Superintendent, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. Education is always a hot-button subject in our state and so it’s an honor to get to hear from the person at the very top of our educational system. You’ve had a long career in Arizona public service; what first motivated you … Read More
The Best-Paid CEO in America Still Demands Corporate Welfare
By Alexander Lomax 2024 was a good year to be Rick Smith, but not as good of a year to be a taxpayer in Scottsdale. The CEO of Axon earned the dubious distinction of being America’s highest-paid chief executive last year. Yet despite his astronomical compensation package worth $165 MILLION, Smith apparently still needs taxpayers to subsidize his corporate ambitions. … Read More
Inflation Hitting Scottsdale Schools: Is It Justified?
Inflation…it was the political hot potato of the last elections. It has hit us all since the pandemic and has entered nearly every single aspect of our lives in some capacity. Note that I said “nearly all” however; some places have been safe havens, protected (mostly inorganically) from price increases. One of those safe havens were Scottsdale’s schools…until now. In … Read More
Arizona Schools Potentially Up for a Shakeup: State Treasurer Yee will Challenge Superintendent Tom Horne
Typically, the choice to challenge an incumbent from your own party for an elected seat is born out of severe missteps. A scandal of epic proportions, serious malfeasance on the job, something that would imply that the incumbent is now a liability and would be likely to lose in the general election to a candidate from the other party. But … Read More
Social Justice in SUSD: Reason for Concern?
By Ronald Sampson We probably don’t need to tell you that social justice was one of the biggest hot-button issues of the last few elections on the national level. Its need motivated much of the political left, and its excesses motivated much of the political right. However it has generally been the domain of national politics and not as much … Read More
Scottsdale Unified Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) has had a long string of relatively comfortable times with few major issues, but those days may be coming to an end. Recently officials have been acknowledging the possibility of future school closures due to financial pressures and declining student enrollment. While no immediate closures are planned, the district is proactively assessing its long-term sustainability, … Read More
Purpose Out of Detritus: New Scottsdale Plans Demonstrate the Best in Repurposing
Structures come and go, outliving their usefulness and eventually emptying out their occupants and activities that once made them alive and special. This is a part of life, and an unavoidable one at that. But it is what happens to those structures afterward that can turn a rotting corpse of concrete and drywall into something special yet again…a rebirth. That … Read More
Scottsdale Unified is Banning Books! Are You Outraged?!? Because I’m Not
By Ronald Sampson The political left has done a very good job at comparing everything it doesn’t like to the Nazis. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are literally Hitler, it sees fascism around every corner (even if it is the result of fairly held elections), and every action from the Trump administration is picked apart to attempt to find ways … Read More
Welcome to an All New Legislative Session: What Should You Expect from the Arizona Legislature in 2025?
As with every January, it’s the start of a brand new legislative session at the State Capitol. And this year portends to be a bit of a departure from recent years, as Republicans have extended their leads in both chambers at the legislature. So what should you expect? First, there will be precious few issues where both parties get along, … Read More
Can Laurie Roberts Keep Her Complaints Straight? Her Wrong-Headed Approach to Education Spending
By Alexander Lomax Laurie Roberts is perhaps the local media’s most prominent and prolific crap-talker. Her style is one of consistent bear-poking; you will almost never read her give kudos to politicians, but instead take them to task about some perceived injustice. And there’s a role for that; politicians are good enough at spinning their supposed successes and hiding their … Read More