by Staff Reporter | Jan 10, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
James Badger, 45, a Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) teacher was arrested for sexual exploitation of children.
Badger taught at Tucson High Magnet School (THMS). He was arrested on Tuesday by the Tucson Police Department and charged with ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The statement of probable cause for Badger’s arrest cited child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images downloaded to his computer.
“On a computer belonging to James the Sandra series from BitTorrent download was located on this computer, along with other CSAM material. A manual preview of the device showed there was a large amount of CSAM on the computer,” read the statement. “10 images were selected that met the criteria of sexual exploitation of a minor. These images included prepubescent females below the age of 15 that were nude in sexual poses where their genital area was the focus. They lacked breast development or pubic hair.”
Badger formerly taught at Parker High School, where he oversaw the drama club. Badger left after an undisclosed controversy, apparently concerning his inclusion of “anything gay” within the drama department’s productions.
In March 2023, Badger posted the following on his Instagram with a partial picture of an email depicting a threat to him:
“For the record: I didn’t get fired, but someone wants to fire a gun at me, and they’ve said so very explicitly. I didn’t resign, but I did tell admin[instration] that I will not be coming back after this year. I won’t be on campus for a while, but I will finish out the year,” wrote Badger. “To those who have been kind and welcoming to us over the years: thank you. To those who let bigotry and pointless political divisions cloud your judgement: grow up. To those who have mocked, gossiped, and threatened: go f**k yourselves.”
Badger then moved on to teaching at THMS.
In a February 2024 post depicting the “second annual drag show” at THMS, Badger shared his satisfaction with THMS tolerance to LGBTQ+ ideologies for minors. That drag show was sponsored by the school’s Q Space club. Q Space clubs encourage students to adopt LGBTQ+ identities and ideologies.
“Interesting to see such an event proceeding with full support of the school’s administration,” wrote Badger. “For years I wondered what that would be like, and now I know: it’s super normal.”
The THMS Q Space club advisor is a transgender man, Sunday (formerly April) Hamilton. It was Hamilton and another former THMS counselor, Zobella Brazil Vinik, who began organizing THMS drag shows featuring the high schoolers. Vinik was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2022.
According to various posts on his Instagram page, Badger was a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, along with mainstream progressive ideologies: Black Lives Matter, critical race theory, LGBTQ+ ideologies, and abortion.
In another post in the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Badger expressed his fear of Donald Trump winning the presidency and his belief that the government would murder him and his family under a Trump administration.
“Trump will win this election, and fascism will take hold in America. Nothing matters, and nothing can be done,” wrote Badger. “When you come to kill me, please don’t let my wife and children see. When you come to kill my wife and children, please don’t let them see it coming. #notkidding #thesearethestakes.”
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by Staff Reporter | Sep 21, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
A former middle school teacher out of Tucson will lose his Arizona teaching certificate several years after threatening to shoot a Trump merchandise store and kill a lawmaker.
As the Arizona Daily Independent reported, Donald Glenn Brown sent an email under the alias “Jessica James” to The Trumped Store in Show Low, Arizona on July 4, 2022 threatening to shoot up the store as well as murder State Senator Wendy Rogers. Brown was arrested in September of that year on the charge of attempting to commit terrorism, a class four felony.
Brown’s graphic email is replicated below from the Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE) meeting content regarding his case:
“Hello you Mother-F**king Disgusting Piece of Shit….this is Jim & Jessica James, we are friends of Ron Watkins, We are parked today July 4 at the Sonic Restaurant (Show Low), with a pair of AR-15s, We are going to walk in your f**king joke of a store, and start shooting, and put the barrell [sic] of a gun to Wendy Rogers face and pull the trigger and bow her f**king head off…and enjoy watching that f**king traitor grifting disgusting lying sick Bi*ch Wh*re C*nt Die, and her brains, head, blood sprayed all over your f**king store…and then we’re going to start shooting your f**king shit-hole up with a few AR15 rounds-some real patriots are going to Hit Back and F**king C*nt Rogers is going to die…..F**k You Traitor…..tRump Ass-licking C**k Sucker.”
Not until he pled guilty earlier this year in April did Brown resign from the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The Navajo County Superior Court sentenced Brown to two-and-a-half years in prison.
Brown’s hearing before ASBE is scheduled for next Monday, where it is anticipated he will lose his teaching certification. Brown didn’t appear before the Professional Practices Advisory Committee (PPAC) for his July hearing, due to his imprisonment; PPAC voted unanimously to recommend revocation of Brown’s teaching certification.
