SUSD: Where Teaching Kids to be Kind is Now a Front in the "Culture War"

The latest from this week's Scottsdale Unified School District Board meeting

“I am a parent, but I trusted their teachers, bottom line, and I wouldn’t presume to speak for everyone in my community because of my personal point of view.”

I know I’ve been spending a lot of time covering the Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) lately, but white Christian nationalists are on school boards all across the state.  I decided to check out the latest meeting in Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) after receiving an email from anti-public education group “Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity” (it pays to sign up for all oppo-groups!). 

Thankfully, this was a special meeting, so there was no parade of purple parents or the 🧻USA fascists. That was nice, but we still had to listen to Board Members Carney and Werner, soooo…

The big discussion was about agenda item 5.D, a supplemental curriculum approval for a digital lesson resource, PebbleGo. This is a program that the district has been using for a decade that aligns with state standards, and allows K-5 students to access the lessons 24-7. 

The pricetag is $35,000 for the entire district, and a team of professionals vetted this curriculum. So far, this sounds like a standard noncontroversial vote, but since SUSD has two board members who were propped up by Purple for Parents, everything is a conspiracy theory. 

District administrators gave a regular, normal presentation about a very regular, normal supplemental curriculum, then Member Carney was first to speak. She opened by citing the district’s vision, “Engaging all students in world-class, future-focused learning,” and saying that this curriculum doesn’t fit with the vision.

She said that the district shouldn’t have lessons that parents may worry about opting out of. She complained about the civics modules that referenced our First Amendment rights to strike, boycott, petition, and protest.

She was also angry about the “healthy habits” lessons that promote masking and social distancing (presumably during a deadly, global pandemic), that they designated Pride month as a holiday, and “several other controversial topics.” 

She asserted that this feeds into the distrust and culture war controversy that is unnecessary, and said that’s not how to build trust. 

Wait…did Member Carney just have a moment of self-awareness? Because from what I can tell, it’s the groups propping up her and Member Werner that stir up culture wars and controversy, whether through email blasts or social media groups.

She seemed to be very disappointed in the committee of professionals who recommended this supplemental curriculum purchase that aligns with state standards. Clearly, she was having a sad.

Next up, Member Werner said that this has been a “hot topic in the district for many many months.” She worried that vulnerable kids will be able to access this curriculum at all times of day, and that for a “world class school district, this [PebbleGo] doesn’t cut it.” She didn’t like the inclusion of LGBTQ families in the curriculum either.

Then she said that when we teach about being a good citizen, we should teach kids to be kind, and how to be a good friend. I thought for a hot second that Member Werner was having a moment of self-awareness…

…but then I remembered what I was watching, and she claimed that district administrators are not protecting kids and she is appalled (APPALLED, I tell you).

District administrators then pointed out the history of this adoption, noting that the district has been using the curriculum for OVER TEN YEARS with great success, and that it’s widely used throughout the whole district. 

Next, Board Member Dr. Libby Hart-Wells was up. She used her time to apologize to all family and community members who were as offended as she was for what came out of the mouths of her board colleagues. She closed by wishing everyone a Happy Pride Month. 

Next, President Julie Cieniawski pointed out (much like PUSD Member Sorensen said last month) that SUSD has trained professionals and curriculum specialists, educators, and professional librarians (something all districts don’t have), to review these curriculum decisions.

She also correctly pointed out that these folks make decisions based on state standards — which they do NOT weigh in on or create. Those standards are determined by the state DOE and individuals employed in that department.

Essentially, she was reminding Members Carney and Werner to stay in their lane, much like I encouraged Members Rooks and Hill to do at the last PUSD meeting. 

She went on to remind her colleagues that when they bring up “culture war" or assume that they speak for the majority of the district’s families, it comes across as extremely disrespectful. Cieniawski said “our families look different and so [do] our students,” and that to assume that they’re all the same is wrong.

She then apologized to any marginalized individuals who may have been offended by the comments made by their elected officials. President Cieniawski is a lifelong educator and her adult children are the product of SUSD. 

“I am a parent, but I trusted their teachers, bottom line, and I wouldn’t presume to speak for everyone in my community because of my personal point of view.” 🔥

Werner said something about being responsible, being made up of diverse families, and something about silencing people, but I was still fangirling about the sentiments of Members Hart-Wells and Cieniawski, so I didn’t really catch all the details. 

The final words on this agenda item were delivered by President Cieniawski, who basically thanked Member Werner for agreeing that being kind isn’t marginalizing our kids and our families (BAM!), and the curriculum purchase was approved 3-2.

But!

Let us not forget that this district, much like PUSD, is split. There are two evangelical extremists on each of these boards. In SUSD, two pro-public education candidates lost their bids to get on the board in 2022. Rumor has it that the three pro-public education candidates currently on the board will NOT seek reelection next year. 

(For a deeper dive into all things SUSD, check out the pro-public education stakeholders’ in-depth report on this meeting and others.)

Remember: This isn’t just happening in Scottsdale Unified… or Peoria Unified. Evangelical extremists, conspiracy theorists, and Christian nationalists sit on boards around the state, and their supporters show up every time. 

We — a.k.a. reasonable people who believe in facts rather than conspiracy theories, who trust trained, educated professionals to do their jobs, and who don’t want to see this concerted effort to destroy Arizona public schools succeed because we realize the value of public education — need to show up every time, too.

So… what are YOU willing to do to support these unpaid public servants? Let’s not leave them to counter all the conspiracy-theory-spouting, bible-verse-reciting, and hate-speech-spewing alone. 

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