which reaffirms that discrimination based on race, color, or national origin is illegal under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause, and controlling Supreme Court precedent.
The guidance explicitly condemns race-based preferences in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, discipline, housing, and graduation ceremonies, and warns that DEI programs often “preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not.”
The OCR letter also cites the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), which states that the use of racial preferences in school testing and admissions is unlawful. Their message is simple: “If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law.”
“Not only is the $866 million at risk, but there is a philosophical issue at stake, too,” continued Horne. “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. The teaching standards, unfortunately, include DEI references, and they need to be removed.”
The teaching standards at issue direct educators to teach “equitably,” with “responsiveness to the cultural backgrounds and differing perspectives learners bring to the learning environment,” and to address the “social, emotional, and cultural needs of students.”
“These terms do not belong in teaching standards,” Horne concluded. “The standards 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.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) is entering a period of upheaval, one that is very concerning to parents, teachers, and taxpayers. Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel recently announced that the district staff will bring forward proposals for consideration by the Governing Board to deal with the impact of declining enrollment in SUSD, which will reshape several campuses and alter the educational landscape of Scottsdale for years to come.
The first recommendation by district staff under consideration is for Echo Canyon K–8, Pima Elementary schools, and Desert Canyon Elementary and Middle Schools to be repurposed. Dr. Menzel has not made clear exactly what repurposing means. The official explanation for this is straightforward: declining enrollment and a need for “operational efficiency.” But as anyone who has followed SUSD’s trajectory over the past several years knows, declining enrollment is not isolated to a few schools. It is a district-wide problem — one that has deep roots in leadership decisions, cultural conflicts, and misplaced priorities.
A District in Decline
Beyond these four schools, six others have been placed on a “watch list.” These campuses, too, are being monitored for potential closures or repurposing as enrollment continues to fall. Since Dr. Menzel’s arrival in July 2020, the district has lost more than 2,500 students, dropping from over 22,300 to 19,700, an 11% decline in just five years. This decline represents not only a fiscal crisis for the district but also a crisis of confidence among Scottsdale parents.
So, how did we arrive here?
The Menzel Philosophy: Disrupt and Dismantle
If you want to understand how we got here, you need to understand Dr. Menzel’s philosophy of education. In a 2019 interview titled “Public Schools and Social Justice: An Interview with Dr. Scott Menzel,” he explained that understanding how systems operate gives leaders “the opportunity to dismantle, disrupt, and then recreate something that’s socially just and more equitable.”
This wasn’t a throwaway line. It was a mission statement.
Since arriving in Scottsdale, Menzel has followed this blueprint:
He has recommended firing respected teachers while hiring unlicensed social workers and “wellness” staff.
He has proposed cutting classroom budgets while expanding administrative overhead.
He has recommended reducing opportunities for public comment at board meetings.
He has directed teachers not to inform parents about students’ gender transitions unless asked directly.
He has consolidated power and minimized accountability, all while using district communications, podcasts, and social media to promote his leadership as a success story.
He has championed the elimination of valedictorian honors and class rank.
Unfortunately for the students and parents, the board has approved every recommendation made by Dr. Menzel.
At board meetings, Menzel regularly dominates the discussion, often interacting with the board president as though he were chairing the meeting himself. He highlights a few exceptional student achievements as evidence of district success, perhaps a few hundred students out of nearly 20,000, while ignoring the systemic academic underperformance that affects the majority.
The Illusion of Success
The numbers tell a sobering story. In 2024, SUSD reported a 92% graduation rate (down from 94% in 2022) and a 98% promotion rate. Yet proficiency in core academic subjects remains around 52%. In other words, nearly half of all students graduate or advance to the next grade level without mastering reading, writing, math, or science at grade level.
When questioned about these numbers, Menzel points out that SUSD still outperforms the statewide average of roughly 30% proficiency. But comparing yourself to the bottom of the barrel isn’t a standard of excellence — it’s an excuse for mediocrity.
Despite this record, the Governing Board continues to reward Menzel with pay raises, bonuses, and contract extensions. Two successive boards have failed to impose any meaningful accountability or measurable academic goals.
