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Looking at the challenges facing education in Arizona, making the choice for a new superintendent of public instruction, and taking the next step in closing some Tucson schools.

We'll discuss those stories and more on the press room, starting now.

Hello and welcome to the Press Room.

I'm Tony Perkins and I'm joined by this week's panel of journalists, Noor Haghighi with AZPM News, Shannon Conner from Arizona Luminaria and Sierra Blaser from the Arizona Daily Star.

Thanks for joining us.

Well in the upcoming election voters will make a choice in the Superintendent to Public Instruction election contest is between State Treasurer Kimberly Yee and former education administrator Teresa Leyba Ruiz.

One place where the two candidates disagree is Empowerment Scholarship Accounts or ESA's.

Shannon you've pointed out in your writing that the state spends about one billion dollars a year on the voucher program but it supports only about a tenth of Arizona students overall and it's been revealed that the families in some cases use their vouchers on everything from jet skis to lingerie.

It is true and so even though Tom Horne current state superintendent was seeking his fourth term he is not in this race but because he has been a champion of the ESA's his sort of, he looms large over the race itself and Yee defeated him in the primary and she and Leyba Ruiz agree on one part of this it's probably the only thing that the two of them really agree on which is that the purchases the automatic approval of purchases by families with ESA's for two thousand dollars and under should stop.

That those things need to be there should not be an automatic approval there should they should be audited they should be looked at but they don't necessarily agree on how to do that and from there things get really differ between the two of them.

Leyba Ruiz would like the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts to go back to how they were originally intended which is for students of military families, students with special needs, foster care students, indigenous students.

Yee says everybody should be able to have this type of support from the state and have school choice and from there the gap just gets wider and wider and wider.

The fact that Tom Horne was such a big proponent of ESA's does that sort of difference in how that Yee and her campaign are pushing this?

Yee has another interesting thing about Yee is that she was one of the architects of the ESA's in the mid 90s she worked in legislature at the time and so she is very much in support in step with Horne on a lot of how the money has been distributed she does believe it should be audited in a different way and is looking at ways to expand that audit and a new system on how to do that but by and large she is in step with Horne.

And I guess we should point out that Yee is the Republican candidate and Ruiz is the Democrat.

Noor the candidates have different backgrounds as administrators tell us a little bit about that.

Yeah a couple of things Ruiz, the Democrat, she is a career educator she's a certified math teacher and she also most recently served as the president of Glendale Community College.

Yee, the Republican, is the current state treasurer and as Shannon mentioned she has a background as a career politician she once served as the chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee so both candidates say I have experience in a high-level oversight position over millions sometimes billions of dollars being spent.

Yee's main sort of campaign motto is going back to the basics and what she tells me that means is one going back to phonics reading instruction which means essentially understanding letters sounds pronunciations before the meaning of the word.

Phonics is something that teachers are already required by law to implement in their classrooms and that's something being enforced through what's called the K through 5 literacy endorsement which is kind of an issue of its own but yeah on top of that phonics she says in debates she said students are using calculators too much.

Now I don't think that necessarily means she wants us to go back to using like an abacus but like I said she wants to implement more sort of critical thinking skills and into curriculums and classrooms and Ruiz's main point is to restore respect for teachers we see so much teacher turnover thousands across the state leave the profession every year so she wants to be a champion for public school teachers.

All right now in almost every election voters look at different ballot initiatives and this year during the general election it's no exception voters are looking at a number of education related ballot initiatives and let's go over a few of them now.

Sierra you've followed Proposition 320 and it would require certain school districts to spend at least 60% of their budget on what are called the direct instructional expenses.

Now first of all it depends on how many students attend the schools in those districts and sort of spell that out.

Yeah so basically within this proposition if a school district doesn't meet a certain amount of students they wouldn't have to abide by this but it's important to note that it also applies to counties.

So Pima County, Maricopa County and Pinal County no matter how big or small your school district is this affects you.

And also the language in the proposition direct instructional expenses that has people at odds.

Yes so I think it's important to note in this that direct classroom instruction expenses are not the same as classroom funding so this funds things like teachers, aides, but it does not include things like counselors, bus drivers, school nurses, other things that keep a school running.

Does that create some confusion on the ballot?

