Celebrating 15 Years Fighting for Arizona Students
A Message From our Executive Director on our 15 Year Anniversary.
15 years ago, Helios Education Foundation and the Arizona Community Foundation brought Stand for Children to Arizona with the ACCIO grant, recognizing Stand as an advocacy organization with a unique ability to achieve impact in challenging spaces. We are grateful for their insight and trust over the years as we’ve worked together to make systemic shifts to provide resources and create an environment to ensure student success.
Stand is a unique catalyst to achieve results for kids at the state, district, and school levels. Our organizational structure combines direct support in communities with state level policy and political action for lasting impact.
And over the last 15 years we have done just that.
In 2019, we championed the ELL bill ensuring proven dual language instruction models reach our multi-lingual and multi-literate kids. Over 80,000 kids a year are impacted by this.
In 2020, Stand was instrumental in passing Prop 208 at the ballot box, elevating the voice of citizens demanding Arizona increase funding to our schools, which ultimately led to $1.3 billion per year added to the state’s education budget in 2022. Over a million kids across Arizona are benefitting from better funded schools thanks to this school funding effort.
And just last year, Stand successfully led the charge to remove punitive administrative fees for about 75,000 children and families caught up in the juvenile justice system, unburdening them from about $18 million in court debt that delayed their ability to start adulthood.
But Stand is more than advocacy. So much more.
Stand implements proven programs that help our children find success on their education journeys.
With our family literacy program, Growing Readers, Stand ensures Arizona’s parents are prepared and confident to support their children’s literacy at home. Launched in 2015 and training over 2,000 incredible parents to date, this program is aligned with ReadOn Arizona and our state’s literacy goals. Its success laid the local groundwork for the upcoming launch of an innovative, comprehensive approach to literacy, the Great First Eight, designed by Stand’s Center for Early Literacy and backed by the latest early literacy research.
At another critical education milestone, Stand’s Center for High School Success, targets students’ make-or-break ninth grade year, coaching ninth grade teachers in engagement methods that keep kids on track to graduate during that most precarious transition year. Phoenix Union High School District was the first Arizona district in which we implemented our High School Success program. In the 2020 school year, Phoenix Union reported a freshman on track rate of 37%. Only one third of ninth graders finished the school year with one quarter of the necessary credits for graduation and no more than one semester course failure. In three school years, Stand’s efforts have yielded a 31point increase in the on track rate bringing it up to 68% at the end of the 2023 school year. That’s 7,750 more students on track over a three-year period, with Stand’s High School Success approach.
And this is the really important part: We have done everything we can, whatever it takes – from advocacy at the state level to local programming – to support the potential of our students.
How do we achieve this success?
Well first it starts with a great team with deep roots in the community. I, for one, have lived in Arizona for over 25 years – 10 of those at Stand AZ – raising both of my children in Arizona’s public school system. One even is at NAU on the Lumberjack scholarship!
Our Associate Executive Director, Daniel Hernandez Jr., as well as our Statewide Organizing Director, Georgina Monsalvo, are both Arizona natives who understand the struggles facing families furthest from opportunity and justice. And both have incredible experience influencing change. They are joined by a staff of experts in policy and community service. I hope you’ll check out their bios – they are an amazing team.
Where do we go from here?
We’ve learned a lot in the last 15 years, but one of the most important is that leadership matters. Over the last decade I’ve personally watched kids and schools become political footballs and pawns for the personal agendas of politicians. That’s why the Stand team has leaned in over the past few elections – and this one is particularly important.
This year we’ve identified 7 legislative districts, 4 school boards, and 1 county superintendent race that are critical for the future of education in Arizona. I hope you’ll look over our voter guide and if you’re in one of these areas, vote for candidates that we can trust will put kids before politics. If you’re not in one of these areas, please do your research, vote down your ballot for local elections and protect Arizona’s most valuable resources – our kids.
Standing with you,
Rebecca Gau
Executive Director, Stand for Children Arizona
REMOVE THE ARCHAIC A.E.L.
The aggregate expenditure limit (AEL) is a measure that limits how much school districts can invest in our children’s education and future. The AEL does not keep up with the actual needs of schools and our kids. This outdated, 40 year-old policy needs to be lifted immediately.
ESTABLISH DEBT FREE JUSTICE
The youth court administrative fees charged to children and their parents are further straining families that are already struggling. We strongly support efforts to eliminate fees from the Arizona juvenile court system, and allowing youth to petition to have old fee debt waived.
FIGHT ACADEMIC CENSORSHIP
Our teachers are under attack by extremists who misrepresent their curriculum. We wish to foster the development of thoughtful students and support a teacher’s freedom to teach accurately by fighting back against any policies that lower the quality of education in Arizona.
support high school success
We help partner schools significantly increase the number of students who finish the 9th grade year on track to graduate, a stronger predictor of high school graduation than their race/ethnicity, level of poverty, or test scores combined.
invest in early literacy
By providing resources and learning tools directly to parents, our grassroots efforts allows us to facilitate a Growing Readers Program which donates books and helps families improve their child’s reading comprehension.
reform e.s.a. vouchers
Universal ESA vouchers were overwhelmingly rejected by AZ voters in 2018. However, failed leadership defied the will of voters and has brought the program back with no accountability or limits. Through meaningful reform, we can fix this.
UNITE FOR LITERACY!
Stand for Children believes learning to read is one the most critical skills we can teach our students. And reading at grade level by the end of third grade is perhaps the single most essential educational milestone. So we’re partnering with Unite for Literacy to provide a FREE digital library.