The “Woke” Agenda and Its Consequences
In Scottsdale, Dr. Menzel’s leadership has been defined by his emphasis on Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), gender identity programs, and related “woke” initiatives, all fully endorsed by the leftist majority on the current Governing Board. These programs were sold as a way to build empathy, inclusion, and belonging. Instead, they have deepened division, distracted from academics, and driven families out of the district.
At the same time, the district has invested heavily in administrative roles tied to “behavioral health,” “equity,” and “inclusion,” while cutting classroom teaching positions. This inversion of priorities is not only financially unsustainable, it’s academically disastrous.
Parents Are Walking Away
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne recently provided a candid explanation for the declining enrollment. In a public statement, he argued that “the promotion of woke ideology is a significant reason behind potential school closures in several school districts,” explicitly calling out SUSD’s efforts to promote gender ideology among elementary and middle school students.
He went further:
“This happens because of the expenditure of a large amount of campaign funds to elect woke school board members who do not represent their communities. Parents have a choice, so they move their children. The school boards in these districts have no one to blame but themselves for allowing the classroom to be corrupted from a place of learning to a venue for indoctrination in woke principles.”
Love him or hate him, Horne’s diagnosis resonates with many SUSD parents who feel that the district has prioritized social engineering over education.
The Voter’s Responsibility
While Dr. Menzel and the Governing Boards are directly responsible for what has happened to SUSD, the truth is that Scottsdale voters bear responsibility as well.
In the last election cycle, three board seats were up for grabs, an opportunity to shift power away from the progressive bloc that rubber-stamps every one of Menzel’s initiatives. Instead, voters elected candidates who reinforced the status quo: one a former superintendent from a failing Phoenix district, another who told parents to effectively butt out and leave education decisions to “experts,” and another whose own child attends private school, since it was a “better fit.”
Can SUSD Be Saved?
It’s a painful question to ask, but one that must be faced honestly: Can SUSD be saved under current leadership?
Dr. Menzel has shown no willingness to shift his priorities. The Governing Board has shown no appetite for holding him accountable. Parents are leaving, teachers are demoralized, and the district is closing schools while insisting that everything is fine.
The future of Scottsdale’s public schools doesn’t depend on clever slogans, glossy podcasts, or PR campaigns. It depends on leadership that values education over ideology and on citizens willing to demand it.
Scottsdale’s parents, taxpayers, and voters have few options. With the three progressive members’ terms extending to 2028 and the remaining two members up for re-election next year, the balance of power will remain firmly in Menzel’s camp for the foreseeable future. The progressive board members will allow Dr. Menzel to continue “dismantling and disrupting” SUSD until there’s little left to rebuild.
If we want to restore SUSD to its rightful mission, educating children in reading, writing, math, science, and the arts, parents need to speak up, and demand change now. Waiting for an election in 2028 will be too late.
You can start by attending the public meeting scheduled for November 13, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. in the Governing Board Room located at Coronado High School. The purpose of this meeting is to obtain public comment regarding the potential closure and repurposing of Echo Canyon K-8 School and Pima Elementary School. Each speaker will be given two minutes to voice their opinion on the closure/repurposing of the schools. Don’t feel constrained; you can also voice your opinion on Dr. Menzel and the board members’ actions that have led us to this point.
All SUSD parents should attend the meeting, even if their child does not attend Echo Canyon or Pima. Remember, as enrollment continues to decline, these schools are just the beginning; your child’s school may well be next.
Mike Bengert is a husband, father, grandfather, and Scottsdale resident advocating for quality education in SUSD for over 30 years.
If Peoria Unified residents were skeptical about students being brainwashed with diversity, equity, and inclusion ideologies, rewatching the August 28, 2025, school board meeting should remove all remaining doubts. Current students delivered a majority of the 63 public comments against the cancellation of DEI-infused performing arts programs. The only problem is that these programs were never slated to be eliminated. Listen to PUSD school board members’ comments here.
A passionately misinformed parent created a Change.org petition claiming that the PUSD school board planned to cut ties with the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). Unfortunately, this parent took no initiative in contacting the board before circulating the petition. The parent also failed to direct activism efforts toward those organizations that practice discrimination against white students. It would have been great for the kids to bombard them with calls, emails, and demands to remove the racist policies from their websites.
