Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) and other lawmakers joined Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne on Wednesday for a press event to introduce a new partnership between the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and Prager University, a nonprofit that provides educational resources that hold a positive view of the United States.
Hoffman and PragerU CEO Marissa Streit joined Horne at a press event outside the Arizona State Senate. They said the partnership with Prager University is about giving educators, parents, and students more choice and control in their education.
Hoffman told The Arizona Sun Times the new resources for educators will offer relief from “the status quo of government-run schools” that are “failing our children” in Arizona.
“The Arizona Freedom Caucus and legislative Republicans will not be complicit in a system that is destroying the futures of our children,” said Hoffman, who founded the Arizona Freedom Caucus. “It’s time to innovate and look to private sector groups like PragerU and Turning Point USA so that Arizona children have the greatest potential for achieving opportunity, prosperity, and a vibrant life.”
He said, “The bottom line is that Arizona Republicans stand for children.”
Speaking at at the Capitol on Wednesday, Horne said he was “proud to make Prager University educational materials available to more people” but also stressed that their materials are merely an option for educators to use and not a requirement.
“Arizona is a local control state,” said Horne.
“We leave it up to the schools to choose their curricula,” he explained. “Then we test for them.”
Horne described Prager University’s educational offerings as “rich in content” with “a comment to presenting facts to students to better understand history.” He added, “PragerU and I share the belief that parents should be empowered to make the educational choices that are the best for their children.”
Citing the availability of all Prager University materials on the Internet, Streit suggested allowing educators to use her group’s materials will bring a new era of transparency to schools.
“The era of gaslighting and of squeezing parents out of their kids education is over,” said Streit.
She explained, “Every piece of content that Prager makes for educators is also available, 100 percent free, online on PragerU.com.”
Streit continued, “The most important part of this is that we believe in choice. We believe that communities will make the right choices for their kids, and that parents, ultimately, are the ones who know what’s best for their children. Not the bureaucrats, not the teacher’s unions, not even the Department of Education.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Prager University Press Conference” by MAAP Real Talk Show.
