I sat down with Surprise Vice Mayor Jack Hastings to discuss current events, and our conversation turned to competition in education and the future of school choice in Arizona. Hastings, who was first elected to the Surprise City Council in 2020 and re-elected in 2022, has served as Vice Mayor since January 2025. A longtime Surprise resident, Assistant Principal in the Dysart Unified School District, and Arizona State University graduate, Hastings also shares his personal perspective as both an educator and civic leader. 

This episode also features insight on school boards from Pam Kirby, Founder and Board President of the Arizona Coalition of School Board Members.

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Josh Frankel, a 25-year resident of Scarsdale, New York, has been raising awareness about Flock Safety cameras and spoke with me about how the technology is spreading nationwide.

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Surprise City Council will weigh cutting its $168 business license fee Tuesday — Vice Mayor Jack Hastings says it’s about competition and investment.

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In this exclusive Jen and Friends interview, Parental Rights Advocate Anna Van Hoek joins us to talk about the sharp decline in public school enrollment across Arizona — and what it means for families, funding, and the future of education in our state.

The schools expert lays out exactly why 92,000 students — and their tax dollars — are now choosing education outside Arizona’s public school system.

We also dive into what parents can do this school year to make sure their children have the best possible outcomes, regardless of where they learn.

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Not Just a Seat—A Statement: School Board Member Challenges Superintendent’s Role at the Dais

Does seating the superintendent at the dais blur the separation of roles — and make it harder for the public to catch side comments, facial expressions, & subtle cues revealing how decisions are made?

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At the July 8th Higley Unified School District governing board meeting, tensions rose when Board Member Anna Van Hoek publicly objected to the superintendent sitting alongside board members on the dais. Van Hoek called it inappropriate for an employee who reports to the board to present as an equal—and says she wasn’t consulted on the change. According to her, the decision came from the superintendent and was approved solely by the board president, without input from the full board. Grab your earbuds for our latest Jen & Friends Podcast featuring a conversation with parental rights advocate Anna Van Hoek.

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Every school year, parents are buried in a blizzard of consent forms—medical releases, media waivers, technology agreements—most of which go unread in the rush to get kids back in class. Buried in the fine print is a decades-old policy that allowed schools to quietly hand over students' personal information to outside vendors—unless parents knew to opt out. But a new Arizona law changes that, requiring schools to get explicit permission first. It’s a small default switch with massive implications for child privacy. Despite overwhelming public support, the only opposition came from liberal lawmakers. 

In this investigation, we explain the policy shift and speak exclusively with Christopher Thomas of the Goldwater Institute, the policy expert who led the charge to put parents—and not vendors—back in control.

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🎙️ New Episode of “Jen & Friends” — Now Streaming! 

This week on Jen & Friends, we shine the spotlight on a conservative voice making waves in Arizona’s public education system: Anna Van Hoek, a Higley Unified School District Governing Board Member. 

In this candid conversation, Van Hoek opens up about why she got involved in public service, the realities of being a minority voice on her school board, and why she believes 2026 is a critical year for parents and community members to step up and run. 

She doesn’t hold back — from questioning rising administrative costs and SEL spending to sounding the alarm over teacher shortages, state testing mandates, and an ever-growing backlog of educator misconduct cases. 

Van Hoek also voices her concern over book review processes, parental consent, and what she sees as the erosion of trust between parents and public schools. 

💬 “Every decision we make as a board should come down to one thing: Does this improve student achievement? Politics shouldn’t have a seat at the table.” — Anna Van Hoek 

If you're a parent, educator, or taxpayer wanting a deeper understanding of what’s happening in Arizona schools — from transparency fights to funding debates, book battles to boardroom frustrations — this episode is for you.

#jenandfriends #wvf

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State 48 News breaks down Arizona’s ESA drama just one day after furious parents walked out of a State Board meeting — and with a potential challenger already being recruited to take on Superintendent Tom Horne in 2026.

