Arizona’s educators are tired of national and state lawmakers targeting their most vulnerable students

Arizona’s public school allies are sick and tired of bearing the brunt of right-wing political attacks and are calling on elected leaders to protect students and end the attacks on the state’s most vulnerable residents.

More than a dozen speakers from progressive groups gathered at the Arizona State Capitol earlier this month to rally for more funding for public schools and disability programs, oversight on the universal school voucher program, and to call for a ceasefire of attacks on LGBT students.

Source of unrest

Democratic lawmakers—and even several students who spoke in support of the public schools they attend—rallied the crowd for over an hour before the group of over 100 started their march around the state Capitol, chanting “This is what democracy looks like,” and “Sí se puede.”  

President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers in Arizona’s legislature have taken action at both the local and federal level to erase the identities of transgender youth, cut funding for public schools—including services for students with disabilities—and police what teachers can teach.

Amy Pedatto, co-founder of EPIC Disability Advocacy, spoke in defense of students with disabilities—who would lose access to special education services and accommodations from Medicaid cuts and the loss of the Department of Education. 

Rolling back diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility measures would also push people with disabilities further into isolation and put them at risk of more discrimination, Pedatto said.  

“Children with disabilities deserve health care and support, not political games or Elon Musk’s chainsaw,” said Pedotto. 

READ MORE: Disability assistance on the chopping block as costs for Arizona’s school voucher system continue to soar

Trump has issued several executive orders aimed at harming transgender minors by narrowly defining sex and gender to be synonymous with what’s assigned at birth and banning transgender girls from competing in girls sports. 

He has also promised to dismantle the Department of Education—stripping public schools of critical federal funding, and given the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the authority to raid public schools in search of undocumented students. 

At the state level, Republicans in Arizona’s legislature have introduced legislation that would  ban transgender students from bathrooms that align with their gender identities and scrub the existence of transgender, nonbinary, or intersex Arizonans from public record.

“I’ve had to bear witness to the continued demise of our public education system. I’ve watched in horror as the majority party in our legislature leads the attack on our most marginalized,” said Raquel Mamani, a public school reading specialist. “This is an exact reflection of the hate coming from our national leaders.” 

Public education in danger

Over the past few years, Arizona has seen a mass exodus of public school teachers, and public schools have been closing left and right.  

Tami Staas, executive director of Arizona Trans Youth and Parent Organization, said there is an existential crisis that is threatening the safety of transgender and nonbinary kids. 

Every student deserves the right to thrive in an environment where they feel seen, supported and respected, Staas said. 

“This is not just a political issue, this is a matter of human rights,” Stass said. “Our schools should be places of learning, growth and acceptance, not battlegrounds where the lives of trans and nonbinary students are treated as political pawns.”

Ready for action

Brent Whiting, co-founder of Tomorrow We Vote, encouraged the crowd to involve themselves in political advocacy through school boards, and support organizations that dedicate themselves to protecting students from marginalized communities. 

Protests and rallies are the starting point, Whiting said, and more needs to be done by elected leaders to stop the attacks on public schools.

Some Democratic lawmakers aren’t speaking up, Whiting said. “Some are toeing the line just in order to keep their jobs.”

Others shared stories of teachers who changed their lives when they were in school. 

Armonee Jackson, president of the Young Democrats of Arizona, spoke of a high school teacher of hers who was transformative for her future, but has since left Arizona and no longer works as a teacher because of the conditions teachers endure. 

Great teachers are leaving Arizona because they don’t get the pay they deserve, or the resources they need to teach, Jackson said.

“There’s one teacher that will always stick out to me and that I will always hold near and dear to my heart,” Jackson said. “Erin Reed is a teacher that did not see me as just a Black student, she saw me as a student with potential.”