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Trump Loses, K-12 Schools Win
View and share our Substack with 3 friends! [[link removed]]
¡Lea el Semanario en español! [[link removed]]
Trump’s newest attempts to wage war on diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) programs in K-12 schools were struck down [[link removed]] by not one, not two, but THREE separate judges this week. The judges (two of which were appointed by Trump) ruled against the Dept. of Education order we reported on last week [[link removed]] , which threatened to withhold federal funding from any schools engaging in “DEI” — which the Trump administration failed to define. [[link removed]]
Schools in Arizona had until the end of this week to sign on to a letter attesting they were in compliance — and Arizona Supt. Horne wasted no time jumping on the DEI crusade bandwagon [[link removed]] . Now, signing the letter is moot as the courts take on the chaos.
US District Judge Landya McCafferty said in a scathing opinion [[link removed]] that the administration’s policy was “textbook viewpoint discrimination,” likely violating the First Amendment’s free speech protections. She also concluded that the policy was likely unconstitutionally vague. “The ban on DEI embodied in the 2025 Letter leaves teachers with a Hobson’s Choice,” she wrote, noting that the educators must choose between teaching curricula that invites penalty from the federal government or risking their professional credentials by aiding the Trump policy. “The Constitution requires more,” she wrote.
A Trump-appointed US District judge Dabney Friedrich said that the letter failed to “delineate between a lawful DEI practice and an unlawful one.” The NAACP, which filed the case in DC’s federal court, said the ruling “is a victory for Black and Brown students across the country, whose right to an equal education has been directly threatened by this Administration’s corrosive actions and misinterpretations of civil rights law.” It’s a win for all kids because protecting inclusive education ensures every student can learn, feel valued, and reach their full potential without fear or discrimination.
The administration is likely to appeal the decision, so stay tuned. In the meantime, Arizona school districts can focus on student learning and well-being without immediate threats of funding loss.
READ THE FULL WEEKLY EDUCATION REPORT HERE [[link removed]]
LEA EL SEMANARIO EN ESPAÑOL [[link removed]]
K-12 Roundup
🏫🎒🧑‍🏫 All the school news you need to know from this week in one quick read:
Charter converts to voucher school – the grift continues! Primavera Online charter school is being shut down after 3 years of failing letter grades. The owner paid himself $24 million, and is now launching a voucher-funded private school [[link removed]] with zero oversight or accountability. Arizona’s #VoucherGrift [[link removed][0]=AZUugeHTInCQWPCjSkUjOM3xCD6FGi5TcU1ScifUK_Xp92-tz30d5ZQIPg_PKlmELwwG7AQC3G-GULZls1hkQkoVqMCP-aacDpLsxMcXkZtHpyMBdEAYm77DhfkxXcayMFEMcmSUAmF-R7Vrt3akKWTSITGl7ui43IIH5d9Hv491fX3gm72twBX7nUUA6XeO90ht3GBzhtHNyDyTYx3vri-T&__tn__=*NK-R] continues. Check out the article for all the details, and read more detailed information from the Grand Canyon Institute, which released a report on Primavera this week. [[link removed]]
ICYMI: This week, SOSAZ Network hosted a critical conversation on “The War on Public Education: The Agenda to Dismantle Public Schools from AZ to DC.”
Watch the full recording to learn how and why special interests have attacked public schools in Arizona and across the US Click HERE [[link removed]] or the image below.
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♥️🏳️‍🌈 Listen to Students: A proposed policy in Mesa Public Schools would have required teachers to get written parental permission before using a transgender student’s preferred name and pronouns [[link removed]] — but it was put on hold after eliciting overwhelming opposition at a board meeting earlier this month. More than 80 community members flooded the meeting in opposition to the policy.
Noah White, a transgender student at Dobson High School, said that the proposed policy would "make students like me feel unsafe, unwelcomed and unsupported… Forcing educators to disclose to parents when a student requests to use their preferred name or pronouns can be dangerous, especially for students who may face rejection, abuse or even homelessness. Outing a student before they are ready strips them of their agency and can cause serious emotional and psychological harm."
Take Action!
