Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne hailed a unanimous decision by the Arizona Court of Appeals that reinstates a lawsuit against the Mesa Unified School District (MPS), reinforcing parental rights in cases involving children’s gender identity.
The ruling allows parents to pursue legal action against public schools that withhold critical information about a child’s intent to identify as a gender different from their biological sex.
“Schools are not substitutes for parents, and they have zero right to withhold information that parents are entitled to know,” said Horne. “Arizona law is very clear on the right of parents, and they should be informed when a child expresses a desire to be identified as a sex other than the one to which they were born. The Court of Appeals was unanimous in their decision allowing a lawsuit filed against the Mesa school district by a parent to proceed. I am very pleased that the Court made the correct ruling to defend parental rights and remind schools they should follow the law or risk legal action.”
The case is of a parent whose daughter, referred to as “Megan” (a pseudonym), was a student at an MPS junior high school during the 2022-23 school year. According to court documents, MPS had implemented “Guidelines for Support of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” since at least 2015. These guidelines included procedures for school staff to support students asserting a gender identity different from their sex assigned at birth, such as updating their name or pronouns in internal systems without necessarily notifying parents.
In “Megan’s” situation, school personnel allowed her to use the male name “Michael” among teachers and students, while deliberately avoiding updates to the district’s electronic system to prevent automatic parental alerts.
The guidelines instructed staff not to disclose a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation without the student’s consent, even to parents.
This included options for students to specify whether their identity could be shared with school leadership, teachers, or peers—but parental notification was not mandated unless a change was requested in the school’s internal system.
“Megan’s” parents discovered the name change in October 2022 and confronted the school officials. In a December 2022 meeting with the principal, they learned that the school had intentionally bypassed the notification system to keep the matter secret.
The principal admitted that even if the parents had requested updates on name changes, pronouns, or gender-related issues, MPS policy prohibited informing parents.
The parents demanded that all staff cease using “Michael” and revert to Megan’s given name, but at a February 2023 meeting with teachers, all but one continued using the preferred name.
The parents further claimed that the school’s actions encouraged Megan to lie to her parents, straining the family relationship and delaying necessary mental health support.
Once her parents were fully informed, Megan was able to speak openly with them and a mental health counselor. Within a month, her issues were resolved, and she became comfortable presenting herself as female and using her given name. The lawsuit, joined by MPS board member Rachel Walden, alleges violations of Arizona’s Parents’ Bill of Rights, which protects parents’ authority over their children’s upbringing, education, health care, and mental health. It also cites prohibitions against public employees compelling children to withhold information from parents, requirements for advance notification on sexuality-related instruction, and bans on mental health screening without consent.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
As Arizona lawmakers prepare to convene for the upcoming legislative session, Senator David Farnsworth (R-LD10), who chairs the Senate Appropriations & Transportation Committee, is outlining a policy agenda centered on infrastructure investment, government efficiency, and parental rights.
In a recent statement, Farnsworth said his focus for the session will be on practical policy solutions that address long-term growth while fostering cooperation among lawmakers. The agenda, he said, is designed to balance economic competitiveness with individual freedoms.
One major component of Farnsworth’s plan involves strengthening Arizona’s infrastructure and evaluating emerging transportation technologies. He has expressed interest in advanced air mobility and other innovations that could improve safety and expand access across the state, particularly as Arizona continues to experience rapid population and economic growth. Farnsworth argues that thoughtful planning and modernization are necessary to ensure the state remains competitive in a changing economy.
Another priority is reducing bureaucratic complexity within state government. Farnsworth said he plans to pursue measures aimed at streamlining regulations and simplifying processes for families, workers, and small businesses. Supporters of such efforts often argue that regulatory reform can lower costs and encourage entrepreneurship, while critics caution that deregulation must be carefully implemented to avoid unintended consequences.