Yeah absolutely.

I would say so I mean at this point a lot of districts I think are kind of suspecting what areas might lose out on funding if they have to reallocate from like you said those outside of the classroom expenses like transportation, psychologists, custodians.

Yeah so I think I think that's going to cause some confusion.

I think one of the things that's really difficult about this for voters is that the proposition itself doesn't spell out how the money will be spent.

It specifically says that that's up to the auditor general's office to decide.

So voters are voting on something where they think they know where the money is going but they don't know for what specific jobs right?

Right exactly yeah I spoke with an Apollo Middle School teacher just a few weeks ago and she actually told me she was worried about seeing cuts to things that keep her classroom functional.

You know she has there's an air conditioning that has to keep those kids cool.

What happens to those systems?

Bus drivers that take kids to schools if you don't fund them you know how are these kids going to get to schools?

And then also you know it's not just a teacher the teachers and the staff that are concerned about this.

I'm also seeing district administrators concerned as well.

The TUSD chief financial officer Ricky Hernández told the governing board a few weeks ago that if they're concerned if they're not able to meet the required increase they would have to increase 0.5% yearly or else they would face those penalties.

That you know TUSD could lose about 9.7 million dollars and that wouldn't be returned once compliance was met.

I think something that's interesting is that supporters--this is a republican backed initiative.

Supporters say that this is going to boost teacher pay because school districts will be required to send more money so to say to teacher salaries.

But it's not adding any money to the district funds.

It's just forcing districts to reallocate within their budgets which are already so tight.

Now 320 is a statewide proposition for Pima County voters here will get the cash balance on two major propositions 427 and 430.

Shannon let's first talk about 427.

What's that one about?

These two propositions, 427 and 430 are pretty similar and it's important to note that the county superintendent's office says there is no organized opposition to any educational prop on the ballot.

So that doesn't mean there's no opposition.

It just means nobody came forward to say within the pamphlet hey we don't like this and here's why.

So 427 is the first ever bond requested by JTED which is the Joint Technical Education District here in Pima County which educates more than 30,000 students across the county in career and technical education.

It is where many many teachers and students say their future is.

It's where students go to learn everything from welding to how to become a doula to how to become a vet tech how to become a medical technician.

And it has a 250 million dollar bond on the ballot that would raise property taxes and this is important because they don't get JTED does not get state funds to expand and that's what it really really wants to do.

It has a wait list year in and year out that has grown incrementally since it started in 2007 and it is JTED supporters and people in other districts who have students who attend classes at JTED say this is the only way it's going to be able to expand.

Do you mean expand like more add more buildings?

Add more buildings and so difference between bonds and overrides right so bond says that it bonds are for buildings renovations expansions things like that security systems and they're paid back over time.

Whereas opposed to overrides which are about people those go directly to fund people and they're not paid back.

Related to that is a Pima County Pima Community College bond which is also 250 million dollars that's prop 430 and that also wants to expand some of its campuses it wants to create.

A center for excellence for first responders and public safe people studying public safety a new police headquarters at its downtown campus very very similar bonds and for the same amount of money both raise property taxes.

Sierra, in the Tucson area there's proposition 426: Voters in the Amphi School District will decide about the sale of six properties including four elementary schools that the district has already decided it's going to close and at least one of them is being rented out now to the Arizona state Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

About that yeah so as you said currently Amphitheater School District is asking voters to approve the potential sale of those six properties and I think it's important to note just because if this were to pass that doesn't automatically list those properties for sale.

Amphi currently has a five year contract with ASDB.

And from what they're telling me they are planning to maintain and fulfill that contract it is renewed year by year.

But they're more so seeking this all in once because it is less expensive to run one election versus.

Dividing these up right so why not just get them all out of the way that way if something does happen if ASDB does happen to relocate or you know something changes they have that as kind of a backup plan but they're not planning to list it anytime soon.

All right now staying with the subject of closing schools the Tucson Unified School District this week came out with a list of places that it is recommending.

To be closed or consolidated.

Noor, there's no action on the plate until December the eighth several weeks away, but this was a big announcement for TUSD.

Yeah it's huge superintendent Gabriel Trujillo has been saying for months maybe even a year now that school closures are imminent in that district.

