Tucson Speaks Out: September 22

Ciscomani prioritizes education

As a parent, I want my kids to receive an education now that will prepare them for success later. That’s why it means so much that Juan Ciscomani has continually worked to strengthen education here in Southern Arizona. His efforts to bring federal funding to our schools mean critical support for teachers and staff, and better education for each child. 

From securing $1.8 million for affordable teacher housing and $1 million for an improved community center in Casa Grande, to supporting a $10 million increase for the Head Start program, to fighting for $2.7 million to expand workforce training at Pima JTED, Ciscomani is committed to providing critical support for our students and schools. 

I am grateful for Ciscomani’s continued efforts to invest in students and their futures. These funds mean a better education and a brighter future for children across Southern Arizona.

Jennifer Bickerton

North side

Save our schools

Fifteen years of bleeding our public schools dry has left them on life support. Republican legislators have diverted $1 billion into ESA vouchers serving less than 10% of Arizona’s school children. Our public schools deserve better.

As Superintendent of Public Instruction, Teresa Leyba Ruiz will protect our schools by working to rein in out-of-control voucher abuses. A dedicated career educator, Ruiz wants to expand early childhood learning, fund full-day kindergarten, support diversity, equity and inclusion in every classroom, provide support for teachers, improve student outcomes and promote increased funding.

As state treasurer, Nick Mansour will demand transparency, oversight and accountability to prevent the blatant misuse of taxpayer monies that allowed voucher recipients to buy diamond rings, major appliances and international travel costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Mansour will work to invest Arizona’s Land Endowment Trust Fund wisely to generate more money for our classrooms without raising taxes.

Vote to save our schools. Over 1.1 million public school children are counting on you.

Gretchen Winters

Oro Valley

Tucson’s shelter debate

The Arizona Daily Star recently reported on Tucson’s effort to gather public input on changes to homeless shelter care facility zoning.

As a therapist at The Haven Detox Arizona in Green Valley, I believe one distinction is important in that conversation: homelessness, mental illness and addiction are not the same thing.

A person experiencing homelessness should not automatically be assumed to need behavioral health treatment. For some people, however, substance use or mental health conditions do overlap with housing instability.

Shelter provides immediate safety and stability. Treatment addresses a mental health or substance use condition when one is present. They meet different needs.

As Tucson continues discussing shelter care, recognizing those distinctions can help keep the focus on the individual when someone needs both shelter and behavioral health care, the connection between those services matters.

Dominic Robertson

East side

Remember when?

On Saturday, I was musing about when college athletes were deemed academically ineligible. Do you remember those days? So do I. Tissue paper degrees, if achieved, online classes, an army of academic tutors, and seemingly every semester teams reporting record GPAs. How long do we continue to bury our heads in the sand? How long before editors assign reporters to do a deep dive into how money and watered-down academic programs have destroyed what was once something to be proud of. Something is really rotten in Denmark, but the sacred cow, buoyed by the millions made by athletes, and the NCAA, is a topic no one apparently wants to touch. It’s the Athletic Industrial Complex. I have long bled red and blue, but enough is enough!

Dave Roberts

Prescott Valley

A year of opportunity

The most important thing about what’s happening in the U.S. now is that we can set a new course for the country this November.

President Trump will do all he can to ensure his party maintains control and has shown repeatedly that he doesn’t feel bound by laws, patriotism or the Constitution. His billionaire backers are prepared to sink record amounts of money into Republican campaigns to ensure his goals of wealth, power and vengeance are sustained.

Truth matters little to one whose objective is to undermine confidence in elections, convince Americans the system is corrupt, manufacture urgency, and then argue that extraordinary powers are required to “save” the country.

But the ultimate guardrail no script can replace is the voters themselves.

We must reject this authoritarian script and vote in November to defend our democracy and to deny the president the power to mold our country into his elitist, dystopian vision of what America should be.

Teresa Jenkins

SaddleBrooke

Air Force’s 79th birthday

On this 79th birthday of the Air Force, I hope we see support from both sides of the aisle continuing the support of aerospace and defense programs that protect the country while creating valuable jobs in Arizona. Specifically, programs like the Sentinel modernization effort, advanced missile defense systems, and Bushmaster chain gun production all contribute to military readiness and economic growth in Arizona.

Arizona has built a reputation as a center for aerospace innovation, and these programs help maintain that leadership. The engineers and manufacturing workers supporting these efforts are developing technologies that require precision, expertise and years of training.

At a time when adversaries are rapidly expanding their military capabilities, cutting back on advanced defense programs would send the wrong message. Maintaining strong investment in missile defense, launch systems, and strategic modernization is a practical decision that supports American security and Arizona workers alike.

These programs are not just defense projects — they are long-term investments in American technological leadership.

Gary Petersen

South Tucson