Parental rights and individual liberties also feature prominently in Farnsworth’s agenda. He said he intends to advocate for policies that ensure families retain primary authority over decisions related to education, healthcare, and personal values, while emphasizing adherence to constitutional protections.
“Real change doesn’t occur through slogans or grand promises,” Farnsworth said in the release. “It happens when legislators collaborate.” He added that building consensus across the legislature will be essential to advancing policies that deliver lasting benefits for Arizonans.
The senator framed his goals as part of a broader effort to promote steady, incremental progress rather than sweeping reforms. The Arizona Legislature is scheduled to reconvene on January 12 for the opening of the 57th Legislature’s Second Regular Session. As debates begin in earnest, Farnsworth’s priorities are expected to play a role in shaping discussions on transportation funding, regulatory policy, and education-related issues during the months ahead.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona’s legislative leaders issued a statement of support for a federal action establishing a new level of parental rights to access their children’s medical records.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced earlier this month further protections for parental rights in healthcare. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., cited an incident in which a Midwestern school allegedly ignored a religious exemption and vaccinated a child without parental consent.
That school remains under investigation by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for potential violation of the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC), which requires providers of vaccines received federally to comply with state laws on religious and other exemptions.
In addition to Kennedy’s announcement, the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) issued an advisement to its health center grant recipients of their required compliance with federal and state laws on parental rights. OCR also issued a letter to healthcare providers advising of their duty to provide parental access to children’s medical records.
“If a provider is standing between you and your child, HHS is going to step in,” said Kennedy in an announcement video.
House Majority Whip Julie Willoughby (R-LD13) published a statement expressing gratitude for the HHS action to assist parents in Arizona and nationwide.
“Arizona parents know this problem because they’ve lived it. Families have been locked out of online medical portals and forced to fight for access to records needed to schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, and communicate with doctors,” said Willoughby. “Parents should not need a lawyer or a lawsuit to see their child’s medical records. This problem was identified years ago. It’s time for the state to stand with parents.”
Republican lawmakers attempted to offer a similar remedy last year (House Bill 2183) and this year (House Bill 2126), but Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed both.
Both bills would have required health care entities to provide parents with access to any electronic portal and delivery platform of their child’s medical records, even in cases where the medical treatment given didn’t require parental consent.
Hobbs cited health, safety, and privacy rights as reasons for vetoing the bills.
“The measure as written could put the health and safety of vulnerable Arizonans at risk,” said Hobbs in her House Bill 2183 denial letter.
“Patient privacy is a longstanding tenet of American healthcare and this bill would create legal ambiguity for healthcare providers who have existing obligations to patient privacy,” said Hobbs in her House Bill 2126 denial letter.
The only community member to speak on the latest vetoed bill during its House committee hearing was a representative of the ACLU of Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Marilyn Rodriguez with Creosote Partners.
The two activist organizations argued the existence of a distinct class of children — “mature minors” — which should be exempt from parental oversight in their medical care. Rodriguez claimed the bill would be “impacting mature minors’ confidentiality when accessing critical care.”
There is no statutory language that distinguishes “mature minors.” Rodriguez further argued that medical providers should decide whether a minor qualifies as a “mature minor,” not the legislature.
On behalf of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona specifically, Rodriguez argued that minors should have the ability to access abortions without their parents knowing or consenting.
Again, during the Senate committee hearing on the bill, only a representative of Planned Parenthood was present to speak against the bill. Aven Kelley, a policy analyst with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, argued that minors should have autonomy and privacy when it comes to obtaining abortions.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
A Deer Valley USD (DVUSD) parent, referred to as “Amy,” contacted my organization to report that her children were questioned about their morning and bedtime routines. It turns out Stetson Hills School administrators had engaged students in an “Attendance Reflection Activity” during lunch on November 6, 2025. Parents weren’t notified about the event until the end of the school day.
