AZ Got 99 Problems, and MPS Ain't One...For Now

Mesa Educators and Allies Provide a Masterclass on Engagement

You know, I don’t give school board meetings in the East Valley nearly enough love, so when my friend reached out to me this week to say “the MPS meeting last night was NOT a horror show,” I needed to see it to believe it. 

So brace yourself for some good news today with just a small side of hate and bigotry, Secular Fam, because the Mesa Public Schools (MPS) staff and community gave a masterclass on community engagement and combating evangelical extremists! 

When I opened YouTube to watch the meeting, the first thing I noticed was the length of the meeting: 6:25:57! That is one long meeting. Granted, there was a study session that lasted an hour-and-a-half, a half-hour break between that and the regular meeting, and another (approximately) 45 minutes of student and staff celebrations, but DANG! That’s a long meeting. 

I checked out the agenda, and nothing jumped out as forbidden fruit that the evangelical extremists might take issue with, but since they take issue with, like, EVERYTHING, I’m no longer surprised with meetings that last 4-6 hours. So forgive me if I fast-forward through the bulk of this meeting, but…

It’s been a while since I covered MPS, and a lot of the same players from 2023 are showing up to these meetings (get a hobby, haters! Touch grass!). Since I tend to dance with the devils I know (aka Heather Rooks & Kim Fisher), I feel like we need a primer about the devils I don’t know as much about. 

First, the board is mostly normal, with one (from what I can tell) extremist, Rachel Walden. Normally, I use the phrase “evangelical extremist” but she doesn’t lead with “Christian Warrior,” or “Follower of Christ” on her socials, so it’s hard to tell if she is an evangelical extremist or just your garden variety MAGA mom. That said, Board Member Walden, is also running for Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). Her website promotes free market capitalism and rejects the Green New Deal, so I’m a skosh concerned about her candidacy.

I mean, it says right on her Xitter page (@waldenpatriot - OMG, of COURSE “patriot” is part of her handle) that she is “not a global citizen” so it’s pretty clear she’s not a fan of the “globe” part of “global warming.” Also, her endorsement page makes me want a sandwich for some reason…

The rest of the board seems to be regular people who want to serve their communities. President Marcie Hutchinson recently won an award from Save Our Schools AZ (SOSAZ). Board Member Kiana Sears is a lifelong public servant who is running for Justice of the Peace. 

Clerk Joe O’Reilly and Board Member Courtney Davis both seem like regular people who care about their schools and community. The meeting was packed with a bunch of students, parents, and teachers, and of course there were a couple of other failed and/or current candidates who show up to these meetings on the regular to elucidate the various reasons why no one should ever vote for them. 

I’m going to start straight away with the spiciest part and EVERYBODY’S (least) favorite, Call to the Public! There were so many people signed up to speak (33!!!), President Hutchinson decided to limit public comments to 90 seconds instead of three minutes, so I’m sure some folks were struggling.

Usually, when there are dozens of people signed up to speak, I feel a pit in my stomach. Remember, I spend a lot of time tracking Peoria (PUSD) where people have taken over meetings to give sermons and practice their stump speeches. I mean, there was still definitely some of that, but not nearly at a PUSD level. 

President Hutchinson kicked off public comments with a baseball metaphor and reminded the audience that the board recently adopted a policy to allow current MPS students to speak first - more of this, please! The first speaker was a Mesa High junior who spoke passionately about her marching band and how budget cuts are forcing her band director out. 

You know, I wonder how many of these “budget cuts'' are due to Arizona’s runaway voucher scam that’s going to cost our state billions of dollars in the long run. I’m all about making sure our students with special needs are taken care of, but when I think about my tax dollars subsidizing the religious indoctrination and luxury purchases for the children of millionaires and billionaires…

Another attendee spoke in favor of the Mesa High band director, a few more MPS educators sang the praises of their schools and colleagues, and then some elderly bigot got up to the lectern to use her interpretation of the bible to justify her hatred of the LGBTQ community. Another extremist came up to complain about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs, and can we just take a moment to translate here? 

The horrible tragedy that happened in Baltimore this month was a shocking event. It’s kind of miraculous (no pun intended) that so few lives were lost, and my heart goes out to the victims and their families. Not only did the workers pay the ultimate price, but this tragic event will have long lasting effects on an entire region. From what authorities know, it was due to a power failure.

I couldn’t believe how many people rushed to their keyboards to blame this on “DEI hires” and Affirmative Action initiatives. In online posts, Baltimore Mayor, Brandon Scott was referred to as the “DEI mayor” and he essentially said the quiet part out loud for the racists. 

They’re mad that they can’t say the n-word or the f-word out loud anymore, so all these three-letter acronyms have taken their place. CRT, SEL, and DEI translate to “I hate BIPOC and the LGBTQ community.” 

Also, whenever these people use the bible to justify their hate, I think of the many bible scholars who have been a part of our Friday Speaker Series. Far too many of whom were raised in conservative Christian households of every variety, and these folks have gone back and STUDIED scripture. They learn entire dead languages to interpret its meaning, and they’ve looked at the historical context surrounding the stories in the bible. So many of these folks ended up deconstructing their faith because of their deep dive into the bible. Check out our recent presentation about “Authoritarian Christianity” with Rick Pidcock, who was raised in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) Church (if you haven’t seen Let Us Prey, it provides an accurate, though triggering summary of the IFB’s handling of abuse if your stomach can handle it).

And while you’re at it, would you do us a solid and like, subscribe, and share our YouTube channel? Please be sure to do the same with our Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky. Yikes! Our social media staffer needs a raise!

Next up was one of my favorite advocates in the LGBTQ community, Tami Staas. Fun fact! Our kids went to school together back in the day. She introduced herself using her pronouns, and said, “see? Nobody blew up,” to point out how totally stupid it is for these Klanned Karenhood members to squawk about honoring an individual’s preferred pronouns. 