The district is the biggest in Pima County, eighty-eight schools, close to, between thirty-five thousand and forty thousand kids within that district and what we're seeing is sort of an exodus from public schools to private, charter, home schools, micro schools all the landscape that Arizona has to offer.

And because Arizona schools are per pupil are funded per pupil the fewer students the school has the less funding.

To put it simply what we know so far is that Hudlow Elementary has been recommended for closure and consolidation into Sewell Elementary School.

Now both Hudlow is around thirty percent of its is fulfilling about thirty percent of its building capacity so that could be one of the reasons why it was recommended for closure it's also received a D grade from the state.

The second plan that we might see is the closure of Dunham Elementary School and that those students would consolidate into Marshall Elementary School.

Both of those are fulfilling around forty percent of their building capacity.

They're about a mile apart all four of these schools that we know so far are on the east side of the district which Trujillo has said has is more vulnerable to potential closures because there are fewer school-aged children living in those districts, according to Trujillo.

A lot of it makes a difference in where people are living and how many people are living in those areas but anytime a school is closed it's an emotional decision for families for employees for everybody who's involved with the school district.

Sierra, what about that?

Yeah so the last two mornings I have stopped by the schools that have been announced as proposed for closure and I talked with a parent over at Hudlow Elementary who is walking his daughter to school and he told me you know he's upset obviously.

That he won't be able to walk his kid to school anymore, it is a mile away, but at least it was nearby right, so that was kind of his opinion I spoke with a principal of Dunham Elementary this morning and she told me that you know, teachers found out yesterday, there were a lot of emotions some of a lot of all of them are relieved that there will still be jobs for them next school year if this goes through, but there is uncertainty not all of these teachers will be able to go to Marshall, there's not a need for every single teacher right.

So even though there will be options for them, they will be able to be placed in a school, there is some uncertainty on where they would go.

And also when closing a school there's concern in the community itself about having a big empty building in the middle of a residential area that makes a difference to.

Right, I was out also talking to neighbors out and walking their dogs walking their kids over the last couple days and I think one of the things that really struck me with the Dunham and Marshall, both on 29th Street, both like less than a mile apart I had no idea they were both pre-K through 5 schools that close together one was built in 1964 the other was built in 1974.

It's remarkable to me.

Like it that there was that kind of a need happening then and I think that one of the things that struck me is that some of these families said they moved to this neighbor because of the school like that's what brought them there and it's the heart of.

They go there for trunk or treat you know with with their grandkids now they go for, you know, bake sales or pasta dinners or and and it feels like they're losing a part of their community and that it's heartbreaking no matter how you do it what neighborhood it's in it's just everybody was pretty pretty down about even though the commutes going to be manageable or whatever it just felt it's heartbreaking.

I think that's something we saw when Amphi closed its four elementary school same thing a lot of families are making their decisions based on where like the quality of the school right and this idea of the neighbor committee exactly this idea of the neighborhoods public school is kind of disintegrating yeah yeah it's interesting to see.

Well I'm sure it's going to be a very busy time the few weeks going up to the election but school board races are also happening ahead of the November vote tell us a little bit you know which Alright and with all the information that we're putting out there too you can go online.

All of us, you know have information there, Arizona Daily Star has election guide, Shannon with the AZ Luminaria, you've got a great website there.

Outlining all the different propositions of course.

AZPM News Election Guide as well.

Thanks a lot for our panel on elections and education.

We back with a look at the upcoming midterm elections from the perspective of University of Arizona students right after this.

[Music] We're back with a view of the November election from a younger perspective.

Arilynn Hyatt is a student journalist at the University of Arizona, and McKenna Manzo also studies journalism at the U of A. Thanks for being with us on The Press Room.

We're going to have a conversation about your conversations with young people about the midterm elections.

Arilynn, many young people find themselves in a situation where affordability is a challenge.

They're finding that being able to deal with day-to-day needs, basic needs, is a lot more difficult.

Yeah, affording gas and groceries is the struggle that they're facing.

Some of those that you talked to mentioned the dilemma that prices are high and there's no solution to meeting the expense of day-to-day living.

Let's hear a bit of your story and hear what they had to say.