“Our school utilizes a system called CUTS (Chronically Absent and Truant Students) to proactively identify students who are missing more than 10% of instructional days by the end of the quarter…During the session, students participated in fun discussions about:
Their current nighttime routines,
Their current morning routines [and]
Developing a goal or plan for one small, positive change they could make to improve their attendance moving forward.”
Walter ended the communication by thanking parents for their “partnership and support in encouraging consistent daily attendance.” In her zealousness to combat chronic absenteeism, I think Walter forgot that elementary students are not responsible for transporting themselves to school.
Stetson’s attendance survey can be viewed here. Note that in addition to answering questions about sleep schedules and household activities, students were required to sign the document as if it were a contract between them and the school district.
Amy said her kids were probed about their eating habits and family relationships, but those questions were not included on the survey. She also said her children described feeling anxious and “targeted” during the attendance reflection session.
According to Amy, her children haven’t missed more than a few days since the 2025 school year began, and every absence was excused due to illness or doctor’s appointments. Assistant Principal Walter confirmed that parents only need to notify the school, and doctors’ notes are not required in these instances.
Amy emailed her concerns about the district’s lack of transparency to DVUSD Superintendent Curtis Finch. Instead of responding to Amy, Finch forwarded her email to the School Operations and Safety Coordinator, Valerie Bullis. Bullis claimed the truancy probe was intended to be a “proactive approach in addressing student attendance patterns” and that school administrators were now “reviewing the process.” Meanwhile, Amy insisted that she and other parents she talked to were never informed about the student interrogation “process” to begin with. Amy also believes most parents are not aware of the CUTS program.
Screenshots from the Stetson Hills social media account show educators and other DVUSD schools engaging in attendance competitions. Amy said these activities promote unhealthy rivalry among students who are totally dependent on their parents for transportation and life decisions.
Deer Valley taxpayers are using their properties as collateral for failing schools. By passing the 15% override, constituents empowered government employees to keep pushing the boundaries of parental controls as they advance a State-sponsored agenda. “We got the override! We got your money!” was the overarching theme of the November 18 school board meeting.
The Glendale Star quoted Superintendent Finch, stating, “We’re pretty excited that we got the okay from the public to move forward.” When commenting on potential budget cuts, he said, “If it didn’t pass, I would be using a chainsaw, but now I can use the scalpel.” Finch also predicted “another explosion of enrollment in the next three to five years.” Wrapping up a discussion about DVUSD’s successful override campaign, he declared:
“The students are the winners when this happens. The community saw how far we’ve come and responded accordingly. It’s very gratifying for everyone involved.”
Cue the laugh track.
Finch’s million-dollar “scalpel” will never be used to dissect his compensation package, and most promises made during override campaigns are never kept. It’s no secret that Arizona public schools are losing students to the school choice movement. DVUSD’s decision to host intramural attendance games only proves that government education can’t compete with superior learning methods and institutions. Parents are waking up and moving on.
“The anti-public school movement is growing here in the state of Arizona, which is a crime against humanity. And it’s unfortunate that we’re caught in that web.”
— Superintendent Curtis Finch, ABC 15 News
For the record, there’s nothing inherently negative about finding creative and fun ways to encourage classroom attendance. The CUTS program mentioned in Assistant Principal Walter’s email may have attracted some families back to the district. Alas, the planning and execution were botched, and the interrogation activities left some parents feeling gaslighted.
I will never understand why school districts are so opposed to (or ignorant of) parental rights legislation. If you want students to enroll and attend, why wouldn’t you appeal to and listen to parents? If parents want a safe, academic-focused environment that’s free from politics, why not invest in that instead of engaging in a power struggle over their kids? In other industries, when a company loses business, board members and directors will research competitors and come up with ways to recapture the market by providing quality products and services.
This concept is simple when applied to education: If public schools don’t want parents to withdraw their children and go to private schools, then they should do what private schools do. Adopt their academic model and offer it at a lower cost. Stop waving rainbow flags and talking about gender and skin color. Stop asking intrusive questions and forming inappropriate bonds with other people’s kids. Give parents a reason to trust you. Or is that too much common sense for government folk?