THANK YOU, Governor Katie Hobbs [[link removed][0]=AZVi7CMOMP8_0LB5FGsukJwfNrIob-bZELc7Wo3o_EN5OhitAbM7ft135fdgNRAPHuIGAnrMOw8KeR6Nc38NQfE9VEUwT7BYh6e-2IUwxaMbqEhB0sBKbISK_Dlq9Xx7wMr49e59FpNrmurwe3N2f8YNx9TplN77bYJVdwCE-C51NUG6qq63hnerJvbKWgcFLPZSuYqbnXoGdtMokGFwYkHV&__tn__=-]K-R] , for vetoing Rep. Matt Gress’s “school closure bill,” HB2640 , and pushing back on the extremist school privatization agenda. [link removed] [[link removed]]
Join us in sending Gov. Hobbs a thank you message using this easy email tool
CLICK HERE TO SEND AN EMAIL NOW! [[link removed]]
Email Gov. Hobbs & your lawmakers to urge them to do their constitutional duty and invest in Arizona’s public schools! Our easy-to-use, one-click email tool [[link removed]] is preloaded with SOSAZ’s legislative priorities, but we also encourage you to customize your email for maximum impact. [link removed] [[link removed]]
CLICK HERE TO SEND AN EMAIL NOW! [[link removed]]
JOIN US. Flood Congress with calls and emails NOW.
Contact your US Senators & Representatives to demand that they aggressively and forcefully protect the US Department of Education and the 50 MILLION+ students who rely on the protections and funding it provides.
📧 EMAIL: Use our one-click email tool: bit.ly/SaveUSEdDept [[link removed]]
☎️ CALL: Use this easy click-through calling tool: bit.ly/SaveDeptEd [[link removed]]
What's Happening at the AZ Leg?
A quick rundown of the good, the bad, and the ugly at the Arizona State Legislature:
🎉 Gov. Hobbs Signs DDD Funding Bill: This week, all eyes were on the Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). With just 6 days to go until money for services for children with severe disabilities was scheduled to run out, the legislature finally reached a compromise [[link removed]] under the leadership of Nancy Gutierrez (D-18) & Julie Willoughby (R-13), sending a bill continuing the program to Hobbs' desk for her signature. Hobbs said in signing the bill, "This bipartisan deal prevents previously proposed 50% cuts to (the Parents as Paid Caregivers Program), adds common-sense guardrails and ensures PPCG will not be held hostage by the legislature again." Even lawmakers like David Livingston (R-28) and Matt Gress (R-4), who had spitefully pushed for draconian cuts to the program [[link removed]] and attempted to hijack the process and blame Gov. Hobbs every step of the way, voted for the solution in the end. We encourage lawmakers to bring this spirit into budget negotiations as they begin.
💸 Budget dangers: With a funding continuation for the Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) now firmly in place, the next step on lawmakers' agenda is negotiating a state budget. Withered state revenues [[link removed]] and federal chaos and uncertainty [[link removed]] make this an extremely difficult task. With no budget, Arizona has just over 60 days left until a state-level shutdown. This makes your engagement critical. Stay in contact with your state senator [[link removed]] and representatives [[link removed]] , as well as the governor's office ( [email protected] [[email protected]] or 602-542-4331), to be sure they are aware of the public's expectations — to reinvest in PUBLIC education. Click HERE to send your lawmakers email now! [[link removed]]
🙅‍♀️ Ballot referrals: At this stage in legislative proceedings, lawmakers often negotiate backroom deals as the price of an individual budget vote. It's important to know which ballot referrals are still alive and contact your state senator [[link removed]] and representatives [[link removed]] to express your wishes. Each of these measures needs only a vote in their crossover chamber before proceeding directly to the ballot, circumventing the governor's signature or veto.
