

Public school teachers gather in downtown Phoenix on May 8, 2026, to speak out against Republican legislation targeting their ability to organize and advocate for better working conditions. (Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez/Arizona Mirror)
Teachers warn GOP union-busting bill could worsen Arizona’s near-last school funding rank
Just a few dozen former and current public school teachers showed up for an announced union rally in downtown Phoenix against Republican efforts to legislate the state’s largest teachers union out of existence because it is spearheading a ballot measure to sharply curb the state’s universal private school voucher program.
Decked out in bright red — the unofficial color of Arizona Education Association — and shouting chants like “Union busting, that’s disgusting!” the group marched...

Save Our Schools Arizona filled the lawn outside the Arizona House of Representatives denouncing a Republican plan to expand Empowerment Scholarship Account vouchers to all Arizona students on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/Arizona Mirror)
OPINION | Republicans want Arizona to opt into a federal voucher scam ripe for waste and fraud
Are you tired of hearing reports about millions misspent on voucher-funded Disneyland trips, appliances and lingerie? Well, if Arizona Republicans at the state legislature have their way, get ready for a whole lot more stories of voucher waste, fraud and abuse.
This week, Republican lawmakers pushed through an irresponsible, non-negotiated budget...

Water levels in Lake Mead have fallen as the Colorado River dwindles, threatening the water supply for cities and farmers in the West. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation via Nevada Current)
As drought worsens, Western states brace for wildfires, water shortages
From the Rockies to the Cascades to the Sierra Nevada, mountainsides across the West are sparsely covered by the snow that usually blankets the high country well into the summer.
That snowpack is like a savings account that the West draws on when the hot, dry months arrive. It moistens the landscape as it melts, lessening the risk of severe wildfire. The runoff feeds into...

Charlotte Cravins holds artwork that she and her husband, Calvin Bell, completed with their son, Landry Bell, now 2, at a children’s museum in Baton Rouge, La. The family is worried that a lawsuit filed by eight states, including their home state of Louisiana, could strip protections away from people with disabilities, like Landry. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte Cravins)
How a legal challenge over gender dysphoria became a fight for disability rights
Charlotte Cravins’ son Landry turned 2 in January. He’s a smiley little boy who loves singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and recently got his first pair of glasses.
Landry was born with Down syndrome and has impaired vision. He receives publicly funded therapies that have...
ICYMI
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