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Arizona schools chief says history book (that he hasn't read) is too 'woke'
Just 40% of Arizona's public school students are proficient in English language arts, and a dismal 32% can pass a standardized math test.
A consumer research company last fall analyzed data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in four key areas — K-12 performance, school funding, higher education quality and safety — and concluded that public education in Arizona is the worst in the nation.
So, naturally, state Superintendent Tom Horne on June 11 blasted the Scottsdale Unified School District for being 'woke.'
Horne and Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan held a news conference to complain about the district's plot to teach a 'leftist' view of U.S. history to next year's high school students.
Horne was particularly exercised by a passage that says some Black Lives Matter activists believe some deaths that led to the movement were 'the result of deeply embedded racism.'
'They present a one-sided presentation that's trying to get students, impressionable students, to believe that racism is deeply embedded in this country,' said Horne.
Said Horne, who acknowledged he hasn't actually read the textbook in question.
Said Horne, who is under fire from the hard right and now has Kimberly Yee and her handler Sen. Jake Hoffman nipping at his heels in next year's Republican primary election.
Horne threatened to tell the Trump administration that Scottsdale is teaching 'diversity, equity and inclusion' in the hope that President Donald Trump will yank away all federal funding from the district.
Better, I suppose, to penalize poor and disabled children who benefit from those funds than to allow high school students to be presented with a perspective that racism exists.
The school board voted 3-2 on May 13 to adopt the U.S. History Interactive High School Curriculum by Savvas Learning Company.
The curriculum was chosen in a public process and at the recommendation of a committee comprised of five teachers, one high school administrator and one community member.
The school district says no parents applied to be on the committee.
Some parents later objected at last month's school board meeting, however, saying the textbook contained anti-police 'propaganda.'
That was enough for Sheridan, who at the June 11 press conference called it 'counterproductive for schools to push a misguided and inaccurate narrative that will make students fearful or suspicious of their local law enforcement officers.'
Said Sheridan, who like Horne did not actually read the book.
Superintendent Scott Menzel called Horne's and Sheridan's accusations 'simply untrue and unsupported by fact.'
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'We would never adopt a curriculum that was anti-police,' he told a reporter. 'We do have, historically, situations where some people argue that we should defund the police. Here in Arizona, we had people who removed school resource officers. That's not something that we would ever contemplate, but from a historical perspective our students should be able to wrestle with why someone might have made that argument.'
Ironically, Menzel didn't catch the livestreamed news conference. He was, at the time, attending a party honoring Scottsdale's retiring police chief.
Having not read the 1,200-page textbook, I can't say whether the Scottsdale school board is engaged in a dastardly plot to turn out far left activists.
My guess is the district is trying to grow young adults with critical thinking skills.
My further guess is there are a plethora of school choice options open to any parent who objects to exposing their teens to the fact that some people believe racism is still a problem in this country.
I get it. We don't like our history to be messy, even though our history is, you know, messy.
Kind of like how rioters in 2021 can be 'patriots' as they attack police officers on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, even as rioters in 2025 can be 'vicious criminals' as they attack police officers on the streets of Los Angeles.
Yeah, better if the kids don't get a chance to wonder about that.
Reach Roberts at Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz, on Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz and on BlueSky at @
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tom Horne blasts Scottsdale history book. But is it 'woke?' | Opinion