School board elections are not magic. Ideally, we’d like to “get our guy in office,” trust that they have our best interests in mind, and carry on with our lives. This is not reality. More often than not, time reveals that “our guy” will say whatever needs to be said to gain our support and then turn on the dime of sleazy administrators, radical union leaders, and leftist community members. Unfortunately, this pattern emerges even in school districts that many consider as having a “conservative majority.”
Despite all the online drama that erupted over those attendance surveys, I was the only one who attended and spoke about it at the last Deer Valley school board meeting. Digital outrage accomplishes absolutely nothing in real time, and virtual group therapy has no power to shift this situation. DVUSD is corrupt. The school board is dysfunctional, the superintendent is shady, and educators are lacking real leadership. Now that they have your money, what’s their incentive to do right by your children? Who will hold them accountable, if not you?
Tiffany Benson is the Founder of Restore Parental Rights in Education. Her commentaries on education, politics, and Christian faith can be viewed at Parentspayattention.com and Bigviewsmallwindow.com. Follow her on socials @realtiffanyb.
A young Christian man named Charlie Kirk was shot—simply for speaking his mind. A husband, a father, a voice for the next generation. Lord, why did it happen this way? How dare they steal the breath from a faithful man?
Charlie was not a violent agitator, not a man bent on tearing down, but one who stirred the hearts of the young. He spoke boldly where others remained silent, reminding his peers that they were created for more. He gave them courage. And for that, he was silenced.
“How dare they?” we ask. Indeed. Yet the truth is more sobering: they dare because of the cultural environment we now live in—an environment shaped, in part, by radical ideologies that have seeped into our schools, our politics, and even our everyday conversations. And right here in Scottsdale, that environment has been nurtured by leaders like Superintendent Menzel, current and former board members, and others who have steered the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) away from academic excellence and into ideological experiments.
The Shift Away from Education
SUSD leaders claim to promote critical thinking, yet what they push is a one-sided agenda built on misinformation and half-truths. Instead of focusing on the basics—reading, writing, mathematics, science—SUSD has embraced policies that undermine families and confuse students. Here are a few examples:
Telling children they can change their gender without parental involvement.
Promoting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in place of foundational academics.
Teaching that America is a fundamentally racist nation.
Undermining parental rights while telling families to “trust the experts.”
Blocking parents from curriculum discussions while approving controversial materials, sometimes in violation of state law.
Replacing qualified teachers with social workers and counselors.
Conducting constant student surveys on mental health, sowing confusion rather than providing clarity.
This is not the recipe for a high-achieving school district. It is the foundation of a crisis.
The Failed Promise of Social Emotional Learning
Superintendent Menzel and his allies argue that focusing on student “emotional well-being” will, in turn, unlock academic achievement. This theory, rooted in social-emotional learning, posits that removing a child’s psychological “barriers” will allow them to thrive in the classroom.
But does it work? The evidence suggests otherwise. Independent researchers, particularly outside the U.S. educational establishment, have found little to no link between widespread, non-targeted mental health interventions and improved academic outcomes. In fact, research shows these programs may worsen student mental health.
In medicine, the term for this is iatrogenic harm: unintended damage caused by treatments meant to heal. In mental health, it refers to harm that arises from interventions that destabilize rather than stabilize. The endless surveys, the focus on fragility rather than resilience, and the substitution of therapy for instruction can actually make students more anxious, less confident, and less academically capable.
If SUSD’s policies worked, our students would be excelling. Instead, they are struggling.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Let’s look at the hard data under Menzel’s leadership.
Instructional spending: Down to 54.4% in 2024, compared to 54.6% in 2023, and trending toward a historic low. Over the past five years, instructional spending has dropped 1.7%.
Student support spending: Up 2.6% over the past 5-year period.
