AZ Briefing: Citrus could find new life in niche operations; Sinema advocates for bill at Arizona Capitol; Phoenix Sky Harbor parking guide
AZ Briefing: Citrus could find new life in niche operations; Sinema advocates for bill at Arizona Capitol; Phoenix Sky Harbor parking guide
Good morning, Arizona. Here's what our reporters are working on and what you should know about what's happening across the state before you start your day.
Citrus remains an iconic stamp of Arizona's history and a symbol of agricultural heritage dating back to when the industry was inscribed as one of the foundational Five C's that built the economy of a young state.
Now, the industry is threatened but could find new life in unexpected places.
Other big stories
➤ Kyrsten Sinema returned Monday to where her political career began: the Arizona House. She touted the benefits of ibogaine to treat military brain injuries.
➤ Does the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protect members of the military from delinquent rent bills? Find out in this week's real estate law column.
➤ The Trump administration has backed off an order that made it harder for immigrants to receive legal assistance to remain in the U.S. Here's what to know.
➤ Movies: Read media critic Bill Goodykoontz's latest movie and TV reviews, plus media columns and a discussion of the latest news and trends out of Hollywood (and beyond). Subscribe to read every Friday.
➤ Arizona citrus farms are looking to diversify as climate change and international competition threaten one of the state's staple crops. Take a look.
➤ Today, you can expect it to be very warm with a high near 87 degrees. Expect it to be clear at night with a low near 56 degrees. Get the full forecast here.
Sky Harbor Airport parking guide
Sky Harbor Airport parking includes premium, economy and off-site options. Here's what they cost and whether you can park without a reservation.
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Today in history
Here are just some of the events on this date in the past.
On this day in 1957: In Butler v. Michigan, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a Michigan law barring sale of books with content that could corrupt 'the morals of youth' was unconstitutional, a violation of the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause. Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote in the court's opinion, 'The incidence of this enactment is to reduce the adult population of Michigan to reading only what is fit for children.'
In Butler v. Michigan, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a Michigan law barring sale of books with content that could corrupt 'the morals of youth' was unconstitutional, a violation of the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause. Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote in the court's opinion, 'The incidence of this enactment is to reduce the adult population of Michigan to reading only what is fit for children.' In 1986: Three days after the United States ended its support of the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines to Hawaii. His successor, President Corazon Aquino, was sworn in.
Three days after the United States ended its support of the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines to Hawaii. His successor, President Corazon Aquino, was sworn in. In 1991: The Warsaw Pact, an alliance of Eastern Bloc nations led by the Soviet Union and formed in 1955 to counter NATO, was dissolved during a meeting in Hungary.
The Warsaw Pact, an alliance of Eastern Bloc nations led by the Soviet Union and formed in 1955 to counter NATO, was dissolved during a meeting in Hungary. In 1994: Baruch Goldstein, an American-born doctor who had been living and working in the West Bank, shot and killed 29 Palestinians praying in a mosque in Hebron before being beaten to death by the survivors of the attack.
Baruch Goldstein, an American-born doctor who had been living and working in the West Bank, shot and killed 29 Palestinians praying in a mosque in Hebron before being beaten to death by the survivors of the attack. In 2004: ' The Passion of the Christ,' a film about the final hours of Jesus' life, opened in the United States on Ash Wednesday. Even before its release, the film's topic raised concerns it might prompt a rise in antisemitism.
The Passion of the Christ,' a film about the final hours of Jesus' life, opened in the United States on Ash Wednesday. Even before its release, the film's topic raised concerns it might prompt a rise in antisemitism. In 2020: Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, incident manager for the COVID-19 response, told the nation to prepare for mitigation efforts to fight the spread of the disease, including canceling of gatherings, as well as shutdowns of schools and workplaces. Messonnier said the 'disruption to everyday life may be severe.'
— William Cain, USA TODAY Network
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San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
How school choice policies evolved from supporting Black students to subsidizing middle-class families
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) School voucher programs that allow families to use public funds to pay tuition to attend private schools have become increasingly popular. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia currently operate voucher programs. In addition, 15 states have universal private school choice programs that offer vouchers, education savings accounts and tax credit scholarships. More states are considering school choice and voucher programs as the Trump administration advocates for widespread adoption. School vouchers have a long history in the U.S. The first vouchers were offered in the 1800s to help children in sparsely populated towns in rural Vermont and Maine attend classes in public and private schools in nearby districts. After the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which justices ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional, segregationists used vouchers to avoid school integration. More recently, school voucher programs have been pitched as a tool to provide children from low-income families with quality education options. As a scholar who specializes in education policy, law and politics, I can share how current policies have strayed from efforts to support low-income Black children. History of school voucher programs Research from education history scholars shows that more recent support for school choice was not anchored in an agenda to privatize public schools but rooted in a mission to support Black students. Over time, as school voucher policies grew in popularity, they evolved into subsidies for middle-class families to send their children to private and parochial schools. School choice policies have also expanded to include education savings account programs and vouchers funded by tax credit donations. Vouchers can redirect money from public schools, many of which are serving Black students. Impact on public schools States looking to add or expand school choice and voucher programs have adopted language from civil rights activists pushing for equal access to quality education for all children. For example, they contend that school choice is a civil right all families and students should have as U.S. citizens. But school voucher programs can exclude Black students and harm public schools serving Black students in a host of ways, research shows. Since the Brown v. Board ruling, school voucher programs have been linked to racial segregation. These programs were at times used to circumvent integration efforts: They allowed white families to transfer their children out of diverse public schools into private schools. In fact, school voucher programs tend to exacerbate both racial and economic segregation, a trend that continues today. For example, private schools that receive voucher funding are not always required to adopt the same antidiscrimination policies as public schools. School voucher programs can also negatively impact the quality of public schools serving Black students. As some of the best and brightest students leave to attend private or parochial ones, public schools in communities serving Black students often face declining enrollments and reduced resources. In cities such as Macon, Georgia, families say that majority Black schools