Ending Legislative Funding For The Freedom Schools at UA, ASU, AND NAU
On December 23, 2022, Kochs Off Campus! and professors from ASU and UA wrote Governor Hobbs asking that she remove line-item funding for the “freedom schools” from her proposed budget. She did just that! Please join our letter campaign to thank Governor Hobbes!
How much taxpayer money does the UA Freedom Center have now? Freedom Center Current Line Item Budget Balance as of October 19, 2023
Arizona’s first two so-called “freedom schools” (the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom at the University of Arizona and the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership [SCETL] at Arizona State University) were the first two Koch academic centers in the country to receive direct line-item funding from a state legislature.
While wasting tens of millions of dollars on the unproductive “freedom schools” at ASU, UA, and NAU, the Arizona legislature severely cut funding for the general operating budgets of these universities. Between 2008 and 2019, our Legislature made more cuts to higher education funding than any other state! After adjusting for inflation, per-student funding for Arizona public colleges and universities is 54.3 percent below 2008 levels. Further, in 2015, the legislature and governor completely ended state funding for community colleges, including Pima Community College, making university degree programs and career opportunities harder to reach for Arizonans.
Freedom Center Lobbied Insurrectionist State Legislator Mark Finchem - How did the Freedom Center secure such an exalted status within the State budget? This email indicates Freedom Center founder David Schmidtz lobbied none other than former State Representative and failed candidate for Secretary of State Mark Finchem.
Rep. Mark Finchem Was Freedom Center’s First Legislative Fellow - On February 25, 2021, the Arizona Republic reported that Rep. Finchem was a fellow at UA’s Center for the Philosophy of Freedom. The Freedom Center envisioned starting a Legislative Fellowship program once it became a University Center. (See pages 12-13 in the Freedom Center’s self-study.)
Legislature lets “freedom schools” shape high school civics curriculum
In July 2022 the Arizona State Legislature passed HB 2008, which requires the Arizona State Board of Education to work with UA’s Freedom Center and ASU’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership to develop civic education standards for all of Arizona’s school districts and charter schools.
Kochs Off Campus! insists that, given its record of deception and authoritarian behavior, the Freedom Center is not ethically qualified to set civics standards for high school courses.
Freedom Center Wants More Access to State and National Governments - According to page 9 of the report on the review of the Freedom Center, Director David Schmidtz wanted the Freedom Center to become a University center: “Such a move would be congruent with the Freedom Center’s status as a unit receiving a direct state allocation of funding, as it would position the Center closer to the central administrative functions responsible for state and federal relations.”
