In a split vote, the Peoria Unified governing board approved the procurement of updated textbook and curriculum materials for science and math.
The current materials are out of date, officials said, and past textbook procurement has not been a controversial issue at governing board meetings. However, governing board members Heather Rooks and Rebecca Hill have given it a platform, and, in particular, Hill has offered a different view of science through the process.
The following vendors were approved by the board: Savvas Learning for K-8 math, K-8 science, high school math and high school science. This also includes Bedford Freeman & Worth for statistics only and Cengage Learning for financial algebra and college algebra only.
Hill has been particularity critical of curriculum from New Jersey-based vendor Savvas Learning Co., stating she needs to stick with what is true — that “science was created by god,” and “science was legitimately created to be constant.”
“Savvas definitely isn’t the curriculum of choice for me personally. After reviewing the author’s personal beliefs on science as ever changing and science being fluid and some of his philosophy on intersex and various things, I don’t think there’s a foundational truth there for me personally,” she said. “... And, no, I don’t think science changes. I think that gravity doesn’t change. Boys don’t become girls. Girls don’t become boys.”
Rooks and Hill opposed the procurement while governing board members David Sandoval, Bill Sorensen and Melissa Ewing supported it.
Estimated cost for the resources is about $11.3 million that will be covered using the ESSER III federal pandemic grant, which sunsets next year. There will be ancillary costs to the district but they have not been determined yet.
The state of Arizona updates its educational standards every so often to adjust with changes in source material, particularly science. The standards for science were updated in 2018 and state standards for math were updated in 2016.
Thus, administration recommended new science and math curriculum textbooks due to the age of the current materials.
Specifically, current K-12 materials at the district are not aligned to 2018 Arizona science standards, and current K-8 materials do not meet the rigor and complexity of the 2018 Arizona math standards, officials said.
To address this, an advisory committee was formed last year, and started meeting in January to evaluate each curriculum and textbook vendor to determine how well its resources meet the needs of both the general student population and special student populations. The committee recommended the above vendors to the governing board for approval.
The committee was recently terminated.
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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