What'd you miss?
Crow on the outside looking in ... Bye-bye, Department of Education ... And youth isn't wasted on these youngsters.
Welcome back! We hope you had a pleasant Thanksgiving.
Now let’s get caught up on the big storylines you might’ve missed over the holiday.
But first, smash that button and give us a boost as we wrap up the year!
Feeling left out
Not only did the University of Arizona football team thump Arizona State University last week, the UA also stole some of the attention that ASU President Michael Crow wanted from the Trump administration.
It turns out Crow was upset when Trump officials offered a wide-ranging compact to the UA, instead of ASU, in early October, the Wall Street Journal reported.
We wrote a lot about the compact, which basically involved schools signing onto Trump’s political agenda in exchange for preferential access to federal funding. It was a controversial offer and the UA, along with most of the eight other schools that got the offer, turned it down.
When Crow and his fellow higher-ups at ASU found out the UA had been offered the compact, they “wondered if officials had mixed up the two schools, people familiar with the matter said” (the thought had occurred to us, too).
Operating with the mantra of “Carpe Diem. Seize the day, call the play,” Crow told the Journal he sees an opportunity to remake higher education alongside the Trump administration, despite critics saying nobody who collaborates with Trump on higher education is going to look good 20 years from now.
Those critics include ASU’s Graduate Student Government Assembly, which passed a resolution last week urging ASU to reject the compact, if it’s ever offered to the school, per the State Press’ Carsten Oyer.
A key sticking point for the students was the compact’s cap on international student enrollment, which they said “creates an environment of exclusion.” They also objected to the compact’s focus on political ideology and said ASU “should not take sides with any political party.”
Still swinging the wrecking ball
The Trump administration is moving ahead with its plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
The president set that plan in motion soon after he took office in January. He tried firing half the department’s workforce, but that was slapped down by a federal judge.
Now, federal officials are moving some of the department’s core functions to other agencies, like shifting $31 billion to the Department of Labor and transferring programs to the Health and Human Services Department, the Interior Department and the State Department, the New York Times reported.
The end goal is to strip down the department and give more power to states, which appeals to Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. When the idea of dismantling the U.S. Department of Education popped up in March Horne said he’d “throw a party” if federal officials succeeded.
He continues to support the idea of dismantling the department, per his comments on KTAR’s The Mike Broomhead Show.
“We know Arizona schools,” Horne said. “In Washington, it’s like an echo chamber. They don’t know Arizona schools and a lot of times they make silly decisions. So, I think it’d be a great improvement.”
Checking the hopper
Arizona lawmakers are dropping bills in the “hopper” ahead of the legislative session, which starts in early January.
By the end of the session, you can expect to see more than 100 education-related bills.
For now, here’s a sampling of what’s been pre-filed:
HB2008: This bill from Rep. Nick Kupper, a Republican from Surprise, would ban public school libraries from paying tax dollars to groups that support libraries. Similar bills in other states were aimed at the American Library Association, which conservative politicians like then-Sen. Marco Rubio said was led by a “Marxist.”
SB1004: Sen. John Kavanagh, a Republican from Fountain Hills, wants to allow students who use vouchers to join public school activities. His bill also would block school districts from charging families that use vouchers more than they charge enrolled students. It’s a repeat of a bill Kavanagh ran in this year’s legislative session.
HB2020: Tucson-area Republican Rachel Keshel’s bill would decrease the penalty for interference with or disruption of an educational institution if the person is under 18 years of age by making it a class 1 (highest) misdemeanor, instead of a class 6 (lowest) felony.
HB2021: Rep. Lisa Fink, a Republican from Glendale, is trying to block the State Board of Education and the Arizona Department of Education from requiring a school district or charter school to change its evidence-based reading curriculum if at least 70 percent of its third-grade pupils demonstrated sufficient reading skills on the statewide assessment in the prior school year.
The box cutter incident
Phoenix Union High School District officials backtracked last week and apologized to Cartwright School Board Member Cassandra Hernandez.
Initially, district officials said she was part of an attempt to test the Maryvale High School security system by bringing a box cutter on campus. The incident happened shortly after a student was stabbed on campus and safety concerns were at a fever pitch.
But three months later, district officials say security camera footage showed Hernandez wasn’t involved, 12News reports.
But her mother, Democratic state Rep. Lydia Hernandez, who also serves on the Cartwright school board, wasn’t let off the hook.
District officials say she was involved and is no longer allowed on campus without written permission.
Officials still don’t know the name of the woman who accompanied the elder Hernandez during the incident.
A Holiday Wish List for Arizona’s Future
Arizona voters are heading into the new legislative session with a clear holiday wish: more decisive action to improve education and workforce preparation across the state.
With only 49% of working-age Arizonans holding a postsecondary credential — well short of the Achieve60AZ goal — residents recognize the urgency.
Recent polling from Education Forward Arizona shows broad, bipartisan support for expanding opportunities that help students and workers succeed.
Voters want greater investment in dual enrollment and more counselors to guide high schoolers into college and career pathways. They also strongly support expanding adult technical education and increasing access to online, competency-based, and stackable credential programs for working adults and rural learners. Additionally, more than 80% back stronger accountability measures for Arizona’s universal voucher program.
Arizonans are calling on state leaders to prioritize equity, opportunity, and workforce readiness in 2026 and beyond.
Read the full Holiday Wish List for Arizona’s Future to see what voters want most.
Commencement isn’t just a springtime event. Arizona State University is about to send off 12,000 students as part of the fall cohort.
And the school is showing off all the cool stuff these students have been up to.
They’ve got students exploring Antartica, saving lives, even studying the evolution of dung beetles in Mexico.
It’s a long list of young people doing interesting things. Check it out!
Lydia Hernandez is a school board member, but in Cartwright, not Phoenix Union.