🎉 A Week of Wins for
Public Education 🎉
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🎉 Good Work! Prop 123 Grinds to a Halt due to Voucher Poison Pill: Republicans’ plan to hijack Prop 123 — drawing from the state land trust to fund public schools while also stuffing in constitutional protections for Arizona’s runaway universal ESA voucher fiasco — has been pronounced dead for lack of support. Apparently, a handful of Republicans are listening to their constituents and refusing to go along with this deeply unpopular idea. With all Democrats firmly opposed, that means the mashup is dead for the year. Lawmakers in both parties have already agreed to build Prop 123’s nearly $300 million for public schools into the budget, meaning this is a no-loss situation for K-12 public schools for now — BUT lawmakers need to get serious about passing a clean proposal (with no vouchers) so that this funding can come from the state land trust (rather than the already strained general fund).
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This is a direct result of your engagement and activism! 🔥 We can’t take the win for granted, though, let’s keep the pressure on to ensure that the arrangement holds. So far, we’ve sent 6,000+ emails and 700+ calls to lawmakers – let’s keep up the pressure! |
🧑⚖️ SCOTUS Rules Against Publicly Funded Religious Charter Schools: The U.S. Supreme Court split evenly (4-4) in a high-profile challenge, blocking the nation’s first religious charter school by leaving in place a ruling from Oklahoma’s Supreme Court that found the proposed Catholic school unconstitutional. A decision in support of St. Isidore’s Catholic charter school would have had massive implications for the future of public education and the separation of church and state. Charter schools are publicly funded and overseen by public agencies (despite their ability to make private profit), but a ruling in support of St. Isidore would have blurred the lines completely between public and private schools (which is really the point). A 4-4 decision sets no precedent, so we expect to see further attempts by privatizers to get a different decision out of the nation’s top court over the next few years.
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🏛️ Judge Blocks Trump’s Attempts to Dismantle the Dept. of Education: A federal judge in Boston has blocked the Trump administration from attempting to dismantle the Department of Education. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction that bars the Trump administration from firing half the Department of Education's workforce, after a coalition of 20 attorneys general (including Arizona’s AG Kris Mayes 💪) filed suit. The decision marks the first time a federal judge has determined the Trump administration's sweeping changes to the Department of Education are unlawful.
For now, the order puts a stop to the Trump administration's effort to fire more than 2,000 Department of Education employees, transfer federal student loan obligations, and otherwise implement the president's March 20 executive order to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education."
Judge Joun’s decision offered a blistering assessment of the Trump administration's claim that recent changes to the Department of Education are to improve efficiency, rather than carry out Trump's vow to abolish the Department outright. "The idea that Defendants' actions are merely a 'reorganization' is plainly not true," he wrote. The changes imposed by Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Judge Joun wrote, "effectively impossible for the Department to carry out its statutorily mandated functions." These include investigating civil rights complaints, allocating funding for IDEA and Title programs, and overseeing services for students with disabilities.
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Public education is a foundation that underpins our democracy and makes our country and our communities strong. Our lawmakers know it, our courts know it, and our citizens know it. Those who seek to destroy public education are going to continue to be met with these roadblocks as everyday people (all of US) stand up and fight back. Keep going!!!! 💪 💪 💪
Unfortunately, the “Big Billionaire Tax Bill” which contains federal vouchers, cuts funding for public education, and slashes services like Medicaid and Medicare for millions of Americans, has passed the House and is moving to the Senate. |
🚨 Say NO to Federal Vouchers 🚨 |
📨 EMAIL NOW: Tell your members of Congress to vote NO on federal vouchers with our easy-to-use tool ➡️bit.ly/NoFedVouchers
☎️💥 CALL TODAY: Call AZ Senators Kelly & Gallego and your US House Rep. using this easy script — 3 quick calls take 10 minutes MAX! |
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What's Happening at the AZ Leg? | |
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💰 Budget Update: With the vast majority of education-focused bills already signed into law (or vetoed), lawmakers have little remaining on their plates other than the state budget. Negotiations are barely beginning, with just a handful of lawmakers involved, and we are hearing House and Senate Republicans still aren't on the same page. Meanwhile, the House returned to the floor this week for one day, then extended their break for another two weeks, to June 4. Lawmakers are constitutionally mandated to pass a budget by June 30 or face a state shutdown.
While the majority of state lawmakers enjoy their taxpayer-funded vacations, the many pressing real needs of our public schools and our students are going unheard — making your engagement critical. |
🚨 REIN IN VOUCHERS — IN THIS YEAR’S BUDGET! 🚨 |
Tell your lawmakers and Gov. Hobbs that unaccountable vouchers for the rich must be reined in in this year’s budget! Our students deserve quality resources, safe buildings, and rich academic experiences that will prepare them for a strong future. Our educators deserve pay raises and quality working conditions that benefit all teachers, staff and students.
NOW is the time to demand true voucher reform and fund our public schools. Our easy-to-use, one-click email tool is preloaded with a message, but we encourage you to customize your email for maximum impact. Click HERE or the image below to send an email now! |
✅ Stay in the know: The SOSAZ Bill Tracker contains full information about the bills SOSAZ supports or opposes and gives you up-to-the-minute information on where these bills stand. |
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SOSAZ is now on Mobilize! You can see our upcoming events and sign up to make a difference with us. Don't miss out on opportunities to connect and take action – head over to our Mobilize hub today to see what we have coming up! |
Help Voters on May 28 and June 11! Want to help voters who are at risk of being kicked off the voter rolls? Join us for a virtual phone bank on Wednesday, May 28 and June 11 from 4-5:30 pm and help voters get re-registered! Training is provided — all experience levels are welcome! |
📣 “Tell Me How You Really Feel” North Valley Town Hall: Join our friends at Opportunity Arizona and elected officials on Saturday, May 31st at 4 PM for a town hall. This is an opportunity for voters to make their voices heard on what issues matter most to them, and a chance to hear from a panel of elected officials — State Rep. Stephanie Simacek, State Senator Analise Ortiz, WESD Governing Board President Kyle Clayton, and Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari — on what they plan to do about those issues.
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Higher Education Rally: Join our friends at the Arizona Student Association and partnering organizations for the “Education for All: Empower our Future” Higher Education Rally on Monday, June 2 from 9-11 am at the Arizona State Capitol. |
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Our newsletters don’t write themselves! Support our work by becoming a paid subscriber to Save Our Schools Arizona’s Substack. A monthly or annual donation of any amount helps to keep the lights on at the Weekly Education Report so we can provide you with the latest news in education week after week. |
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Contact Us
[email protected] Save Our Schools Arizona
PO Box 28370
Tempe, AZ 85285
United States Paid for by Save Our Schools Arizona. Not authorized by any candidate. |
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