by Staff Reporter | Sep 18, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The Department of Education (ED) announced a significant new investment in school choice.
On Monday, ED pledged “historic” investments into charter schools, American history and civics programs, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs).
The department repurposed funding from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs to fund these investments.
ED Secretary Linda McMahon said the funds were reserved for programs “which support student success.”
“The Department has carefully scrutinized our federal grants, ensuring that taxpayers are not funding racially discriminatory programs but those programs which promote merit and excellence in education,” said McMahon. “The Trump Administration will use every available tool to meaningfully advance educational outcomes and ensure every American has the opportunity to succeed in life.”
ED also pledged over $160 million to the American History and Civics Education National Activities — Seminars for America’s Semiquincentennial program. 2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America.
ED will award American history and civics grants for seminars that “directly commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Founding of the United States.” Eligible seminar programming must make a feature study of American political tradition: the ideas, institutions, and texts instrumental to this nation’s constitutional government and history. The seminars must also be based on “the first principles of American founding.” Eligible seminars must include the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
$500 million in grants will be distributed to charter schools for the 2025 fiscal year. Another total of nearly $500 million collectively will be sent as one-time investments to HBCUs and TCCUs.
As justification for the reallocation of millions in government grants, ED cited the poor student outcomes exhibited by the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores released earlier this month. Student NAEP scores reached “historic lows” throughout K-12.
Nationally, average NAEP scores were lower across all three assessments: science at grade 8, mathematics at grade 12, and reading at grade 12.
Arizona students scored lower across the various subjects than the average national scores for both fourth and eighth graders. Fourth grade math scores averaged 232, compared to the national average of 237; fourth grade reading scores averaged 208, compared to the national average of 214; and fourth grade science scores averaged 149, compared to the national average of 153.
Eighth grade math scores averaged 270, compared to the national average of 272; eighth grade reading scores averaged 254, compared to the national average of 257; and eighth grade science scores averaged 148, compared to the national average of 153.
McMahon called the NAEP results “devastating,” and indicative of a trend of generations unprepared for adult life. McMahon questioned the spending of billions annually with such dismal results, and pledged to claw back some of those funds to invest in individual states and educational choice.
“At a critical juncture when students are about to graduate and enter the workforce, military, or higher education, nearly half of America’s high school seniors are testing at below basic levels in math and reading. Despite spending billions annually on numerous K-12 programs, the achievement gap is widening, and more high school seniors are performing below the basic benchmark in math and reading than ever before,” said McMahon. “If America is going to remain globally competitive, students must be able to read proficiently, think critically, and graduate equipped to solve complex problems. We owe it to them to do better.”
In May, ED pledged to increase charter school funding by $60 million for a program budget total of $500 million.
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by Jonathan Eberle | Sep 13, 2025 | News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Arizona’s top Republican lawmakers are asking the Trump administration to reimburse the state for more than $700 million spent on border security initiatives over the past several years.
Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Steve Montenegro sent a letter this week to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, requesting repayment under the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill, which provides $10 billion for states to recover border-related expenses incurred during the Biden administration.
According to the letter, Arizona appropriated $599 million in 2021 and 2022 through the Border Security Fund, in addition to $145 million over five years for law enforcement and other enforcement efforts tied to the southern border. The funds were used to support sheriffs, the Department of Public Safety, and construction tied to border barriers.
“For four years, the Biden Administration failed to defend our border, leaving Arizona to shoulder the burden,” Petersen said in a statement. He argued that the investments made by the Legislature were necessary to protect residents and that taxpayers deserve reimbursement.
Earlier this year, Petersen joined a group of attorneys general on a border tour reviewing state and federal enforcement operations. He praised former President Donald Trump’s policies, calling them effective in reducing illegal crossings without additional legislation.
Montenegro also underscored the legislature’s commitment to border security, contrasting it with the approach taken by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. He pointed to the voter-approved Secure the Border Act as evidence of public support for stricter enforcement.
“Arizona voters made their voices clear when they overwhelmingly passed the Secure the Border Act that Democrats tried to block,” Montenegro said. “Thanks to President Trump and his administration, Washington is finally treating border security as a priority again, and Arizona taxpayers deserve to be reimbursed.”
If the state receives federal funds, legislative leaders said the money will be directed into Arizona’s General Fund and overseen by the legislature to ensure proper use.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Sep 10, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
It was Biden’s biggest “accomplishment.” The so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which he later admitted had nothing to do with inflation (it actually did, just not in the direction the name suggested) but was really about dumping billions (really trillions) into subsidizing the green new scam. It was the biggest acceleration towards the “Net Zero” climate scam resulting in utilities across the country, especially here in Arizona, spamming the grid with unreliable energy generation such as solar, wind, and battery storage, driving up rates for utility customers while shattering reliability.