Brown maintains a preK-12 music education certificate set to expire next September. Brown taught at the Pistor Middle School within TUSD.
In addition to engaging in violent political threats, Brown appeared to be addicted to pornography.
According to his ASBE case information, Brown had his teaching credentials suspended in another state, New Mexico, based on a 2016 complaint by a female teacher that she had seen a picture of a naked woman bent over on Brown’s school computer screen. Brown later admitted to viewing pornography during school hours on a classroom computer when no students were present.
Brown applied for a substitute certificate with the state of Arizona during his suspension for the pornography viewing, which was part of a settlement agreement with the New Mexico Public Education Department.
In addition to his “Jessica James” alias, ASBE reported that Brown created a separate alias email “Marina Aleximov” to serve as “an outlet for political rage and tool for sexual gratification.” Under this alias, Brown pretended to be a young, ex-Mormon woman from Russia attacking Republicans online, including Rogers, and curating content from male porn stars, fintess models, and celebrities.
“[Y]ou need to move to Mar-a-Lago so you can be one of ex-King tRump’s wh*res,” wrote Brown. “You want to f**k Donald J Trump sooo bad, right? You worship and adore him, you even pray to him, go to Florida and suck his little orange c*ck and f**k him.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Tiffany Benson | Oct 10, 2023 | Opinion
By Tiffany Benson |
Depravity abounds in Arizona’s public education system. From Buckeye, to Phoenix, to Tucson—and many school districts in between—the Valley is infested with radical board members, sleazy administrators, and predatory educators. All of these are working overtime to usurp parental rights and corrupt the next generation.
When creating the following list, I took into consideration cases of child sexual exploitation, race- and gender-based curricula, dangerous bathroom policies and failing test scores. Readers are cautioned against ranking these districts from “worst” to “best.” The list is purely based on the volume and severity of complaints I’ve personally investigated—seven is a very modest number!
Without further ado, here is my top seven list of Arizona’s worst school districts:
1. Mesa Public Schools. In 2015, MPS adopted a secret transgender support plan to aid in the social and sexual transition of minor students without parental knowledge. Shout out to Board Member Rachel Walden for exposing the plan. In the summer of 2023, a majority of the board, led by President Marcie Hutchinson, approved contracts for an unvetted suicide prevention program as well as Brain Solutions—a network of psychiatric clinics that appear to have no medical physicians on staff. In an alleged attempt to bypass public discussion, Hutchinson violated Open Meeting Law 7.7.5 by arranging both contracts under the Consent Agenda. Parents are in danger of losing their children to the LGBTQ+ agenda that’s overtaking this district.
2. Washington Elementary School District. In an unprecedented display of bigotry and lawlessness, WESD board members voted 5-0 to terminate student-teacher contracts with Arizona Christian University (ACU). Despite an 11-year, incident-free partnership with the college, Board Member Tamillia Valenzuela—a cat ear-wearing individual who spurns the Pledge of Allegiance—motioned to cancel ACU due to the organization’s stance on traditional marriage. Valenzuela and her vile counterpart, Board Member Nikkie Whaley, also spontaneously erupt into racist rants against their colleagues, including the night Whaley was unseated from the presidency. While the fully reinstated student-teacher contracts offer a degree of hope, past and present board members have resolved to highlight and celebrate alternative sexualities in prepubescent children. Therefore, WESD remains an unsafe and morally corrupt district.
3. Tucson Unified School District. TUSD is an unforgivable case of sexual perversion and abuse that should send every loving parent over the edge. Notwithstanding one Tucson Magnet High School (TMHS) counselor who organized the first student-led drag show on campus—and was later arrested for sexually assaulting a minor—Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo sought legal advice from Michael Areinoff to host a second event in April 2023. Another counselor and drag show organizer, “Sunday” Hamilton, serves as the point of contact for TMHS’s Q Space club. Board President Ravi Shah, who referred to drag shows as “art,” bragged about attending with his minor children and encouraged community support in the exploitation of gender confused students. Meanwhile, TUSD students are testing below 40% proficiency in math and reading across all grade levels.
4. Catalina Foothills School District. Sadly, this entire board of education, led by President Eileen Jackson, continually proves to be anti-parent, anti-student safety, and anti-common sense. In matters of sex and gender, CFSD has side-stepped parental rights at least since 2021, and in March 2023, Jackson banned all bathroom policy discussions from future agendas. One month later, several concerned CFSD citizens were locked out of the board meeting as radical activists occupied at half capacity to protest the permanent, binary reality of human sexuality. CFSD educators also feel at liberty to bypass parental consent and privately discuss gender ideologies with minor students. Shout out to the Center for Excellence in Public Schools for standing firm amid the onslaught of debauchery in this district.
