After taking a beating on X.com, the Pima County Democratic Party removed a tweet calling for the death of school choice.
The use of violent rhetoric and the threat to send tens of thousands of school choice families scrambling was made in response to the news that Illinois Democrats just killed the only school choice program in their state.
The Pima County Democratic Party @PimaDems, tweeted, “Let’s make this a goal here in Arizona. Let’s kill school choice – send it to the grave.”
Arizona Speaker of the House Ben Toma, who wrote the bill that ushered in the largest school choice program in the county, vowed to protect school choice in response to the Democrat’s threat.
The Democrats’ desperate attacks on school choice do nothing but reveal their own desire to indoctrinate children with their radical leftist ideologies. They couldn’t stop charter schools or other school choice programs despite decades of trying. School choice is here to stay.
The Democrats’ desperate attacks on school choice do nothing but reveal their own desire to indoctrinate children with their radical leftist ideologies. They couldn’t stop charter schools or other school choice programs despite decades of trying. School choice is here to stay.
— Ben Toma (@RepBenToma) November 12, 2023
Freedom Caucus member, Arizona State Representative Rachel Jones, who Toma just appointed to the House Education Committee, tweeted:
Arizona State Representative Rachel Jones @RJ4arizona
“Over my dead body. Oh, and by the way, guess who’s the newest member of the House Education Committee?
https://twitter.com/PimaDems/status/1723069993594605663”
Over my dead body. Oh, and by the way, guess who's the newest member of the House Education Committee? https://t.co/nLVguDul22
— AZ Representative Rachel Jones (@RJ4arizona) November 10, 2023
The Democrat retreat on the tweet was almost inevitable as Republicans and school choice supporters amplified the message in an effort to ensure that Arizona’s large school choice community saw the position Democrats were taking.
“Elected AZ Dems need to take a public stand on this. 250,000+ are getting a quality education in our #CharterSchools w/tens of thousands more getting the same through ESAs. Do they agree w/the Dem Party’s stated mission to force AZ kids out of successful schools? #SchoolChoice,” tweeted State Representative Steve Montenegro.
Elected AZ Dems need to take a public stand on this. 250,000+ are getting a quality education in our #CharterSchools w/tens of thousands more getting the same through ESAs. Do they agree w/the Dem Party's stated mission to force AZ kids out of successful schools? #SchoolChoice pic.twitter.com/5km1v0PEPy
— Steve Montenegro (@SteveMontenegro) November 11, 2023
Even liberal Arizona Republic columnist, Laurie Roberts, called out the Party for the tweet:
Pima County Democrats want to kill charter schools, as well as universal ESAs? Genius plan if your goal is to remain the minority party at the Legislature. https://t.co/UwnqQJHbVG
— Laurie Roberts (@LaurieRoberts) November 10, 2023
This isn’t the first time an Arizona Democratic Party account had to remove an offending tweet.
The Arizona Democratic Party reacted quickly once it was called out by Republicans for promoting its “F-ck the Fourth” event on social media in 2022.
https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2022/07/01/fuck-the-fourth-event-pima-democratic-party/
Once again, it was the Pima County Democratic Party that crossed a line when its account tweeted: “F*ck the Fourth. See you at Reid Park, with an image calling for members to “mourn with Fuck the Fourth.” On the group’s Facebook page, they told friends: “July 4th. We are not celebrating until we get our independence back.”
The Party removed the messages, and Democrat candidates like Governor Katie Hobbs made no mention of it, in the hope the issue would go away.
What isn’t going away, according to House Republicans, is Arizona’s popular Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
According to a poll from RealClear Opinion Research, a survey of registered voters from June 27-30, 2023, found that “the concept of school choice enjoys overwhelming support (71% vs. 13% opposed). This is true across party lines, with 66% of Democrats, 80% of Republicans, and 69% of Independents saying they support such a policy. Additionally, 70% of Asian, 73% of Black, 71% of Hispanic, and 71% of White voters support school choice.”
Toma’s bill was passionately supported by Janelle Wood, founder and chief executive of the Black Mothers Forum, who organized a rally as the bill made its way through the Legislature.
“If we want education to be their true pathway out of poverty, we must provide it in the different modes that is needed so that children can get the education they need,” Wood said at the time. “It gives parents the opportunity and the funding to pay for the services that they’re not able to receive in the traditional public-school setting.”
She spoke as dozens of marchers trudged around the Capitol complex, holding aloft signs such as “My Child, My Choice,” and chanting, “ESA is here to stay,” according to Cronkite News.
In an effort to debunk claims and increase transparency, Toma has called for an Ad Hoc meeting on the subject of ESAs this week:
HOUSE AD HOC STUDY COMMITTEE ON EMPOWERMENT SCHOLARSHIP ACCOUNTS GOVERNANCE AND OVERSIGHT
Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Time: 2:00 P.M.
Place: HHR 3
Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here: https://www.azleg.gov/videoplayer/?clientID=6361162879&eventID=2023111001
AGENDA
- Call to Order
- Presentations:
- a) Follow Up on Trends in ESAs and K-12 Education – Alan Maguire, The Maguire Company
- b) K-12 Finance Issues Related to Student Movement Between Systems – Patrick Moran, JLBC Staff
- c) ESA Management and Administration Updates – John Ward, Arizona Department of Education
- Public Testimony