SCR1009 , sponsored by JD Mesnard (R-13), would ask voters to amend the Arizona Constitution to require a two-thirds supermajority vote in the Legislature for fees and assessments. A similar constitutional provision for taxes has crippled revenue for the general fund over decades, making it nearly impossible to fund [[link removed]] our state’s many needs and priorities, including public schools. OPPOSE
SCR1014 [[link removed]] , sponsored by JD Mesnard (R-13), would ask voters to mandate that, if Arizona has a budget surplus in any given year, the state must automatically cut income tax rates by 50% [[link removed]] for the following year. Arizona’s budget is one of the smallest per capita in the US, and schools are funded at 49th in the country [[link removed]] . Meanwhile, Arizona still gives away more money every year ($29.9 billion) [[link removed]] in tax credits and carve-outs than it spends in its budget. Any budget surplus isn’t evidence that we’re collecting too much revenue; it’s evidence of lawmakers’ persistent unwillingness to invest in our public schools and services. The fiscal note projects [[link removed]] a loss of $175 million in FY2027 alone. The House refused to pass this idea in 2023 [[link removed]] . OPPOSE
HCR2015 , sponsored by Lisa Fink (R-27), would ask voters to amend the Arizona Constitution to let the legislature direct federal funding however they wish if Trump dissolves the Department of Education [[link removed]] and turns the money into block grants to states for them to spend as they please, with no strings attached. This could allow the state to redistribute Title I funds (supporting under-resourced schools) and IDEA funds (supporting disabled and special needs students) to private school vouchers with no strings attached. OPPOSE
HCR2025 , sponsored by Alexander Kolodin (R-3), is a copy of a failed bill from last year [[link removed]] that would ask voters to restrict their own direct democracy powers [[link removed]] by requiring a supermajority vote on constitutional amendments. The bill is motivated by majority lawmakers’ increasing frustration [[link removed]] with measures they don’t like (voters’ frustration with lawmakers who don’t listen [[link removed]] apparently doesn’t figure in). OPPOSE
HCR2042 , sponsored by Steve Montenegro (R-29), would ask voters to enshrine racism in the state Constitution. This culture-war-driven measure would prevent the state from giving BIPOC-owned businesses any preference in state contracts, keep school districts from specifically hiring black or brown teachers in an effort to increase representation, block teachers from discussing inclusion and equity issues that have arisen despite the 14th Amendment, and ban an undefined scope of content from being taught in schools. This would negatively impact student learning, as well as teacher retention and recruitment. The legislature would be allowed to also "prescribe related practices or concepts" to ban (also subject to a broad and undefined interpretation). OPPOSE
HCR2057 [[link removed]] , sponsored by Rachel Keshel (R-17), would ask voters to restrict Arizona’s initiative and referendum process [[link removed]] by requiring that ballot measures collect signatures from a percentage of voters in all of Arizona’s 15 counties. This would effectively give any single county veto power over the rest, allowing the most extreme area of the state to veto measures that have broad support. Voters just rejected [[link removed]] a similar measure, the "dangerous" Prop 134 [[link removed]] , in November. OPPOSE
✅ Stay in the know: The SOSAZ 2025 Bill Tracker [[link removed]] contains full information about all bills SOSAZ supports or opposes in 2025 and gives you up-to-the-minute information on where these bills stand.
Join Us!
mobilize.us/mayday/event/777220/ [mobilize.us/mayday/event/777220/]
May Day Rallies - this Thursday, May 1st! Join a wide coalition of organizations — plus thousands of new friends — to stand up to the #BillionareTakeover. Tell them hands off our public schools and our democracy!
Phoenix: mobilize.us/mayday/event/777220/ [[link removed]]
Gilbert: mobilize.us/mayday/event/780826/ [[link removed]]
Tucson: mobilize.us/mayday/event/778678/ [[link removed]]
Flagstaff: mobilize.us/mayday/event/775504/ [[link removed]]
Casa Grande: mobilize.us/mayday/event/779924/ [[link removed]]
Yuma: mobilize.us/mayday/event/780071/ [[link removed]]
Wickenburg: mobilize.us/mayday/event/780165/ [[link removed]]
Sedona: mobilize.us/mayday/event/778648/ [[link removed]]
Safford: mobilize.us/mayday/event/780134/ [[link removed]]
Clifton: mobilize.us/mayday/event/781263/ [[link removed]]
Sierra Vista: mobilize.us/mayday/event/780218/ [[link removed]]
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Attorney General Mayes Townhalls: Attorney General Kris Mayes is hosting townhalls about the DOGE Cuts and other federal funding issues. The next one will be held in Phoenix on Monday, April 28 from 6pm-8pm at Shepherd of the Hills Church, 5524 E. Lafayette Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85018.
REGISTER HERE [[link removed]]
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Coffee & Conversation in Glendale! Get to know North Phoenix and West Valley public school supporters at one of our favorite local coffee shops, Daily Drip & Desserts! Meet like-minded people who love our public schools and learn ways you can make a difference.
SIGN UP HERE [[link removed]]
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Contact Us
[email protected]
Save Our Schools Arizona
PO Box 28370
Tempe, AZ 85285
United States
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