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Maricopa County boomed in 2016, but Pinal benefitted from echo
Maricopa County added more people last year than any other county in the nation, but it was neighboring Pinal County that posted the fastest growth rate in the state, a beneficiary of overflow from its neighbor to the north.
Communities, state face tight budgets as they prepare for centennial
It's closing in on 100 years since veterinarian A.J. Chandler sold plots of his 18,000-acre ranch to establish the city. That was three months after Arizona became a state on Feb. 14, 1912. City leaders are organizing to commemorate both centennials next year. But given the poor economy and tight budget, it's going to require scaling back some and seeking private donations, said Jean Reynolds, [...]
Arizona school districts struggle to keep superintendents
When Elizabeth Celania-Fagen signed on as the superintendent of Arizona's second-largest school district in 2008, she said she planned to raise her family in Tucson and serve at least five to 10 years.
Superintendents’ appraisals tough to get from many districts
Taxpayers cover the salaries of superintendents in Arizona’s public school districts, but in many cases it’s difficult to learn exactly what governing boards think of superintendents’ work, a Cronkite News Service review found.
For many lawmakers, disclosures don’t provide estimate of holdings’ total value
Among other things, financial disclosure forms require lawmakers to list assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds and real property to identify potential conflicts of interest. Lawmakers also have to assign broad ranges of value to each asset. But estimating the maximum total value of a lawmaker’s holdings is impossible in many cases. The reason: The forms have an uppermost range of “more th[...]
Large share of illegal immigrants entered on visas, not across border
While the term illegal immigration often evokes images of people eluding authorities at the border, a large share of those in the country illegally are people who came on tourist, student and work visas and simply stayed.
Lawmaker wants school districts to discuss dating abuse
Requiring each Arizona school board to hold a public meeting to consider whether or not to adopt a curriculum on dating violence would better inform board members about the problem among teens, a state lawmaker says.
Parents group presents scorecard for lawmakers on funding education
Lawmakers need to be held accountable for how much they've done to support public education during the state's budget crisis, the leader of a parents group said March 24.
Business and education group urges reform of school-finance system
A system for tracking school expenditures and whether money spent on specific programs improves student performance would make schools more efficient and accountable, according to a group of business and education leaders.
Lawmaker wants a system for evaluating online courses
A state lawmaker wants to create an institute that would recommend whether online courses offered by private companies meet state standards before public schools decide whether to use them.
Officials: Budget cuts will increase boating dangers
The latest plan to address the state's budget deficit would sweep a fund that helps law enforcement patrol Arizona's waterways, something that two local officials say would endanger boaters.
Senate passes legislation expanding definition of domestic violence
The state Senate passed two bills March 8 intended to curb abuse in family and intimate relationships by expanding the list of crimes that qualify as domestic violence.