lack resources because so many families use the state's voucher-style program to attend mostly white private schools. Moreover, the cost of attending a private or parochial school can be so expensive that even with a school voucher, Black families still struggle to afford the cost of sending children to these schools. Vouchers can siphon school funding Research from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., shows that voucher programs in Ohio result in majority Black school systems such as the Cleveland Metropolitan School District losing millions in education funding. This impact of voucher programs disproportionately affects schools in predominantly Black communities across the U.S. with lower tax bases to fund public schools. Another example is the Marion County School District, a South Carolina system where about 77% of students are Black. Marion County is in the heart of the region of the state known as the ' Corridor of Shame,' known for its inadequate funding and its levels of poor student achievement. The 17 counties along the corridor are predominantly minority communities, with high poverty rates and poor public school funding because of the area's low tax base due to a lack of industry. On average, South Carolina school districts spent an estimated US$18,842 per student during the 2024-25 school year. In Marion County, per-student funding was $16,463 during the 2024-2025 school year. By comparison, in Charleston County, the most affluent in the state, per-student funding was more than $26,000. Rather than focus on school choice and voucher programs that take money away from public schools serving Black students, I argue that policymakers should address systemic inequities in education to ensure that all students have access to a quality education. Establishing restrictions on the use of funds and requiring preferences for low-income Black students could help direct school voucher policies back toward their intent. It would also be beneficial to expand and enforce civil rights laws to prevent discrimination against Black students. These measures would help ensure all students, regardless of background, have access to quality education.
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Southern Baptists target porn, sports betting, same-sex marriage and 'willful childlessness'
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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
How school choice policies evolved from supporting Black students to subsidizing middle-class families
School voucher programs that allow families to use public funds to pay tuition to attend private schools have become increasingly popular. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia currently operate voucher programs. In addition, 15 states have universal private school choice programs that offer vouchers, education savings accounts and tax credit scholarships. More states are considering school choice and voucher programs as the Trump administration advocates for widespread adoption. School vouchers have a long history in the U.S. The first vouchers were offered in the 1800s to help children in sparsely populated towns in rural Vermont and Maine attend classes in public and private schools in nearby districts. After the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which justices ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional, segregationists used vouchers to avoid school integration. More recently, school voucher programs have been pitched as a tool to provide children from low-income families with quality education options. As a scholar who specializes in education policy, law and politics, I can share how current policies have strayed from efforts to support low-income Black children. Research from education history scholars shows that more recent support for school choice was not anchored in an agenda to privatize public schools but rooted in a mission to support Black students. Over time, as school voucher policies grew in popularity, they evolved into subsidies for middle-class families to send their children to private and parochial schools. School choice policies have also expanded to include education savings account programs and vouchers funded by tax credit donations. Vouchers can redirect money from public schools, many of which are serving Black students. States looking to add or expand school choice and voucher programs have adopted language from civil rights activists pushing for equal access to quality education for all children. For example, they contend that school choice is a civil right all families and students should have as U.S. citizens. But school voucher programs can exclude Black students and harm public schools serving Black students in a host of ways, research shows. This impact of voucher programs disproportionately affects schools in predominantly Black communities with lower tax bases to fund public schools. Since the Brown v. Board ruling, school voucher programs have been linked to racial segregation. These programs were at times used to circumvent integration efforts: They allowed white families to transfer their children out of diverse public schools into private schools. In fact, school voucher programs tend to exacerbate both racial and economic segregation, a trend that continues today. For example, private schools that receive voucher funding are not always required to adopt the same antidiscrimination policies as public schools. School voucher programs can also negatively impact the quality of public schools serving Black students. As some of the best and brightest students leave to attend private or parochial ones, public schools in communities serving Black students often face declining enrollments and reduced resources. In cities such as Macon, Georgia, families say that majority Black schools lack resources because so many families use the state's voucher-style program to attend mostly white private schools. Moreover, the cost of attending a private or parochial school can be so expensive that even with a school voucher, Black families still struggle to afford the cost of sending children to these schools. Research from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., shows that voucher programs in Ohio result in majority Black school systems such as the Cleveland Metropolitan School District losing millions in education funding. This impact of voucher programs disproportionately affects schools in predominantly Black communities across the U.S. with lower tax bases to fund public schools. Another example is the Marion County School District, a South Carolina system where about 77% of students are Black. Marion County is in the heart of the region of the state known as the 'Corridor of Shame,' known for its inadequate funding and its levels of poor student achievement. The 17 counties along the corridor are predominantly minority communities, with high poverty rates and poor public school funding because of the area's low tax base due to a lack of industry. On average, South Carolina school districts spent an estimated US$18,842 per student during the 2024-25 school year. In Marion County, per-student funding was $16,463 during the 2024-2025 school year. By comparison, in Charleston County, the most affluent in the state, per-student funding was more than $26,000. Rather than focus on school choice and voucher programs that take money away from public schools serving Black students, I argue that policymakers should address systemic inequities in education to ensure that all students have access to a quality education. Establishing restrictions on the use of funds and requiring preferences for low-income Black students could help direct school voucher policies back toward their intent. It would also be beneficial to expand and enforce civil rights laws to prevent discrimination against Black students. These measures would help ensure all students, regardless of background, have access to quality education. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Kendall Deas, University of South Carolina Read more: Trump order boosts school choice, but there's little evidence vouchers lead to smarter students or better educational outcomes States are favoring school choice at a steep cost to public education School vouchers expand despite evidence of negative effects Kendall Deas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
