Grand Canyon Times

The Goldwater Institute claims a Phoenix school district board had attempted to “pull money from the classroom” to provide its board members with thousands of dollars for an out-of-state training camp promoting progressive ideologies, labeled as “professional development.”

The Goldwater Institute’s Director of Education Policy Matt Beienburg posted on X on Thursday, July 25, that the Phoenix Elementary School District Governing Board had initially registered one of its members, Regional A. Carrillo, for a three-day event spanning July 25-27 in Oakland, Calif. titled, “Local Progress Conference: Rooted in Reshaping our Future.”

“[The] District pulls money from the classroom to shower board members with thousands [of dollars] for an out-of-state training camp for launching left-wing political careers and activism," Beienburg stated. "Sessions Include: ‘Strategizing for Tenant Power and Taking on Corporate Landlords,’ ‘Local Solutions for Immigrant Justice,’ ‘Abortion for All: Exploring the New Era of Abortion Politics,’ and ‘Progressive Governance Academy: Governing While Black."

An associated report from the Goldwater Institute said that of the 53 topics set to be covered in the three-day conference, only three were specifically about education – the removal of school resource officers under the guise of school safety, opposition to parental school choice options and the creation of “culturally responsive” curriculum driven by diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals.

Further, according to the report, between $3,000 and $4,000 would have been spent by taxpayers for the costs associated with the District Board member attending the conference. However, the member’s trip was soon canceled – which the Goldwater Institute said came as a result of its efforts to obtain information about approval for the expenditure.

“The expenditure of public tax dollars on education should go toward the need and benefit of students, not toward propping up ideologically-driven training camps for aspiring political candidates or activists," the Goldwater report said. "Legitimate professional development for school board members – helping them learn how to fulfill responsibilities of their role, how to comply with open meetings laws, etc. – can help school board members do their jobs better, which serves the public interest. But taxpayers should not have to pay for school board members to be radicalized at out-of-state conferences and taught how to implement left-wing dogmas in their districts."

Beienburg seconded that sentiment.

“Such naked misuse of funds by our public schools promotes radical political activism at the expense of student learning and further erodes the credibility of our institutions,” Beienburg said in a follow-up post on X.