Oh, well. Maybe next time…
Those who have actually followed the 2025 PUSD school board meetings understand that a majority of the board is working to eradicate DEI from school programs in compliance with President Trump’s Executive Order. Since the Department of Education prioritized the order, why wouldn’t school districts follow suit to protect federal resources? PUSD board members did their due diligence in contacting the Arizona Department of Education and consulting their lawyer in a closed session to ensure they weren’t jeopardizing Title II funding by renewing the agreements.
Not surprisingly, AZ State Superintendent Tom Horne and PUSD Superintendent K.C. Somers were in favor of keeping the programs despite these organizations’ defiance of federal mandates. The following screenshots are sourced directly from their websites. It only takes one or two clicks to find this information.
NDEO’s racial equity statements are currently parked behind information walls. Internet archives from 2020 reveal that the Advisory Board Director and CEO both met with equity consultants and agreed that NDEO should undergo a diversity audit to “help provide a roadmap for organizational and programmatic changes over the next few years, as NDEO embodies its commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization.” Their statement on social justice can be viewed below.
One leftist who instigated the PUSD protest was Washington Elementary School District (WESD) Board President Kyle Clayton. In 2023, Clayton was one of five board members who voted to terminate an 11-year relationship with Arizona Christian University due to the college’s stance on traditional marriage. At that time, Clayton—who identifies as an LGBT community member—said he was worried that Christian student-teachers would proselytize his children and make them feel bad about having two dads. It didn’t matter that ACU had never received a single complaint like this in 11 years.
Past board members in Clayton’s district signed anti-racism and LGBTQ+ affirming resolutions. The youngest WESD students are barely potty-trained. Let that sink in. Clayton willingly discriminates against people who believe in God and disagree with his lifestyle choices. This is the definition of bigotry. Clayton is not the kind of person who should be leading an elementary school district. WESD residents should be asking how and why radical, anti-Christian activists are sitting on their school board.
Ultimately, the PUSD school board protest made the adult activists look a bit foolish. Board Member Becky Proudfit—who historically supported DEI for students—clarified that the programs were “not in danger of being cut” but that the district endeavored to operate “in the bounds of legality.” She also reiterated that Title II funding is not a permanent solution and encouraged every speaker to contact the noncompliant organizations (as the petition starter should have done). Board Member Janelle Bowles—who is strongly against DEI— wholeheartedly agreed with Proudfit’s sentiments.
Although the students performed well during public comments, it was sad and exhausting to see so much misguided passion and wasted energy coming against leaders who are all working in their favor. Even conservative board members voted to keep programs with DEI components—albeit Board President Heather Rooks vehemently denounced EdTA’s racist ideologies, and another board member motioned to approve the programs with an attestation as part of their agreement with PUSD.
It’s a shame that the adults who gaslighted the children and influenced this demonstration lacked the foresight to protest the culprits causing the federal funding dilemma. If you’re going to encourage students to engage in activism, at least point them in the right direction. Of course, theatre, dance, music, and other artistic expressions provide students with an enriching experience and some lucrative post-secondary school opportunities.
Nevertheless, K-12 students don’t need to learn how to be “anti-racist” while playing a wind instrument. Gender identity is not a prerequisite for memorizing and delivering well-executed lines. And although the good Lord graced His black and brown people with more rhythm, white students shouldn’t be cut from recitals just because they’re born with melanin deficiency. Why any board member, superintendent, parent, or educator would advocate for DEI is beyond the comprehension of those who love all children the same, regardless of their ethnic background.
A final word to DEI champions: You would do best to listen to conservative black people instead of emotionally inserting yourselves into historical civil rights conflicts that don’t concern you. No one asked white liberals to fight battles or take on identity-based issues that didn’t affect their community 250 years ago. If leftists want to protest something, there is plenty of hatred directed at white, heterosexual, Christian conservatives today. People like me are doing just fine. We don’t need any handouts. The world would be a better, safer, more sane place if the adults on the self-righteous left took some time to study the true definition of diversity.
