No Time for Complacency
Our AZWOA Education Director, Adrienne Johnson, works tirelessly to assist and mentor school board members as well as candidates. Those who lead and guide our most precious Arizona asset—our children—are worthy of the highest scrutiny as well as support (when they take that job seriously) to serve and protect students and families in their schools! Adrienne has a message for all of us:
No Time for Complacency
by Adrienne Johnson, Education Director, AZ Women of Action
The feeling of excitement since President Trump’s inauguration is palpable. Hopes are high, as are expectations of a strong economy, safe neighborhoods, and a revival of traditional American values – faith, thriving families, and goodness in our communities.
Arizona, for these hopes to be realized and for our state to flourish, we must each get engaged and we must turn our attention to our public schools. As Benjamin Franklin said, ”An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
By some measures, Arizona’s education ranks lowest in the nation, but for our purpose here, let’s look at the recent release of data by The Nation’s Report Card. The Nation’s Report Card is dismal, and sadly, Arizona falls below the nation’s average. Our fourth graders are five points below in math and six points below the nation’s average reading score. Overall, only 70% of K-12 students in Arizona public schools are at or above basic levels and only 34% are at or above proficiency.
Let ’s look too at a huge district like Phoenix Union that has schools with very poor proficiency rates such as Alhambra which has an unacceptable 11% proficiency rate in math, 16% in reading, and 7% in science. Unacceptable. If you think your school district is impervious, consider Tonalea, a Scottsdale Unified school, that has similar proficiency rates – 19% in math, 34% in reading, and 21% in science. Unacceptable. Too many of our kids cannot even read at grade level.
What is going on? Perhaps these poor findings are due to the fact that ideology has diluted academic outcomes, a focus on mental health and social emotional learning has negatively affected the teaching of the basics, and poor discipline has weakened the integrity of our schools.
Arizona’s public school system is locally run. This means that school boards hold the power and responsibility of how the school district operates. They hire and fire the superintendent, set policy, choose curriculum, and manage the budget. What this also means is that we parents and neighbors cannot be complacent even though President Trump and his administration have a good idea of what the problems are in education, such as woke ideology.
In short, we must focus on school board races. We need school board members who will address the issues plaguing public education. Members who will put the students first and instill truth and academic excellence in education to improve student outcomes and allow parents to raise their children free from indoctrination and inappropriate intervention.
Do you know someone who might make a great School Board Member? Could it be YOU?? If you’re interested in learning more about what school board members do and how to become one, please attend an AZ Women of Action’s SMART School Boards’ info session on Monday, March 17th via Zoom. Contact us at education@azwomenofaction.com for more information. We are excited to inform you and support you!