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
Guest Editorial: Vote Jacobs, Beasley, Hassler for SUSD Governing Board
By Jan Dubauskas We are SUSD parents. All five of our children have attended SUSD schools; our two little girls currently attend Copper Ridge Elementary School. Our older children received excellent educations. Unfortunately, the District’s stark decline in academic performance and sharp decline in enrollment is noticeable to all parents – and it’s alarming. Parents expect the District to provide … Read More
Missteps by Scottsdale Unified: Is It Purposeful Subversion?
The Scottsdale Unified School District has had a good run recently. From largely avoiding the controversies that befell it a few years back to operating schools at levels that are gaining national recognition (read our full coverage here), it has been relatively smooth sailing recently…until now. A recent story potentially demonstrates an unforced error and a significant bump in the road, … Read More
More Good News for Scottsdale: Our Schools Are World Class
We love to tout Scottsdale on this blog, and there are many reasons why. We don’t have to tell you the reasons why it is such a popular national (and sometimes international) vacation destination. It has also become a burgeoning hotspot for jobs as well. And while we don’t often tout our educational system as one of the reasons why … Read More
Major Wins for Local Schools as Scottsdale Unified and Paradise Valley School District Bond Overrides Pass
Last week’s elections were a relatively sleepy one; after all, with no real big name seats up for grabs, it was easy to not see any local results at all. But there were a few very important developments that will impact parents all across the Valley, including in Scottsdale. Specifically, bond overrides. Bond overrides are a mechanism to increase funding … Read More
Superintendent Menzel Named Superintendent of the Year from a Partisan Source, Reinforcing Battle Lines
Scottsdale Unified Superintendent Scott Menzel has had a relatively turbulent time leading the helm at SUSD. District meetings have had disruptions regarding COVID-related mitigation and content, and he has been the target of activists (you can read more about it all here). When you have plenty of enemies, it’s always good to have friends that have your back, and a … Read More
SUSD Drama Continues: When Adults Start Resembling the Students They Govern
The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board has been quite the magnet for plenty of…interesting activity over the last couple years. From protests to calls for a new superintendent from partisan challenges, there has been no shortage of drama. And that drama recently took a new turn that is something closer to a scene from a high school movie than … Read More