Administrative spending: 15% higher per student than peer districts.
Enrollment: Down 8.4% over the past 5-year period.
Staffing: In FY24, the district cut 59 instructional positions but added 71 student support staff and 44 administrative positions.
Test scores: Math proficiency fell from 57% in 2019 to 55% in 2024. Science dropped from 64% to 41%. English Language Arts rose slightly, from 56% to 61%, but overall performance represents a 12% decline since 2019.
So: fewer teachers, lower academic spending, higher administrative costs, declining enrollment, and worse performance.
SUSD recently held its second mental health fair and sponsored a suicide prevention event. After 125 years of SUSD history, why is it only now that we need districtwide events to address student mental health and suicide? Could it be that the very programs meant to fix mental health are feeding the crisis?
The Culture War in the Classroom
The failures of SUSD are not isolated. They are part of a broader cultural radicalization. Across the nation, schools are less focused on knowledge and more focused on ideology. Students are taught to distrust their parents, question their identity, and view their country as irredeemably broken.
We see the results not only in academic decline but also in growing instability—emotional, social, and even violent.
This instability was on display here in Scottsdale when conservative board member Carine Werner was allegedly overheard making a disparaging comment, and leftist groups who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s death, seemingly collaborated to paint her in a bad light. Protesters immediately called for her resignation, parading signs that read “Protect Children: Werner Must Resign,” and “Ban Bigots, Not Books.”
But labeling Werner “ignorant” or “bigoted” ignores her record. As a state senator, she championed laws to make schools safer from predators and supported pay raises for law enforcement. As a board member, she pushed to remove sexually explicit material from schools, opposed social studies curricula that included anti-police rhetoric and glorified activism over academics, fought for stronger school security, introduced a common-sense policy that kept boys out of the girls’ bathroom, and even stood up to a transportation contractor after one of its employees sexually assaulted a student.
That’s not bigotry. That’s leadership.
The Consequences of Demonization
So how did we get here, where speaking truth—or even raising common-sense concerns—can cost you your reputation, your job, or even your life?
We’ve been told the problem is “radicalization on the dark web.” But you don’t need the dark web. Just watch mainstream media or scroll social media. From the highest levels of government on down, leaders tell us anyone who disagrees is a racist, a fascist, or a threat to democracy. Politicians openly encourage people to “get in their faces” and drive dissenters out of public life.
For someone already struggling with confusion, addiction, or emotional instability, this narrative can justify hostility—even violence—against those who dare to think differently.
That’s what happened to Charlie. He stood for free dialogue, for open exchange of ideas—values once core to American identity. For that, he was killed.
Diversity of Thought—or the Illusion of It
SUSD claims to celebrate diversity. But it is not diversity of thought. Instead, there is one sanctioned narrative: accept it, or be labeled hateful. We are told tolerance is a virtue, yet intolerance is practiced against anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy.
We cannot allow this inversion of truth. Lies are not compassion. Half-truths are not education. And intolerance cannot be the foundation of a healthy community.
A Call to Parents
Superintendent Menzel and the SUSD Governing Board may not be directly responsible for Charlie’s death in Utah, but their policies contribute to the kind of environment where such tragedies become possible.
Parents, it is time to wake up. Our children are not experiments. Our schools are not laboratories for ideological reprogramming. The mission of education must return to the basics: truth, knowledge, critical thinking, and resilience.
We must demand accountability from school leaders. We must replace ideologically driven programs with proven academic strategies. We must protect our children—not only from physical threats but also from the corrosive cultural forces undermining their mental, emotional, and intellectual well-being.
Charlie’s voice has been silenced. But ours has not. If we remain quiet, more voices will be lost. If we speak boldly—as he did—we can reclaim truth, restore education, and protect the next generation.
The question is: will we dare?
Mike Bengert is a husband, father, grandfather, and Scottsdale resident advocating for quality education in SUSD for over 30 years.
