Sen. Mark Kelly proposes 2 bills to support young men and grow public service

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly is working on two bills that would help support young men while they are still in school, encouraging them to become more involved in public service careers like teaching.

Kelly said Friday the issue is that there are not as many male figures in the classrooms as there used to be, and that is impacting how often young boys see themselves in those same roles.

“It’s becoming more rare today to have men in the classroom. When I was younger, it was about 35%. Today, that number is down to about 23%,” he said.

Kelly visited Sandra Day O’Connor High School on Friday to speak with current teachers about their experiences with the young men they teach and to help pack school supplies for the 2026-27 school year.

What did teachers say at Mark Kelly event?

Teachers said their students had voiced concerns about not having strong male role models in their lives and that other groups were focused on in media while young men might feel left out.

Emmett Burnton, who teaches at Boulder Creek High School in the Deer Valley Unified School District, is the 2025 Arizona Teacher of the Year. He said as a history teacher, he sees this firsthand.

“I was asking them like if they were in a room just like this in history … who would you want to sit with? Who would be your people? And they were crying, literally 16-year-old boys, because they’re like I don’t know who I am. … They couldn’t relate to any historical figure,” he said.

Kelly said that a large source of this issue is the accessibility to the internet, and that is something he is trying to change.

“I was 32 years old when I got my first cell phone, and it was a flip phone. I mean, you see now 10-year-olds walking around with phones today, and it can’t be good for their mental health,” Kelly said. “Washington has … done a horrific job of regulating social media and the impact that it has on young people.”

Mark Kelly hopes his legislation can help boys and men

Kelly is pushing two bills to address the issue.

The Educators for America Act would help create pathways for young adults, with a focus on men, to attend free teacher residency programs to enter the career field.

The Building Community in America Act would encourage young men to join national public service organizations.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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