The list of proposals the state Department of Education is considering for submission to the Legislature in January still is under development, but it surely will include further improvements for Arizona Learns and probably a revision of department rule-making procedures, a spokesman said.

Arizona Learns is the section of state law that directs how the department works with underperforming schools to raise their students’ scores on standardized tests. Improving the program is at the top of the department’s list for legislative action.

“I’d say [school] accountability will be our main focus,” said Art Harding, the agency’s legislative liaison. “Each year, new problems pop up, new issues pop up. Every year, we look to tweak it, if needed.”

Tutoring Fund

Mr. Harding said the department also probably will ask the Legislature to double the amount of funding available for the failing schools tutoring fund to $10 million. The tutoring fund is used to reimburse parents for alternative tutoring of students who attend under-performing failing schools.

To win this increase will require a super-majority vote because it would change provisions of the school tax increase voters approved four years ago as Prop. 301. The Legislature cannot change a voter-approved law except by a three-fourths vote that furthers the purpose of the law. “It will be interesting,” Mr. Harding said.

Rule-Making Process

Mr. Harding said another issue that likely will be sent to the Legislature is making the rule-making process for the State Board of Education more efficient. Though the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council governs policy changes in all other agencies, the Department of Education is overseen by the Attorney General’s Office, he said.

“Sometimes, rule-making takes forever,” he said. “We’re looking for ways to streamline the process.”

Special Education

In addition, Mr. Harding said, the department probably will submit legislation to clarify which students are eligible to participate in the special-education extended school year.

“The way it’s written,” he said, “there’s some confusion over who’s eligible.”

This is a program that allows special-education students to continue a modified schedule of classes during the summer. He said it is especially useful for students who are nearing an educational breakthrough, such as learning to read, as the end of the school year approaches.

School Consolidation

Each year, Mr. Harding said, the issue of school consolidation is raised in one form or another, and he expects it to come up in 2005. He said the department is open to working with legislators on the best way to accomplish any consolidation. He explained that Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne would like to make school districts run more efficiently.

The difficulty, he said, is coming to agreement on a target size for the new districts consolidation would create. District size was the focus of negotiations last session, Mr. Harding said, and he expects next session’s negotiations to be the same. “It’s the magic number you have to find,” he said. —