Arizona students aren’t “trapped” in failing schools
Beware of intense and misleading rhetoric during an election year
It’s an election year, which means politicians will be saying all kinds of crazy things to whip up votes. I’m not a politician and I’ve never worked in politics, so I can’t comment from experience as to the efficacy of ridiculous rhetoric. Maybe it works. But as a person who reads and thinks, I can comment on the factual accuracy of some of this rhetoric. And as a teacher who pays close attention to education politics in Arizona, I would like to take a minute to comment on a talking point that doesn’t make any sense.
“More money, more money. In my opinion capitulating to the educational terrorists who have held our kids hostage.” — State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita
“The teachers’ unions have held our schools hostage for far too long.” — Arizona gubernatorial Karrin Taylor Robson
“We do know that a lot of poor kids are trapped in substandard schools where they’re not getting a good education.” — Arizona gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon
The last two years have been hard on everyone. Healthcare workers were strained to take care of the massive amounts of sick people flowing into hospitals. Parents struggled to make ends meet while trying to care for kids who were at home learning online. Kids were isolated from their peers. Teachers, many of whom are also parents, struggled to teach under trying conditions.
There are different interpretations on how we should have handled Covid. There’s plenty of legitimate criticism that can be leveled toward various leaders and their responses to the pandemic. And, as I’ve written about here in this newsletter, there’s plenty of work to be done to improve education policy in general.
But let’s be serious.
Arizona students are not trapped in their schools. Nobody has taken anybody hostage.
For the past 25 years, Arizona families have had access to school choice. Unlike many other states, students in Arizona may enroll in any public district or charter school of their choice no matter the zip code.
A student living in Central Phoenix can enroll in a public school in Tempe or Chandler. And vice versa.
In my South Phoenix neighborhood, there are over 15 public schools within three square miles of each other. I don’t put much stock into the school grading system, but I know there are highly rated schools in this area because I see it on their signs as I drive by. There’s an Academy of Math and Science. There’s an Agribusiness and Equine Center. Just outside the three mile radius of my house there are district magnet schools like the ‘A’ rated Bioscience High School and the ‘B’ rated Coding Academy.
There are options! Nobody is trapped!
Sure, there are issues, perhaps, with transportation to a desired school, which is why organizations like “A for Arizona” are experimenting with policies to help increase options for students to travel to various schools.
The only exception I can think of is people who live in super small towns far away from other towns. But even there, nobody is trapped. There are several online public schooling options if parents believe the school is failing to properly educate their child.
Some conservatives will argue the need for educational vouchers to help low-income students enroll in private schools using taxpayer dollars. I won’t get into that debate here. But not being able to afford or get into the private or religious school of your choice doesn’t mean you are trapped in a failing public school.
What’s baffling to me is how this rhetoric invalidates the enormous success of school choice in this state — policies that were crafted by the very same people now denying their success in order to win in ‘22.
Maybe because national talking points are being copy-and-pasted for Arizona campaigns?
Whatever the explanation, brace yourself for silly season.
Newsletter Update
Cholla Express will continue to be published on a twice-monthly schedule, but expect shorter issues until June. In addition to my teaching schedule and state testing coming up, I somehow became the head coach of our baseball team, which is consuming a significant amount of time and emotional energy.
Thank you for reading. As always, feel free to comment on a post, reply to this email, or contact me directly at chollaexpress@substack.com.