Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

My leadership motto is, “All decisions will be made in the best interests of students.” On my signature is a bee.

Some education advocates, like myself, feel a strong sense of urgency. After all, each year that a child can’t read creates lasting impacts for them, their family, and ultimately, the state’s economy. We constantly hear that clock ticking.

In the days preceding the inauguration of America’s 45th president, my family collected paper maps of Washington, D.C., and drew out action plans of where we would go in the event of an emergency.

Last October, cyber thieves breached millions of smart DVRs and webcams to attack the Internet infrastructure provider Dyn, disabling websites like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and others throughout the U.S. and Europe.

President Donald Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos for U.S. Secretary of Education elevated the profile of parents that choose how and where their child learns. Prior to her appointment, Ms. DeVos was the chairman of one of the nation’s most active organizations that supported quality learning options for students, the American Federation for Children.

Making the switch to renewable energy is clearly not a partisan issue. According to the Post-Election National Clean Energy Survey conducted by the Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, 75 percent of Trump voters support taking action to accelerate the development and use of clean energy in the United States. Altogether, 64 percent of the 1,000 voters surveyed say they’d even pay more to support renewables.

Hats off to Rep. Paul Boyer, chair of the House Committee on Education, for his bold move to announce that he will not hear HB 2120 in his committee. Among other things, the bill would have banned the teaching of “social justice,” required the instruction of “accurate” history, and allowed the attorney general to investigate alleged classroom violations.

As we begin a new year and a new legislative session, we brace for the same tired talking points deployed in order to denigrate Arizona’s education system, portraying our public schools as failing and deplorable. I can no longer let this false narrative go unchallenged. I will say this plainly – Arizona’s K-12 public education is not failing. In fact, Arizona is leading the nation.

When hearing about the 108th Arizona Town Hall on Arizona/Mexico, Patrick Welch jumped at the chance to participate.

The coming year will be a critical time for the school choice movement in Arizona and nationally.