5. Scottsdale Unified School District. SUSD is a never-ending nightmare of agenda-driven, moral violations. From covert gender-identity student clubs to hidden pronoun surveys, students are constantly bombarded with perversion and secular humanism. Superintendent Scott Menzel—who infamously called white people “problematic”—is the mastermind behind the leftist ideologies and corruption that appear as a recurring theme on the Scottsdale Unites media page. Board President Julie Cieniawski and Board Member Libby Hart-Wells are known to display a lack of decorum as they bully, interrupt, and chastise their colleagues…and anyone else they can’t control. What a shame that Scottsdale’s next generation is being raised by wolves.
6. Chandler Unified School District. During the CUSD board meeting on July 12, 2023, the CFO’s report revealed a steady decline of student enrollments, prompting Board Member Kurt Rohrs to ask:“Why don’t parents want to send their kids to our schools?” The superintendent astutely pointed to parental choice while Board President Jason Olive—in an apparent case of narcissism and willful ignorance—stated: “It sounds like there’s a lot of parents who just don’t know any better…” Perhaps Olive slept through CUSD employees encouraging minors to attend gender utopia workshops, and the district’s alleged cover up of a teacher who reportedly sexually assaulted multiple students. Of course, only the best school district promotes immorality and graduates half its students without basic math and reading skills.
7. Peoria Unified School District. This anti-parental rights district is the epitome of corruption and subversion. Since my last op-ed, interim Superintendent Kevin Molino is now overseeing plans for a third bathroom—an open concept, transgender-friendly facility that offers biological females no protection. Rather than announce the plan, Molino is conducting private meetings with select parents, administrators, and constituents (my meeting with him was a waste of time). Molino acts as if he’s listening but assures community members there’s “nothing he can do” to help during his short-term appointment. Well, at least he’s not lying. Meanwhile, the biological boy—with unrestricted access to female spaces on campus—allegedly assaulted a fellow student. Most parents also don’t know that Chief Student Service Officer Jason Nuttall is researching how to effectively profile children and report data to the federal government via MTSS (“multi-tiered system of support”).
Honorable mention: One-n-ten. While this technically isn’t a school district (yet), One-n-ten is the parent organization of the “Queer Blended Learning Center” in Phoenix. With a mission to “provide LGBTQ and Straight Allied Youth a welcoming and safe space to earn their high school diploma,” QBLC now accepts ESA vouchers to cover tuition for gender-confused middle school students. When One-n-ten hosted sex and gender spring break activities this year, teachers and counselors in Chandler Unified School District gladly made recommendations. At best this is moral kidnapping, at worst our tax dollars are financing the emotional, mental, and sexual exploitation of minors.
Whether readers agree or disagree with my picks on this list, it’s obvious that district representatives and government employees are coming after our children. As long as parents and fearful teachers remain ignorant and silent, mayhem and perversion will increase its presence and influence across the Valley. It’s time to wake up, pay attention, show up, and speak at board meetings. Don’t stop asking questions. Never go silent. Confront the perpetrators and issues that threaten your child’s safety and well-being on school grounds.
Finally, where alternative and private education options exist, every parent is without excuse for not exploring them to the fullest extent.
For nearly two decades, Tiffany Benson’s creative writing pursuits have surpassed all other interests. When she’s not investigating the Kennedy assassination and other conspiracy theories, she enjoys journaling and contributing to her blog Bigviewsmallwindow.com. Join her and other engaged citizens at WestValleyParentsUniting.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 4, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Up to 62 percent of Arizona’s public-school districts and charters have no written plan for maintaining current operations once relief monies run out next September.
Most districts’ lack of preparedness was revealed in an auditor general special report issued last week. 55 percent of those districts and charters revealed the absence of a plan in an auditor general report, with another seven percent failing to respond to the auditor general’s request for a written plan.
The COVID-19 relief funds presented an overall boon to public school districts and charters: from 2020 onward, district fund balances increased by 34 percent ($1.13 billion) and charter fund balances increased by 115 percent ($310 million).
However, the true amount of funding spent or remaining remains a mystery for over one-third of the schools. 213 districts and charters (36 percent) reported relief monies contradicting their reported fund balance.
