Rebecca Rodriguez, Higley USD's world languages and dual language instructional coach, explains to the governing board what kind of sessions she would attend at the American Council Teaching on Foreign Language's 2023 Convention and World Languages Expo.
An out-of-state travel request to a teaching convention ignited another clash Wednesday among Higley Unified School District governing board members.
Ultimately, the board approved the request for instructional coach Rebecca Rodriguez to attend the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ 2023 Convention and World Languages Expo on Nov. 17-19 in Chicago. The vote was 4-0 with President Tiffany Shultz absent.
But when the item first was presented at the meeting, Board Member Anna Van Hoek pushed back against spending taxpayer money on a convention where the keynote speakers are social-justice activists and some workshops presented on topics like equity-minded and inclusive language teaching practices.
“This is completely against Arizona state standards,” Van Hoek said. “They talk about inclusivity, but yet these trainings are completely racist. They make people of white skin feel like they are the racists. And I think it is awful that we're having to spend $2,100 of taxpayer dollars to send somebody to an event. And this is the instructional coach who then brings back the information and teaches all the other teachers.”
However, Rodriguez said many of Arizona’s standards on world language come directly from ACTFL, and Interim Superintendent Sherry Richards said Rodriguez had reviewed with Elementary Education Executive Director Heidi Lindsay descriptions of the more than 600 workshops offered at the convention to identify which were beneficial as aligning with Arizona standards and fitting with Higley’s curriculum maps.
Van Hoek said she wanted teachers to have professional development opportunities, but some of the material to be presented at such conferences is “scary.”
“This is the reason why parents have lost trust in the education system because this is the stuff that's coming into schools and why parents are pulling their children,” she said. “Because this is critical race theory, and this is what parents don't want their children exposed to.”
That prompted Board Member Amanda Wade to challenge Van Hoek on her continually challenging teachers on their decisions, which she said displayed a lack of trust in their professionalism.
“I feel personally like you routinely ask questions, giving the assumption that we don't put thought into these type of concerns, and we are here seven months now into our time on the board and we routinely ask the same questions,” she said. “Have you thought about these things? I am here to ask you: we need to trust the people in their professional positions to make these decisions.”
Wade added that she understands education includes some topics that Van Hoek does not support and that she was elected to represent those with similar views, but noted parents have the ability to look in on homework and assignments and opt out of everything with which they have a concern. She said continually challenging the items was leading to an extensive waste of time and resources.
Van Hoek dismissed the notion that she does not trust teachers, and said she would continue to conduct research and challenge the district on items because she wanted all politics out of the classroom.
“If you supported public education, you wouldn't want this type of stuff coming into our school either,” she said. “Because what that does is that pushes parents out of our district, which means less money comes into our district.”
Vice President Michelle Anderson said she also had many concerns with some of the topics presented at the conference but also noted that there are a number of “wonderful sessions” offered as well.
Board Member Kristina Reese said such conferences offer a wide variety of topics that cater to a variety of views, including some that would be acceptable in some places but not in the Higley community.
“I do have to trust our professionals,” she said. “They know our district, they know our community and they know our professional expectations.”
In explaining her vote to approve the request, Van Hoek said she had been ready to vote no.
“But I do trust that you're going to do what is within our standards and ensure that you are getting the professional development that you need in order to help our students,” she said. “And it won't include any of this nonsense.”
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on Twitter. We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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