But what young voters say they really want is a candidate who will tackle the affordability issue head-on instead of just giving lip service.

Stratton said, "They always mention like, oh, we're going to do like cutting prices of taxes and things like that.

It's just, it's like regardless of if they say they're going to do that, it's more of a thing of like, are they actually going to follow through?

We need to actually focus on us as people because we aren't being able to afford eating."

Now, one student said that young adults are looking for political alternatives.

Someone pushing policies that will actually respond to this dilemma that many people find themselves in, of course, but young people especially.

What did you find out?

Yeah, everyone that I pretty much talked to, they really want a politician that will follow through on a lot of things they said.

A lot of people dropped the New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a good example of really implementing policies on affordable housing and following through on those things.

That's what they want to see here.

You describe younger voters just coming into the workforce, finding a federal program that existed to help people in the particular situations just aren't enough now.

Yeah, I spoke to a young couple that was also in college, but also have a child at home.

They applied for SNAP benefits and WIC.

It was a struggle to get them a part of those programs because they're just not, they're barely making those cutoffs and those requirements and they're barely making it.

McKenna, your discussions with younger voters found that issues they care about do not always line up with what they hear from politicians.

Let's take a listen to part of your conversation.

You know, I feel especially in the recent years that neither political party kind of speaks for me.

In general, I think a lot of the young people are seeing, are becoming disillusioned with the two party system, are looking for other alternatives.

People are not fond of the current system that we live under.

We want people to have healthcare.

We want people to have food in their bellies.

We want people to have shelter.

We want our moms to be able to live a comfortable life, you know, and we see that that's not possible here under the current system.

Now, as in Arilynn's story, the conversation turned toward democratic socialism and the political success that they see in, for example, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

McKenna, what do they see in his approach that is so appealing?

I think what they see is themselves within his policies.

I think a lot of the times from what I heard from the people that I talked to, people don't, specifically young people, they don't feel that they can resonate with the policies that are being put forth by their elected officials.

They don't see them caring about their day-to-day issues like affordability, housing, immigration, social justice.

It's just not something that they see in that regard.

And I think with Mamdani, he really put a forefront for young people that he was for them.

And I think that's what was missing.

You also spoke with a student who was formerly with the conservative Turning Point USA, who then decided to register as a Democrat last year after identifying as an independent.

He had something interesting to say about his experience.

Tell me about that.

Yeah, Luke was a really interesting character, quite a drastic change to come from being a Turning Point chapter president to now voting independent.

I think what he really voiced to me was that he feels that young people feel that they are constantly being asked for something from elected officials that they're, you know, whether it be a vote, whether it be a like on social media to make their campaign go farther within the younger community.

I think that what message he was trying to get across is that young people no longer feel that the mainstream political parties represent them at all.

And like I said before, that day to day lived experience needs to be represented for young people to encourage them not only to to vote, but to stay informed.

What do they feel about being labeled as a particular generation, Gen Z, for example, or following labels, Democrats or Republicans?

I think a lot of the times young people are put in a box.

I think a lot of times people think young people just don't care enough to vote.

But I don't think necessarily that is the thing.

I think that because of their feelings of not feeling represented, it discourages them from aligning with the mainstream party.

So what I was hearing is that there is that third party, whether that be democratic socialism, whether that be socialism, whether that be just registering as an independent, that third party is becoming more popular because of the lack of representation that they're seeing on the policies that matter to them.

Are people more engaged or are they apathetic?

I don't know.

I feel like I think it depends on the person.

But what is for sure that I know is they want someone deeply embedded in their community.

They want someone who will address problems within their community.

And one of the one of my young voters that I spoke to, she really emphasized that she does not really care about the big national issues.

She cares more about what's happening in Tucson and how that is affecting her and her young family.

All right.

That's all the time we have.

And to hear more from Arilynn and McKenna and the other student perspectives, you can go to news.azpm.org/elections.

And that's all the time we have for The Press Room.

For all of our guests, staff, and crew, thanks for being with us.

We'll see you next week.

(dramatic music) Support comes from Pyramid Federal Credit Union, serving Southern Arizona for more than 96 years, offering personalized solutions to help members reach financial goals.

More information is available at pyramidfcu.com.

This has been an original production of AZPM News.

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