A coalition of education and business groups is hoping to have a proposed ballot measure drafted by the end of the month after polling showed the majority of Arizonans would support the extension of the Proposition 100 tax hike.

TUCSON — Tucson Unified School District officials plan to hold a closed-door session Tuesday to discuss an administrative law judge’s ruling that district’s ethnic studies program violates state law.

The district said in a statement Wednesday that it is reviewing the ruling.

BASIS Schools President Craig Barrett said a proposed ballot measure he’s working on may be shifting away from general education funding and toward a system that gives excelling schools more opportunities to expand their reach.

An administrative law judge today upheld findings by Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal that controversial courses taught in the Tucson Unified School District violate a 2010 law aimed at ending the district’s ethnic studies program.

Arizonans are clearly worried about the economy and education, but their top priority is immigration, according to a poll released today by Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute of Public Policy.

When asked what Arizona’s biggest problem is that lawmakers and the governor should address, 24 percent of respondents answered immigration.

A lawsuit to decide the constitutionality of Arizona’s funding system for K-12 education is headed to trial, but attorneys defending the state believe they can convince a judge to dismiss the case before then.

Tuition increases at Arizona’s three public universities might force some students to drop out and deter others from applying, members of the Arizona Board of Regents told a legislative committee Tuesday.

Sen. Steve Smith is planning to introduce a bill that would tie performance to pay for K-12 teachers.

The state is searching for nearly $50 million to implement an interconnected school data system that officials and lawmakers say is vital to measuring student achievement and teacher performance at all levels throughout the state. And the clock is ticking.

Call it a sign of the times. It used to be that education advocates could play up the morality angle — that education needed strong financial support because, well, it was the right thing to do. But now, they are taking a new, pragmatic approach.