Originally published in The Arizona Mirror on January 29, 2025.
Imagine walking past your neighborhood school — the one where you made lifelong friends, played on the playground, and attended community events — only to see its doors locked, windows boarded up, and the buildings slowly withering away.
Public schools are more than just buildings. They are the spaces that strengthen communities across our differences and for the betterment of our future. Closing public schools harms communities and often disproportionately impacts those who are most vulnerable.
Unfortunately, Arizona is ripe for school closures due to decades of inadequate state funding, public dollars siphoned away by school vouchers and declining enrollment from gentrification, charters, birth rates and more. Last year, Paradise Valley Unified School District closed three schools and Roosevelt Elementary School District voted 4-1 to close five schools. Other districts, including Phoenix Elementary, Cave Creek Unified and Peoria Unified, are considering closing schools, and districts in Tempe and Mesa have made staffing cuts.