SB1142, sponsored by Shawnna Bolick (R-2), would make Arizona one of the first states in the nation to irresponsibly sign up for Trump’s federal voucher scam. This scheme is designed as a tax giveaway for the rich; like Arizona’s voucher scheme, it's designed to benefit wealthier students who are already in private schools. The federal voucher program has no cap, meaning it could funnel tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to unaccountable private schools already receiving state tax dollars via state vouchers. Like Arizona’s ESA vouchers, the federal voucher program is expected to have zero accountability to taxpayers, zero academic standards, and zero requirements for student safety. Scheduled for Senate Finance Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1143, sponsored by Shawnna Bolick (R-2), is a copy of a failed bill from last year that would require each school district and individual public school to post on its website information on students’ race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age that is meant for the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Schools would also have to complete a newly created survey from Tom Horne’s Arizona Department of Education on bullying, fighting, harassment and other school safety issues, which ADE would post on their website. Public schools are already subject to many laws covering discrimination and bullying, making this an excessive and duplicative overreach. Meanwhile, ESA voucher-funded schools don’t collect or submit any such information. Scheduled for Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SCR1006, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), would ban teachers from using a student’s chosen pronouns without written parental permission if they differ from the student's biological sex, and would ban trans kids from using the school bathrooms, changing facilities and “sleeping quarters” that align with their gender identities. Trans kids wouldn’t be able to use any facilities at all without undue scrutiny of their bodies, which the bill calls a "reasonable accommodation." Anyone who “encounters” a trans person in a bathroom could file suit against public schools. A spiking number of Republican-led bills are worsening LGBTQ+ Arizonans’ struggle to simply exist by creating discrimination, legal red tape, mental and emotional distress. The bill also further politicizes teachers, which deepens Arizona’s ongoing teacher retention crisis. The governor vetoed these concepts in previous sessions. Scheduled for Senate Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2060, sponsored by Rachel Keshel (R-17), would ban public schools and their employees from "encouraging or facilitating abortions” — which of course is not happening. This ridiculous bill is a solution in search of a problem, demonizes educators, and wastes time and taxpayer dollars. Scheduled for House Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2075, sponsored by David Livingston (R-28), would require school district governing boards to publish 5 years of copies of employment contracts for all its superintendents, assistant/associate superintendents and chief financial officers. The bill also requires ADE to post on its website the base salary and benefits for each. While we’re all for transparency, this bill is a major distraction from the skyrocketing salaries of CEOs running ESA voucher-funded private schools, as well as charter CEOs. District leaders are often responsible for massive budgets, staff, and students, while private schools and charters are only responsible for one campus — yet they might be making 10 times the salary and the public wouldn’t know. Administrative costs at Arizona's district public schools are already among the lowest in the country at about 10% of overall expenses. Meanwhile, charter schools spend an average of 22% of their budgets on administration, roughly double that of district schools — and private schools have no limit at all. Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2076, sponsored by Selina Bliss (R-1), is a copy of a failed bill from last year that would allow K-12 public and private schools to authorize employees to carry firearms on school grounds. The school would have to notify law enforcement of how many (but not which) employees are carrying, ensure the employees have a certification from an ADE-approved list of training programs, and keep their names confidential, including from parents at the school. The bill also gives these employees immunity from any liability if they are "acting in good faith during active threat events." Arizona's Republican state lawmakers have long tried to force guns into schools. Scheduled for House Judiciary Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2086, sponsored by Khyl Powell (R-14), would ban district public schools (but not charter or voucher schools) from requiring masks or vaccines. Scheduled for House Regulatory Oversight Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2135, sponsored by Michael Way (R-15), would allow anyone to sue if public schools violate a state or federal law banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). This would lead to endless frivolous claims of “reverse racism.” Though the Trump administration has dropped its anti-DEI executive order after it was enjoined by the courts, our current state Supt. Horne says he will continue to push schools to dump DEI regardless of whether federal funding is on the line. Scheduled for House Judiciary Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2266, sponsored by David Marshall (R-7), would require district and charter school governing boards to allow students to be excused from their classes during school hours for off-campus religious lessons with written parental consent. This model legislation, backed by the pro-voucher Center for Arizona Policy and Arizona-based anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom, assumes schools will partner with LifeWise Academy, a controversial, far-right religious instruction program. The program is designed to push children into a religious mold, with the goal of “providing Bible education for every child in Arizona.” In LifeWise’s home state of Ohio, where this is already law, some parents say their students have been ostracized and bullied for not taking part, and that their education suffered due to the disruption during the school day. Children were warehoused in the gym while the majority of their class went to religious class, depriving those students of their educational time. Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
