Guests – Thomas Horne, Charles Heller, Dr. Mateja De Leonni

Arizona Education Faces Chronic Absenteeism Crisis Post-COVID

Superintendent Tom Horne Proposes Stronger Consequences for Truancy

Arizona's education system is grappling with a troubling trend: chronic student absenteeism has more than tripled since COVID. According to Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, before the pandemic, about 9% of students were chronically absent (missing more than 18 days per year). That figure has now surged to approximately 29% — nearly one in three students.

"You can't teach kids who aren't there," Horne explains. "It's a big factor in kids not performing well on their tests, not being well prepared for life."

To address this growing crisis, Horne is proposing a return to stricter absence policies. "We need to go back to the way they used to do it, which was nine unexcused absences in a semester and you flunked the course. You got held back."

The superintendent believes creating real consequences will provide necessary incentives for parents, who are key to solving the problem. "Parents don't want their kids to be held back. They certainly don't want them to not graduate on time. And the parents are the biggest problem. It's up to the parents to be sure the kids get to school."

While truancy laws and truancy officers still exist, enforcement appears to be a bottleneck. Horne notes that some officers report documenting cases that city attorneys aren't pursuing. He suggests that prosecuting some parents for allowing truancy would provide additional motivation for compliance.

The chronic absence problem exists nationwide, with some schools reporting post-COVID absenteeism rates as high as 62%. Though some educators emphasize communication, technology, and positive feedback as solutions, Horne believes stronger measures are needed to create real change.

School Discipline and Administrative Support Challenges

Beyond attendance issues, Horne has identified disciplinary problems in schools as another critical area needing reform. "School administrators right now are of a generation that are very lenient," he observes. "A student misbehaves and they say, 'Oh, you poor darling, it's not your fault. You come from a disadvantaged background.' And if the kid swore at the teacher and disrupted the class, they give them a bag of potato chips and a coke and they send them back into the classroom."

To address this concern, Horne has introduced legislation that would require administrators to document what discipline was imposed when a student is sent to the office and then returned to class. This aims to create accountability when administrators don't support their teachers' disciplinary decisions.

Horne cites teacher surveys indicating that while salary is the primary reason educators leave the profession, lack of administrative support on discipline is a close second. "If the administrator doesn't support the teacher, students need boundaries, but if they see one kid getting away with it, then they start copying it. And before you know it, the class becomes anarchy."

A caller who identified herself as a teacher reinforced these points, noting the challenge of balancing education as "exciting" rather than simply "fun" in today's environment where students and families often expect entertainment over learning. The teacher emphasized that difficulty is part of what makes learning valuable, and Horne agreed, adding that "what produces happiness is earned achievement."

Second Amendment Victory in Pima County Court Case

In a significant legal decision, Pima County's ordinance requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within 48 hours or face a $1,000 fine per gun has been struck down. The Arizona Citizens Defense League, through the Goldwater Institute, successfully challenged the ordinance as a violation of state preemption laws.

Charles Heller, co-founder of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, explained that Arizona state law has preemptive jurisdiction over firearms regulation. "The state preempts cities, counties, towns, and boards and districts, otherwise known as political subdivisions. It restricts those political subdivisions from having any restriction on the right to keep and bear arms, whether it's about transporting, whether it's about purchasing, manufacturing, or especially vending."

The plaintiff in the case, Chris King, an Air Force serviceman, had his apartment burglarized while deployed overseas. He did not discover his guns were stolen until six months after the theft, which would have put him in violation of the county ordinance despite having no way to report the theft earlier.

The Pima County Superior Court ruled that the county had engaged in an "open and notorious" violation of state preemption under Arizona Revised Statutes Title 13, Part 3108. Heller characterized the ruling as a victory not just for Second Amendment rights but for the rule of law itself.

"If you have the rule of law, if you want your citizens to obey the law, then the government has to obey the law," Heller stated. "The government isn't the law; the Constitution and the laws that flow from it are the law. If the government doesn't obey the law, the citizens aren't going to either."

According to Heller, Pima County is unlikely to appeal the ruling because similar cases have already established precedent, including a 2018 Arizona Supreme Court decision that affirmed the state's controlling legal authority over firearms regulations.

Breakthrough Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease Show Promise

Dr. Mattea De Leoni of Vita Medical Institute shared exciting developments in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. After decades of research, Alzheimer's has become what Dr. De Leoni calls a "serological disease," meaning there are now reliable biomarkers in blood and spinal fluid that allow for 100% accurate diagnosis while patients are still alive.

"We can now screen for the risk of Alzheimer's disease, meaning having those toxic proteins in the brain that we know are a major cause of the disease itself," Dr. De Leoni explained. "We can screen for those people that are high at risk. And then we have neurodiagnostic available where we can confirm the disease 100%."

This diagnostic breakthrough is complemented by significant treatment advances. Three FDA-approved medications that target toxic amyloid proteins in the brain are now available: the original treatment approved three years ago, Lecanemab (marketed as Leqembi), and most recently, Donanemab (marketed as Kisunla).

"These medications actually disrupt these abnormal toxic brain proteins and eliminate them from the brain," Dr. De Leoni explained. While initially available only to cash-paying patients due to insurance restrictions, Medicare and some commercial insurers have begun covering these treatments.

The medications are administered via infusion, either biweekly or monthly, and patients typically remain on treatment for at least a year. Dr. De Leoni described the results as "nothing short of a miracle," noting that these treatments can eliminate toxic proteins that have accumulated over decades.

While side effects can include mild flu-like symptoms and, in rare cases, brain bleeding, Dr. De Leoni reports that in treating hundreds of patients, serious complications have been extremely rare.

Lifestyle Factors in Preventing and Treating Alzheimer's

Beyond medication, Dr. De Leoni emphasized the crucial role of diet, exercise, and lifestyle in both preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease. She highlighted the importance of autophagy, a natural cellular process she described as "the body's cellular recycling system."

"Autophagy is a very natural self-preservation mechanism in the body that involves the removal of damaged or dysfunctional parts of a cell and the recycling of cellular components to repair the cells," Dr. De Leoni explained.

This process can be enhanced through fasting and ketogenic diets. Dr. De Leoni indicated that while medications are essential for removing toxic proteins, autophagy helps repair damaged cells and restore connections within the brain.

"We have one good clinical trial that showed that physical exercise was actually more beneficial even compared to doing mental puzzles and mental exercises when it comes to slowing down the overall cognitive slowing that we even expect with the natural aging process," she noted.

Dr. De Leoni referenced the work of Dr. Dale Bredesen, a neurologist formerly at UCLA who has documented cases of Alzheimer's reversal through diet alone. For those interested in ketogenic approaches, Dr. De Leoni recommends a diet where 75% of daily calories come from healthy fats (primarily plant-based sources like avocado) and only 5-10% from carbohydrates.

When asked if we might see the end of Alzheimer's in our lifetime, Dr. De Leoni expressed optimism, particularly for Alzheimer's-type dementia: "I think that we are very, very close to being able to prescribe to healthy folks who are vulnerable to developing the disease the markers, style changes, dietary changes, exercise type of regimens, and then should they still actually develop the disease, we have now very potent medications."

Dr. De Leoni called for political leadership to make eradicating Alzheimer's a national priority within the next 5-10 years. She emphasized that a comprehensive approach combining cutting-edge medications with holistic lifestyle changes offers the best hope for patients suffering from memory loss.