The auditor general specifically named Gilbert Unified School District (GUSD) and Portable Practice Education Preparation (PPEP) for reporting to have spent all $41.5 million and $4.8 million of their relief funds, respectively. However, the auditor general found that GUSD had used $30.4 million for continuing costs, $24.7 million for salaries and benefits, and a fund balance increase. The auditor general also found that PPEP had only reported $2 million spent for employment retention salaries and benefits with student count declines, and a fund balance increase.
Due to the lack of transparency, the auditor general promised to add additional fund balance/reserve reporting to district and charter fiscal year 2023 annual financial reports and fiscal year 2025 budget forms.
Additionally, 9 districts and 16 charters haven’t corrected their cited noncompliance with statutory reporting requirements. In January, that number was 21 districts and 64 charters. 27 districts and 26 charters didn’t submit required follow-up reporting.
Districts and charters reported spending $2.2 billion of the $4.6 billion in relief funding through last June. The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) only spent 21 percent of its discretionary relief funding as of last June, leaving a remainder of $322 million (79 percent).
The district that received the most relief funding was Mesa Unified School District at $291.6 million, followed by Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) at $289.15 million, Phoenix Union High School District at $182.21 million, Cartwright Elementary School District at $124.76 million, Washington Elementary School District at $119.51 million, and Alhambra Elementary School District at $103.74 million.
Details on school expenditures using COVID relief funds remain murky at best. While the auditor general successfully categorized a number of expenditure types for schools — maintaining operations, mental and medical health, personal protective equipment, technology, school facilities, and food service — there remained the “miscellaneous” or “other” category of expenditures, totaling nearly $121.4 million already spent and over $196.45 million planned for future use.
“Miscellaneous” spending on classroom salaries and benefits totaled $21.66 million, and $23.63 million for other classroom spending. Non-classroom salaries and benefits classified as “miscellaneous” totaled $4.77 million, and $70.8 million for other “miscellaneous” non-classroom expenditures.
As AZ Free News reported last year, districts like Mesa Public Schools (MPS) refused to divulge how millions were issued in expenditures behind labels like “indirect costs,” “other,” and “etc.” MPS claimed it couldn’t produce records that didn’t exist.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | May 1, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) parents and educators say they’d rather have stricter punishments for students who issue verbal threats, not students who fight.
This preference was outlined in a recent survey conducted by TUSD. The district issued the survey to gather parental input on code of conduct revisions.
About 80 percent of parents expressed support for long-term suspensions (11-30 days), longer term suspensions (11-180 days), or expulsions (over 180 days) for students who issue verbal threats. That broke down to 53 percent for long-term suspension, and 27 percent for longer term suspension or expulsion.
However, only 20 percent of parents expressed support for stricter punishments in the case of physical altercations. That broke down to 13 percent for long-term suspension, and five percent for longer term suspension or expulsion.
Likewise, 78 percent of school staff expressed support for long-term suspensions, long-term suspensions, or expulsions for verbal threats. That broke down to 55 percent believing in long term suspension, with 23 percent believing in longer term suspension or expulsion.
Yet, 25 percent of staff said they would issue stricter punishments in the case of physical altercations. 20 percent would award long-term suspension, and only five percent would issue either a longer term suspension or expulsion.
Only 10 percent of parents believed that verbal threats warranted short-term suspension. Six percent of parents believed it warranted in-school suspension; seven percent of parents believed it warranted an in-school contract or plan.
Comparatively, 63 percent of parents believed that physical altercations warranted short-term suspension. 14 percent believed it warranted in-school suspension, and five percent believed it warranted an in-school contract or plan.
Survey respondents, identified as stakeholders, asserted that elementary, middle, and high schools should have separate codes of conduct. There were nearly 6,300 stakeholders: over 800 students, over 2,800 staff, and over 2,600 parents.
Of note, students reported that classes about drug use weren’t actually helping students who used drugs. Students also reported that there shouldn’t be a dress code in the new code of conduct, and if there were to be one, it shouldn’t be “gender-biased.”
According to the survey results, commonalities among student, staff, and parent stakeholders included the determinations that both fights and drug use should incur short-term suspensions, not lengthier suspensions or expulsions. The stakeholders added that students should have the option of an in-school- or out-of-school suspension, or a combination of the two.
The majority of stakeholders also concurred that dress codes should remain at a lower tier for code of conduct violations, and that students shouldn’t be suspended for truancy.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.