And President Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would terminate it on day one, instead committing to unleash American energy dominance, “drill, baby, drill”, and slash harmful regulations standing in the way of building affordable baseload generation. The recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” was the avenue to do the first.
What finally made it through Congress and was signed into law on July 4th terminated tax credits for electric vehicles, “energy efficient” home improvements, and residential solar this year. As for the much larger credits, those subsidizing grid scale solar and wind farms, it’s much more complicated.
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Ethan Faverino | Sep 3, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Trump administration announced that it has successfully located over 23,000 unaccompanied immigrant children who were previously unaccounted for during the Biden administration, marking a significant step in addressing the crisis.
This figure represents approximately 7% of the estimated 300,000 unaccompanied children that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported as untraceable under the prior administration.
Border Czar Tom Homan, a key figure in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the issue.
“The last administration wasn’t even looking for them,” said Homan. “We’re not going to stop until we find every one of them.”
The administration is prioritizing resources in sanctuary cities like Chicago, where local policies limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, to ensure the safety and accountability of these vulnerable children.
The Biden administration’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) was unable to contact approximately 85,000 unaccompanied children by phone after their release to sponsors between January and May 2023. A later DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report in August 2024 further highlighted systemic failures, estimating around 300,000 unaccompanied children remained unaccounted for.
The report noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to monitor the location and status of these children after their release from federal custody, with over 32,000 failing to appear for immigration court hearings between fiscal years 2019 and 2023.
Additionally, 31,000 children were released to sponsors with invalid or incomplete addresses, enhancing the risk of losing track of them.
The DHS OIG report also revealed that ICE failed to serve Notices to Appear (NTAs) to over 291,000 unaccompanied children as of May 2024, meaning these children had no scheduled immigration court dates.
The report shows the heightened risk of trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor for children who did not appear in court, raising serious concerns about their safety.
In response, the Trump administration launched an aggressive initiative in May 2025 to conduct welfare checks on the estimated 450,000 unaccompanied children who entered the U.S. under the Biden administration.
By June, approximately 500 children were taken into government custody due to unsafe living conditions or immigration enforcement actions against their sponsors.
The issue was a focal point during a November 2024 Homeland Security Committee hearing, where congressional leaders examined the breakdown in government processes under the Biden administration that led to the disappearance of these children. The Trump administration’s proactive measures stand in contrast to the previous administration’s shortcomings, as evidenced by the historic low of 4,598 total apprehensions along the southern border in July 2025—the lowest ever recorded—compared to over 10,000 daily apprehensions under the Biden administration.
Additionally, ICE has arrested over 160,000 illegal immigrants within the U.S., primarily those posing public safety and national security threats.
“We have the most secure border in the history of this nation, and the data proves it,” said Homan. “President Trump has been a game changer, and his leadership makes the country safer every day. Promises made. Promises kept. Promises proven.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Aug 15, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
Since taking office in January, President Trump has worked hard to restore sanity in America. While the wins have been stacking up in many areas, perhaps his administration’s most notable efforts have been in its pushback against the junk science driving the climate agenda.
Along with executive orders in January and April to unleash American energy, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would be reversing a Biden administration regulation that held Arizona accountable for the eighty percent of emissions in the Maricopa County nonattainment area that emanated from outside of the state—primarily from China and Mexico.
While all that is good news, the Trump administration delivered quite possibly the best news yet for American energy last month when the EPA released its plan on rescinding the Endangerment Finding. And it has the climate cult drowning in their tears.
What is the Endangerment Finding?
Back in 2009, the Obama administration declared carbon dioxide (CO2) as a pollutant that threatens public health and welfare under the Clean Air Act. Of course, this ignored the fact that CO2 is one of the most important ingredients for building and sustaining life on Earth. But the Obama administration was never known for exercising commonsense, so it gave birth to this controversial policy by relying on cherry-picked scientific data to justify a vast expansion of regulatory power at the EPA.
Since its inception, the Endangerment Finding has been used as the basis for many of the green scam regulations impacting Arizona’s economy. During both the Obama administration and the Biden administration, the EPA passed new regulations on vehicles, factories, power plants, and other mobile sources all based on the alleged dangers of CO2. These mandates have cost the U.S. economy over a trillion dollars, and here in Arizona, they have been responsible for higher energy prices and higher utility bills.
But if the climate cult gets its way, it wouldn’t stop there…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
