Blog 30/ After the Capitol: Watching Education Governance Shift in Real Time
Half illuminated. Half obscured. Public education policy often shifts in the shadows before its effects become visible.
A few weeks ago, I presented at the Arizona State Capitol on the Post-DEI Hollowing Phenomenon™ — a framework I developed to describe how public institutions are not always dismantled outright, but structurally thinned through policy, funding shifts, and administrative redesign.
At the time, my focus was higher education.
Since that presentation, the volume and pace of K-12 legislation moving through Arizona has accelerated.
It is difficult not to observe structural parallels.
What Has Moved in Just Weeks
In recent days, House Education Committee Chair Matt Gress advanced HCR2007, which would require district public schools to spend at least 60% of operational funds on narrowly defined “direct instructional expenses.”
A nearly identical striker amendment was attached in the Senate by Jake Hoffman to SCR1032.
The definition of “direct instructional expenses” excludes:
Counselors
Nurses
Librarians
Transportation
Food services
Building maintenance
Administrative support
Schools unable to meet the 60% threshold would face funding consequences.
Simultaneously, HCR2040 proposes restrictions that would affect how educators organize, including limiting payroll deduction mechanisms for union dues — directly impacting the Arizona Education Association.
HCR2044 seeks to amend the Arizona Constitution to prohibit what it defines as “preferential treatment” in public employment and education, a framing that would restrict certain equity-based programming approaches.
All of these measures are structured to advance toward the ballot.
That sequencing matters.
What I Am Observing
This is not about rhetoric.
It is about architecture.
Public education operates as an ecosystem, not a classroom-only enterprise.
When spending definitions narrow…
When accountability metrics tighten…
When labor infrastructure is constrained…
When public funding is simultaneously diverted to ESA voucher mechanisms estimated at roughly $1 billion annually…
The system does not immediately collapse.
It thins.
And thinning is harder to detect than closure.
The Cross-Sector Pattern
In higher education, I observed:
DEI offices rebranded or reduced
Budgets constrained while expectations remained
Compliance intensified
Symbolic commitments preserved
Institutions remained visible.
Operational scaffolding shifted.
In Arizona’s K-12 space, I am observing:
Spending mandates that redefine what counts as education
Union-related restrictions
Constitutional language narrowing equity tools
Voucher expansion occurring alongside district accountability escalation
Different sector.
Similar structural logic.
Timing and Acceleration
Policy movement feels different when you are physically present in the building one week and watching striker amendments appear the next.
The speed is notable.
Ballot positioning bypasses executive veto pathways and moves debates directly to voters.
That is not inherently partisan.
It is procedural.
But procedural shifts are often where redesign occurs.
This Is Not Emotional Analysis
I am not writing this from outrage.
I am writing this from observation.
When:
Public systems face spending thresholds never historically achieved
Accountability increases while funding pressures persist
Labor mechanisms weaken
Equity language narrows
Voucher programs expand
We are not looking at isolated bills.
We are looking at governance recalibration.
Why It Matters
K-12 is not separate from higher education.
It is its foundation.
If district systems thin:
Student supports shrink.
Workforce stability declines.
Capacity for comprehensive education narrows.
When those students matriculate into universities, institutions absorb the compounded effects.
Hollowing compounds.
It rarely announces itself loudly.
It moves through definitions, thresholds, and ballot language.
Arizona is a current case study.
The structural pattern is not confined to one state.
I presented on hollowing weeks ago.
Today, I am watching its architecture extend.
And I am documenting it.
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Dr. Courtney Nicole Johnson
Founder of CourtneyCoffeeChats
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