NOTE: This is a petition only. We are NOT raising funds.

• Representatives Chaplik, Kolodin and Hoffman,

Your continued attacks on Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel, are unacceptable. The vast majority of the community supports Dr. Menzel. We are aware of his 2019 comments and fully understand their true meaning. He was referencing the problematic part of white identity behind the most horrific parts of this country's history such has hundreds of years of slavery, genocide of indigenous people, Jim Crow, redlining and more. Do you dispute this is part of our history?

He was NOT saying white people are problematic. That facile and inflammatory interpretation makes for a soundbite on Fox News, but twists his words. You are fostering chaos in our community with your promotion of a nonexistent culture war. We will continue to support Dr. Menzel and his work improving our district and educational outcomes for all of our students. Our students are the priority, something you have ignored with your manufactured crisis.

A politically diverse board composed of three Republicans and two Democrats committed to addressing long-standing inequities in our district voted unanimously to hire Dr. Menzel. It was not a "liberal" board as Tom Horne said. Not until this national push to take over school boards, promoted by Steve Bannon, has there been an issue with Dr. Menzel. He has worked tirelessly to give voices to parents, students and teachers under the most challenging circumstances.

SUSD has had five superintendents in ten years, including Denise Birdwell, who came from Rep. Hoffman's Higley School District. She was a disaster. Board members like Pam Kirby ignored the concerns of parents and community members. Her failure to listen resulted in Birdwell's eventual removal; however, it was only because Kirby could no longer ignore our concerns. Birdwell was indicted on 18 felony counts related to financial fraud, rigging bids and taking payoffs during her tenure in Higley USD and SUSD (https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/docs/press-releases/2021/indictments/HUSD%20INDICTMENT.pdf). She was pushed on SUSD by parents and community members who wanted a more "conservative" superintendent. Former Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane said Birdwell was the best superintendent SUSD ever had. Oh, the irony... Clearly, being a liberal or conservative should not be the metric used to select the best superintendent. We don't need more upheaval. We need consistency and longevity. Let Dr. Menzel do his job.

As legislators you have overstepped your authority as you continue to attack Dr. Menzel. Stop listening to the detractors while ignoring us, his supporters - YOUR constituents. We know your agenda, and we wholeheartedly reject it. You’re dragging Scottsdale into a fight that’s happening all over this country to malign those who are bold enough to address long-standing issues in our communities which show up in our schools in the form of: unequal opportunities, disproportionately harsh discipline for Black, Latino, indigenous, and special education students, and a curricula that doesn’t adequately reflect the diversity and complexity of our world. We don't want anyone to feel responsible, but understand that discomfort is expected when dealing with painful history.

We will continue to push back against your legislative overstep. You were elected to fix problems such as our lack of water crisis, housing crisis, mental health crisis, and more. Do the jobs for which you were elected.