Seven months into Trump’s return to office, the wreckage of the Biden administration continues to surface—especially in America’s transportation infrastructure. Previously, we highlighted the troubling impact of Pete Buttigieg’s tenure as Secretary of Transportation. His legacy of failure is becoming increasingly clear and public as new coverage reveals how his ideological grant programs, neglect of core responsibilities, and blatant mismanagement have damaged our economy, harmed communities, and sabotaged our personal freedoms.
As covered by the New York Post, Buttigieg, who was charged for four years to oversee the world’s most significant infrastructure network, instead made it his mission to “reimagine” the entire system, framing it as irredeemably racist and in need of dismantling as he famously told Al Sharpton in his “roads are racist” interview. Buttigieg funded his radical agenda through a series of state and local grants. Programs like “Reconnecting Communities” funded the removal of functional highways based on the claim they were originally designed to displace minority neighborhoods, even though those highways are used today by people of all races.
These weren’t transportation programs—they were anti-transportation programs. They prioritized “road diets,” bike lanes, and leveling roads in the name of equity while Americans sat in traffic and airports collapsed under system failures.
The AZ Free Enterprise Club was one of the only organizations sounding the alarm about the ideological hijacking of the USDOT which even despite mainstream knowledge of the corrosive teachings of critical race theory in k-12 education brought to light after COVID, seemed far-fetched to many. We documented how seemingly harmless programs like Vision Zero and the Safe Systems Approach—heavily funded through federal transportation grants—were actually vehicles for social engineering.
Now it is clear how thoroughly he indoctrinated the administration…
Arizona State Representative John Gillette (R-LD30) shared a post on Wednesday containing images and video footage taken at Dobson High School from Turning Point Action Field Representative Angel Guess. The images and video footage depicted Black Lives Matter (BLM) and pro-LGBTQ material in the classroom.
In her post, Guess wrote, “Attention Mesa Residents, mothers, fathers… this is what your taxpayer dollars pay for.. School starts tomorrow [at Dobson High] and YOUR kids are walking into this. Video from today!”
🚨 🚨Attention Mesa Residents, mothers, fathers.. this is what your tax payer dollars pay for..
School starts tomorrow @DobsonHigh and YOUR kids are walking into this. Video from today!@mpsaz Mesa Public School District is this what parents subscribe to when they sign your… pic.twitter.com/WtVEQOjUZR
She continued, “Mesa Public School District is this what parents subscribe to when they sign your enrollment agreement? Not my child! Who agrees?”
Sharing the post, Representative Gillette declared it to be “Another advertisement for the Arizona ESA voucher program.”
Another advertisement for the Arizona ESA voucher program. Govt schools can't understand why their student count keeps falling. Woke indoctrination, DEI, and poor academic results are destroying government schools. https://t.co/eBSTgoCRDX
— Rep. John Gillette AZ House LD30 (@AzRepGillette) July 31, 2025
“Govt schools can’t understand why their student count keeps falling. Woke indoctrination, DEI, and poor academic results are destroying government schools,” Gillette added.
The post to X has since garnered the attention of former Republican Congressional candidate Josh Barnett, who observed, “This is why school choice is so important and allowing Private/charter schools to prosper.”
Senior Advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Kari Lake excoriated the district, writing, “Stop radicalizing our children! Cut all taxpayer funding to woke public schools. Our kids deserve better.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Dobson High School has a history of alignment with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts such as the “No Place For Hate” (NPFH) program of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of Arizona, which named Dobson as an NPFH school in 2022.
As recently as July 18th, Arizona Women of Action posted a thread on X, making serious allegations that “There are explicit books in MPS libraries. High schools. Middle schools. Even ELEMENTARY schools.”
🚨🚨🚨 ATTENTION Mesa Public Schools Residents
There are explicit books in MPS libraries. High schools. Middle schools. Even ELEMENTARY schools.
Watch these videos, then please follow the call to action at the end.
— Arizona Women of Action (@azwomenofaction) July 18, 2025
The texts reportedly include: “Push” by Sapphire, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison (which both detail sexual abuse), “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins, which has been removed from schools in 13 states for references to drug use, sexual abuse, and suicide, and “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher, which is available in elementary schools and has been challenged in dozens of school districts for its sexually explicit content and discussion of suicide.
