Beneath the dark cloud of controversy surrounding the midterm elections in Arizona, a ray of light shone with the victory of Republican Tom Horne as the state’s new education superintendent. Horne defeated the Democrat incumbent Kathy Hoffmann in what The Western Journal called “a huge win for Republicans,” not only because the post is a statewide office, but because Horne campaigned against CRT and in support of parental rights. In a November 7 Twitter post, he reinforced his “Commitment to Arizona’s Parents,” which consists of four priorities he will have as superintendent: (1) To focus on academics; (2) To teach students “how to think rather than what to think”; (3) To ensure “safety and structure” in the classroom; and, (4) To empower parents “by ensuring full transparency to their child’s education.” Among the fed-up parents, citizens, and organizations that supported Horne is the group Arizona Women of Action, which states as its aim “to revive U.S. freedoms in education, culture, and politics.” Responding to Horne’s campaign tweets, a spokeswoman for the group posted: “This is what we want; parents to be empowered.” During his campaign, Horne pledged not only to “get critical race theory out of our schools,” but also to “get social and emotional learning out of our schools so we can focus on academics.” He further vowed to raise test scores and to end “bilingual education” so that immigrant children “can learn English.” Unfortunately, as the post-election chaos continues, no one is certain who all the winners will be, and so Horne may have a tough road ahead if a majority of Democrats prevail. His supporters appear confident he’ll be up to the task.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says the status of free speech on our nation’s university and law school campuses is “pretty abysmal, disgraceful, and really dangerous for our future as a united, democratic country.” Alito made his remarks during a live interview on October 25 with Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation. “We depend on freedom of speech, and colleges and universities should be setting the example,” Alito said. “Law schools should be setting the example because our adversary system is based on the principle that the best way to get at the truth is to have a strong presentation of opposing views.” He added that law students should be free to speak their minds without worrying about the consequences of everything they say. “They should have their ideas tested in rational debate,” the justice noted, “and law schools are not doing that.” He believes the many law schools and universities who are failing to foster a wide spectrum of ideas are not carrying out their grave responsibility to do so. When Roberts asked where Alito would draw the line on protected vs. unprotected speech, the justice replied: “The real test, as Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, is whether we’re willing to protect the speech we hate... The general rule, with only minor exceptions, is that any speech involving public issues such as politics, government, history, economics, law, science, culture, religion, the arts, anything of that level of importance, has to be that the government must stay out.” He acknowledged that this does not mean free speech gives people the right to say anything they want about anything or anyone at any time or any place and in any way. “Like other provisions of the Bill of Rights,” Alito noted, “it picked up on a pre-existing right that was understood before the Bill of Rights was adopted. From the very beginning of our country our legal system has recognized that there are categories of speech that are not protected, such as extortion and threats, fraud, defamation, shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.” Several of Alito’s past opinions intimated, however, as Roberts noted during the interview, that his view of free speech is broad, and that today it is being unconstitutionally restricted in many if not most of our educational institutions as well as in the public square.

More scandalous teacher antics are coming to light thanks to Libs of TikTok, and one high school teacher was indefinitely suspended. Along with concerned parents who continue to speak out at school board meetings, these atrocities are being brought to light by pro-child, parent-friendly organizations. On November 2, Libs of TikTok reported that a transgender teacher at Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, MD, was finally suspended months after disturbing videos surfaced of an LGBTQ “safe space” that showed “students engaging in what appears to be sexual acts ...” Students are reportedly able to “hang out” in this space whenever they choose throughout the school day. Willa Hoard is a male-to-female transgender social studies teacher who oversees the safe space in the back of “her” classroom, and runs the Gay Student Alliance club at the school. A concerned mom whose child posted on Facebook about “dead naming” — a derogatory term for calling a transgender student by his or her birth name — revealed that the school considers “dead naming” to be sexual harassment. When the mom investigated further, she found messages from Hoard on several social media platforms referring to “herself” as “mom” and “directing students to ‘carry on, be gay, and start a revolution.’” Even more alarming, the GSAs are set up not only to provide safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth in middle and high schools, but also to promote the gamut of woke propaganda related to “racial, gender, and educational justice.” Libs of TikTok reported that the parent who blew the whistle on Hoard is being persecuted, to the point of activists calling police to her family’s home for bogus reasons. Another parent observed: “It is like [Hoard] is a cult leader and the school is either afraid or in on it. We [parents] are afraid to speak out because the whole mob will come after us.” In October, the Chesapeake High School Principal “sent a letter to parents stating that Hoard was not fired but on indefinite leave and would not be able to return to school property. The letter never addressed the allegations, why this was allowed to occur, or what corrective measures the school is taking to prevent this from happening again.”

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