SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The top educator at Scottsdale Unified School District has no plans to step down.
Last month, three state republican lawmakers called for Dr. Scott Menzel to resign for comments he made during a 2019 interview in Michigan.
Tuesday, hundreds of parents attended the Scottsdale Unified School meeting to support or oppose Dr. Menzel. Overall, Dr. Menzel's supporters outnumbered his opponents, showing up hours early to reserve a time to speak.
As 12News reported earlier, The most serious accusation against Scott Menzel stems from a quote taken out of context.
They use an excerpt from his comments to make a presumption not supported by his interview.
The first sentence of their letter, the most serious allegation against Menzel, is made up of two partial quotes.
“The statements Superintendent Scott Menzel made in an interview about ‘white people’ being ‘problematic.’
The full quote is as follows:
“I would recommend that anyone download our Educational Equity Policy, and send it to their superintendent and school board. There’s a misperception that educational equity is really only for ethnically and racially diverse districts. But white people have a racial identity as well, and in fact problematic racial identity that we typically avoid. So whether you are a homogenous district or racially and ethnically diverse, everybody has EISJ challenges. Every district has poor kids, every district has kids with IEPs, every district has diversity represented within its walls.”
"The information that has been perpetuated and taken out of context is problematic. I've committed to my staff that I'm not going to resign. Because our kids are worth fighting for." Dr. Menzel told 12 News.
Opponents at the meeting said Dr. Menzel represents a "woke" movement in education prioritizing progressive ideology over student performance.
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"We are committed to creating world-class, future-focused learning opportunities for each and every one of our students." Dr. Menzel said.
Parents on both sides expressed to 12 News that they wanted the best for their kids, decried the infiltration of politics in education, and wanted to see parents come together for the better good.
“Frankly I’m exhausted," One speaker said, "because of this political outrage that has consumed society. That we are in this zero-sum society where it’s one or the other. That’s not how we are supposed to be working. It’s not right. It’s not good for our students."
Dr. Menzel's job was not on the agenda.
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