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Republicans pushed back on criticism that the bill would bans books, but many Republicans used books about the LGBTQ+ community as examples of books that should not be allowed in schools.

U.S. House Republicans on Friday passed a bill designed to empower parents to inspect books and other teaching materials in local public schools, but Democrats sharply criticized the measure, saying it would censor teachers and ban books. Read more»

The new proposal builds on a law passed last year that requires all public school librarians, with some exceptions that SB1700 would eliminate, to post every newly purchased book on the school’s website and provide parents with a detailed list of books their child has checked out.

The Arizona Senate on Monday approved Senate Bill 1700 - which gives parents the power to request the removal of any book that “promotes” gender fluidity or the use of gender pronouns - on a 16-12 vote, with Republicans providing all of the votes in favor. Read more»

Public education has become a major cause for the GOP, mainly in Republican-controlled state legislatures and at local school board meetings at which conservatives target books, often with themes or characters centering on LGBTQ individuals or people of color.

U.S. House Republicans laid the groundwork for some top priorities that examined public funding for charter schools and voucher programs, as well as increasing parents’ oversight of school curriculum, and barring many transgender athletes from competing in school sports. Read more»

The right to remain silent, the right to a public jury trial, the right to face your accuser and so on are not recognized and enforced by the courts in the child welfare system.

The mostly low-income families who are ensnared in child welfare cases have few of the rights that protect Americans as the rights that most U.S. citizens consider fundamental are hardly rights at all when it is a child protective services “caseworker” knocks on the door. Read more»

While the program is a boon for parents who were forced to abandon the workforce to care for children, it doesn’t place any extra strain on the state budget.

Amid a nursing shortage, Arizona became the third state in the nation to allow people to be trained and hired by home health agencies as licensed health aides to care for family members under 21 who qualify for long-term, around-the-clock care. Read more»

Arizona school districts are starting the year with virtual classes, but have been ordered to have in-school teaching available by Aug. 17 for those families who want or need and that has left school administrators scrambling to come up with plans that educate while protecting student and teacher health.

A bill to allow parents to sue Arizona teachers for "usurping the fundamental right" of a parent in raising their children won approval is now one signature from becoming law. Read more»

A bill to allow parents to sue Arizona teachers for “usurping the fundamental right” of a parent in raising their children won approval from state Senate Republicans on Monday and is one vote away from Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk. Read more»

Secretary of State Katie Hobbs speaks at a press conference at the state Capitol on Nov. 4, 2021.

Katie Hobbs, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in next year’s gubernatorial race, avoided a mistake that contributed to her party’s upset loss in Virginia this week, saying that Arizona parents should have a great deal of input into what their children learn in school. Read more»

El programa de asistencia alimentaria del gobierno no cubre los pañales, ni la mayoría de los programas de ayuda pública a nivel estatal.

Ningún programa federal ayuda a los padres a pagar por los pañales para mantener a los bebés y niños pequeños limpios, secos y saludables, y para muchos padres, eso lleva a opciones desgarradoras: ¿pañales, comida o alquiler? Read more»

Black parents are having to call off work to deal with their children’s minor infractions at school.

Though much of the research about school suspensions focuses on how suspensions harm students, Black parents say the petty reasons their children are being suspended for force them to take off from work - and sometimes lose their jobs. Read more»

More than half of young adults 18 to 29 now live at home – the highest rate since the end of the Great Depression 80 years ago – and researchers say many were motivated by the pandemic. Read more»

American public schools may never fully recover from the coronavirus crisis.

Parents, students and teachers are all looking for answers. Right now, there are none. The pandemic appears to be intensifying the longstanding threat to the future of universal public education. Read more»

Arizona school districts are starting the year wirh virtual classes, but have been ordered to have in-school teaching available by Aug. 17 for those families who want or need and that has left school administrators scrambling to come up with plans that educate while protecting student and teacher health.

When Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman ordered state schools to open for some type of in-person instruction on Aug. 17, they gave school administrators the flexibility to design a plan that best suits their districts. What they didn’t give them were directions. Read more»

Tucson Unified School District faces budget shortfalls because of costly health and safety recommendations from the Arizona Department of Education’s road map for reopening this fall.

Guidelines for how Arizona school districts can safely reopen for the fall have been released, but at least some parents – and teachers – are questioning how safe it will be. Administrators also wonder how to pay for implementing the changes. Read more»

Jamie Matus, a former NewYork City public school teacher, organized a homeschooling playgroup for her kids and their classmates in Dubai after their school was shut.

Like it or not, we are suddenly a nation of home schoolers, with little preparation. The rapidly spreading coronavirus is instantly changing the way education is delivered, as school and home become the same place. Read more»

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