Time Codes:

00:00 Intro

:07 Stacey discusses what happened during the April 28, 2025 ADE meeting

:59 Stacey explains what happened during ADE public comment 

2:12 The ADE meeting

3:28 Stacey describes the speaker process

5:26 ADE public comment rules

6:21 Stacey talks about when ESA parents started to notice change in ESA caps rules

7:02 Challenger in the race for State Superintendent

8:19 Stacey’s 3 hopes for ESA in Arizona

9:37 Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne on his committment to ESA and school choice

10:40 Stacey responds to “disconnect” between Horne and ESA families

12:20 Timeline for new candidate to announce

12:45 Barber asks about educator discipline

17:24 Stacey’s advice for young parents looking to put children into school

19:26 School Choice website to check out

20:13 Wrap

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Axon. Waymo. Arizona's deficit. Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-LD3) talks with "Jen & Friends" for State 48 News about the big issues and hints what might be next for his political career.

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VIDEO TIME CODES

:00 Intro

:26 About State 48 News

:42 Chaplik’s support of independent journalism 

1:10 About Chaplik & how he got into politics

2:36 Chaplik’s start in Arizona

3:04 Getting involved in politics in 2020

3:53 Chaplik’s philosophy and the conservative scorecards

4:51 Politics & business

5:26 “A lot of business needs to be done” - Leadership

7:07 Politics & disagreements

7:56 Attempt to change the Arizona constitution 

8:02 Doesn’t think state should be involved in Axon deal

8:53 Local control

9:45 How the Axon zoning deal ended up at the state level

10:13 Scottsdale referendum signatures

11:18 How Chaplik got involved in zoning legislation 

12:05 March 3rd and Fox Business News

12:30 Axon’s Josh Isner on Fox Business News

13:22 Chaplik’s reaction

13:59 Chaplik’s team starts working on a statement

14:05 Chaplik discusses what happened when Axon’s Rick Smith approaches him at Capitol

14:29 Threats made

14:50 Chaplik’s call to security

15:19 Chaplik’s reaction to watching Axon statements on Fox Business News

16:01 Chaplik’s response on March 4th - Fox Business News

16:49 How Chaplik’s conversation ended with Rick Smith on March 3rd

18:11 Axon in Scottsdale 5 years ago

18:27 Scottsdale election

19:06 Changing the constitution is the “wrong thing to do”

19:27 Petersen response on the legislation

19:49 HB 2925

20:05 How to put language on another bill - “striker” bill

20:38 Changing zoning is “bad for everybody”

21:15 Sen. Carroll’s striker bill - Wednesday 8:30am

22:42 Divided Republicans

25:12 What might be good for one district might not be good for another district

26:23 “Scottsdale Problem”

26:43 Rogue city councils & development

27:22 90% of voters don’t want more large projects in Scottsdale

28:53 Consequences of Axon leaving

30:00 Axon plan for development 

31:13 No guarantee Axon is sticking around

32:38 15-minute city

34:34 Is there a place for Axon in Scottsdale

36:28 What happens with the zoning legislation?

38:51 Conduct of guests in the Capitol 

40:34 Waymo

42:42 DOGE

43:10 How to cut State Income Tax 

44:15 Cutting waste

45:05 Missed opportunity to build a new state capitol 

46:26 Arizona deficit

47:44 Executive branch has explaining to do

48:35 What’s next for Arizona?

48:45 Andy Biggs

49:29 Chaplik’s future

50:16 Wish for more people to get involved in politics

51:27 Business & leadership

51:55 Arizona and money management

53:01 Good years and bad years

53:48 Chaplik and the pandemic

58:12 Angry people and death threats

58:40 Wrap

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Photo radar. It’s one of the hot topics in the #azleg and who gets to decide its fate is on razor’s edge. The state? Cities? Or citizens? Our State 48 News’ Senior Investigative Journalist Jen Barber has been digging into red-light cameras, license plate readers, and AI-driven mass surveillance for more than a year. In this episode of “Jen and Friends” for State 48 News, Barber talks with a variety of state lawmakers, and shares the pros and cons of traffic photo enforcement from the ongoing discussions at the capitol.

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