Hey there Secular Fam, it’s been a minute. I hate when there is a lull between my Substack columns because there’s always so much going on and you’ve all been so supportive and loyal over the last 1.5 years since we launched it.
But I gotta tell you, these last few weeks have been tough on all of us. My running joke these days is “we’re living in the worst timeline ever” but it’s getting more difficult to find the humor in *gestures broadly* all of thi
There are 116 days until the 2024 general election, and all I can see is chaos. It’s a long slog till November 5th, so we all (again) need to give ourselves some grace. Unlike other years, I’ve noticed that school districts are mostly continuing to meet through the summer. In my anecdotal experience, many districts will take the month of July off, but this year not so much. I’m guessing that for some districts, this is because of the massive budget shortfalls they’re facing.
Since vouchers, the flat tax, and (in Maricopa County) the County Assessor legal decision are draining funding from public schools, the outlook is bleak. The wants of the haves have replaced the needs of the have-nots.
All of this is by design.
Click here to read more on Secular AZ’s Substack.
Jeanne Casteen, Secular AZ Executive Director
JEANNE CASTEEN has a bachelor’s degree in human communication and history from the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at ASU and a master’s in education, also from ASU. Jeanne has over 11 years of experience teaching in Maricopa County’s public schools. In 2011, Jeanne completed the Emerge Arizona program and in 2012 became a school board member of the Creighton School District. She served as Board President from 2016 through 2020. In 2020, Ms. Casteen ran for Maricopa County School Superintendent, and came within 12,000 votes of winning. She has been awarded the Arizona School Public Relations Association Award for Excellence in Advocacy and Political Contributions to Education as well as the Arizona School Board Association’s All-Arizona School Board Member Award.