After that, a teacher in the district provided a lesson about the difference between religious accommodation and religious indoctrination, essentially pointing out that most of the people in these meetings who use the word “indoctrination” seem to be confused about its meaning. 

There were more positive speakers (way to go, MPS!). Mesa Education Association (MEA) and Mesa Educational Support Professionals Association (MESPA) showed up with a unifying message of support. They called out the hateful, racist extremists who have been disparaging the district and basically told them to knock it TF off. It was a thing of beauty. 

Failed MPS candidate, Ed Steele came up to grouse about mandatory reporting or something? He’s hard to follow sometimes. 

Another union leader was up (Hey, Chico!), and then another, and another. Next up was a parent concerned about the MHS marching band. Then another teacher spoke, and then a principal, and another principal, then a parent, and then another parent (Hi, Brian!). It was a lovely long string of positivity and then…

A woman who introduced herself as a doctor, Leigh Anne Costanzo, came up to share with everyone how little she knows about trans people. Her Xitter is filled with hate and bigotry, and like so many other extremists, she seems to be obsessed with children's genitalia. 

Next was more positivity! Representative Lorena Austin (D-LD9) added to the positivity pile-on, and shared how, when she was a queer kid coming up in MPS, she received nothing but love and support from her teachers, and she’d like more of that, please. 

More positivity, then another woman was angry that her comments were blocked on the MPS Facebook page (I wonder what she’s saying in those comments 👀). Another teacher came up to say he’s never witnessed any kind of political indoctrination in MPS, even from left-leaning teachers. He shared that he is a Christian and that he was there to speak out about his colleague who was targeted by a sitting board member in the district where he teaches. In case you’re wondering which board member would behave in such an unprofessional manner, just kidding! We all know who it was: 

It appears that Board Member Walden is a Heather Rooks stan because she is dragging a staff member on her social media, like Heather Rooks did in PUSD, seemingly itching for a lawsuit. She’s also served MPS with a lawsuit of her own. And looky-looky! Who is representing her? Why, Liberty First Legal, of course! The same organization that has taken Rooks’ case. Have I mentioned that Secular AZ is still working on the PUSD case? The legal team is overwhelmed with all these White Christian Nationalists in elected office, so consider supporting the work they do today. 

And if you or someone you know has legal experience or you know of a young whippersnapper, legal eagle? Tell them about all the cool work Secular AZ does!

Another teacher shared the really rough year he’s had, and expressed his gratitude for the support he’s received from everyone in MPS. Next was Rep Seth Blattman (D-LD9) who encouraged people who like to yell and scream at public meetings to maybe knock it off already. And then another failed MPS candidate, Chris Hamlet, was up to complain about the union and called MEA members “putrid” and “silly.”. Broflake is totally calling the cops, guyz. 

More positivity from another regular and MHS alum, then more positivity, and then some more! It was lovely, and much-needed, and it only lasted for about an hour-and-a-half with just a handful of folks choosing hate and bigotry. Well done, Mesa! 

Failed candidate, Ed Steele was up again to complain about the adoption of the science curriculum, and seemed upset that they didn’t consult with him before the adoption. He, much like Rebecca Hill in PUSD, incorrectly asserted that “science doesn’t change” which caused the room to erupt in laughter. President Hutchinson reminded the audience to refrain from outbursts. 

He feels that 40-year-old science books are sufficient, and argues that since science scores are so low the kids should not have a new curriculum or something? Again…super hard to follow his train of thought. He was followed by a parent who correctly asserted that science does, in fact, change. 

Next, the board had a chance to discuss the adoption of this curriculum, and Board Member Walden showed everyone that she doesn’t fully understand the processes and protocols for curriculum adoption. She sowed the seeds of distrust because these MAGA moms think of themselves as perpetual victims. And then she accused President Hutchinson of not upholding decorum (she did - see two paragraphs above). She then got big mad at MEA and called them stupid, so that was a choice. 

Another candidate,  Karen Sharon, came forward to complain about the adoption of a wellness app for teachers and staff, apparently angry that the district cares about and wants to fund the mental health and wellbeing of their staff.

She seems nice.

Board Member Sears stood up for the mental health supports, and rightfully said that we should all care about it. I for one am grateful she serves the MPS community. 

The next agenda items were second readings of district policies. Karen Sharon was up again to complain about the student dress code. She was upset that clothing with hate speech was banned in the dress code. Karen Sharon seems to want more hate speech, so that’s a weird stance for a school board member. 

I have a feeling Karen Sharon is one of those people who says  “I don’t see color.” Board Member Walden agreed with Karen Sharon, and asserted that in America “we don’t care about the UN” which was super-confusing because I didn’t even see the United Nations on the agenda. I love how when she comments during the discussion, the rest of the board just kind of nods and then moves TF on without giving her any further attention. More of this, please. 

Karen Sharon was up again to prove she can read by reading from a graphic novel that had colorful language. I don't know about you, but I grew up reading Stephen King novels and that's what got me to love reading. My mom didn't hand it over to me when I was in fourth grade or anything, but she knew me better than anybody. So when, in 7th grade I asked to join the Stephen King book of the month club? She let me. These people need to spare me about their obsession with sex, genitals, and spicy language because not everyone shares their puritanical notions about the world. She then joined Board Member Walden in disparaging the teachers in the district, because of course she did.

The rest of the policy discussions were pretty normal, and the meeting ended without fanfare. 

The big lesson here folks? When we show up, we control the narrative! So you know the drill! Please sign up to get involved with Secular AZ, so we can ensure that our public schools remain free from religious grooming and indoctrination. 

Till next time, Secular Fam! Be sure to do some good this weekend.