NK: Up to now, we were placing our focus on the ballot initiative—
Prop 207, InvestInEd.
DW: But, recently, the Arizona Supreme Court decided to simply throw
out Prop 207, which was expected to bring in an additional $960
million for Arizona public and charter schools. This was definitely
a punch in the gut to the movement. What are your thoughts?
NK: The Supreme Court decision to pull Proposition 207 from the
ballot is absolutely baffling. Over 270,000 signatures were just
thrown out by the court. Doing so denies citizens and teachers what
they fought so hard for – the opportunity to fund our students and
schools. In response, we have no option but to continue to act and
fight for our students. In my eyes, this is just yet another example
of the corruption present in the state and the need for continued
activism from educators and education activists. This is not the end
of our fight by any means, and we refuse to accept this corruption
and will fight tirelessly for the funding that our students deserve.
We still have momentum and we will continue to take action. It’s
simple—as long as we need to advocate for public education,
students, educators, and communities, we will. What that action
will look like, I can’t say because I honestly don’t know. Right
now, we’re mobilizing around the elections and several protest
events. We have to change some seats in the Legislature. We need to
put people who support education into office. We have a strong focus
on that work and will also be continually mobilizing whenever we see
fit in order to continue to bring changes to Arizona’s education
system.
DW: Thank you again for taking the time to speak with us. One final
question: Shantih is a Sanskrit word which can roughly be translated
into English as “peace”. How would you define “peace”?
NK: Peace is living in perfect harmony with the world around you.
The ultimate goal.
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