Voters should seek truth tellers about public education in season of negative spins

Dr. Curtis Finch

Submitted photo/DVUSD

If someone is spinning DVUSD’s perceived downward trends, they aren’t a truth teller. The data says the opposite. Those preaching DVUSD’s demise are picking and choosing data points to create a false narrative.”

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What are your thoughts on Deer Valley Unified School District’s place in public education amid declining enrollment, but with the specter of growth due to nearby TSMC’s chip-manufacturing plants? Tell us in 300 words or less at yourvalley.net/letters, or email your comments, name, address and contact number to AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

OPINION — Political season is upon us, and Arizona will once again be at the tip of the national political campaign spear until November. We are a red state turning purple, with thousands of “permanent visitors” arriving every year for more sunshine and to join the economic boom.

Deer Valley Unified School District sits in the geographical middle of the largest foreign investment in American history, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s expansion into multiple chip factories.

While DVUSD boundaries have seen population growth over the last decade, the proportion of school-age children per family continues to decline. Families are having fewer children, and enrollment in Arizona’s public, charter and private schools also continues to decline.

Most “permanent visitors” to Arizona will continue to be retirees, but the scale of the TSMC project will eventually bring more students to DVUSD through sheer volume.

The good news is DVUSD has beaten our demographers’ enrollment projections six years in a row, largely because of open enrollment: students from other districts and those returning from charter, voucher and private schools, totaling just under 3,000 students each year.

Meanwhile, neighboring public, charter and private schools have declined at a greater rate. The bad news is DVUSD will continue to slowly decline until the TSMC factories and surrounding support systems take off in the next three to five years. Today, open enrollment and excellence are keeping DVUSD on top of the educational mountain.

Even as more charter and private schools shut down their southern Arizona schools and move into DVUSD boundaries to join the economic gold rush, DVUSD will continue to outperform them, even though they choose their students.

While the average lifespan of an Arizona charter school is four years, we’ve been here for 92 years, and we’ll be here for another 92, accepting all students, every day.

The reasons for our excellence are plentiful:

• All 42 DVUSD schools are rated A or B.

• DVUSD wins more than 70 state titles every year in academics, career and technical education, athletics and fine arts.

 Forbes has honored DVUSD among Arizona’s Best Midsize Employers six of the last seven years and nationally three of the last seven.

• Our teachers and staff are highly trained, certified and recognized statewide for excellence.

• We offer a valued diploma.

If someone is spinning DVUSD’s perceived downward trends, they aren’t a truth teller. The data says the opposite. Those preaching DVUSD’s demise are picking and choosing data points to create a false narrative.

If you ever see educational data in an article anywhere in this state, ask yourself: “Compared to what?” If the writer is talking about Pepsi and never mentions Coke, they are a spin doctor and not a real journalist.

Welcome to Arizona’s political season, where slanted journalism and attacks on public education are in style, most likely supported by out-of-state money. If you want the real story, find a truth teller who can show you proper data in the correct context.

Dr. Curtis Finch is Deer Valley Unified School District superintendent. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.