Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Tribal leaders were noncommittal Friday about a proposal that would divert Bureau of Indian Education funds into education savings accounts that individual Native American children could use to attend schools of their choosing.

The House Education Committee chairman today reluctantly held a bill that would put an end to a dispute between the State Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas.

A bill to effectively settle disputes between the State Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas, has gained new life after being left to die.

All signs point to passage of Proposition 123, but some school districts are worried about voter fatigue when they return to the polls in November to ask for more money.

The Arizona House of Representatives has postponed a debate on a bill to massively expand the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program. Several Republicans said the measure, which passed the Senate on Monday, doesn’t have the votes in the lower chamber.

State senators voted Monday to do what foes have argued has been their agenda all along -- allow every one of the 1.1 million students in Arizona to attend private and parochial schools with tax dollars.

Janice Palmer, director of governmental relations for the Arizona School Boards Association, has accepted a position as vice president & director of policy for the Helios Education Foundation. Her new responsibilities will include guiding the foundation’s new strategic direction in the school reform movement in Florida and Arizona.

Sen. Debbie Lesko is again trying to eliminate a tax mechanism that allows some Arizona school districts to raise millions of dollars in funding allotted for desegregation and student achievement efforts.

Two decades after Arizona helped pioneer the charter school movement, enrollment data show the schools don’t match the school age demographics of the state and, in many cases, their neighborhoods. White - and especially Asian - students attend charter schools at a higher rate than Hispanics, who now make up the the greatest portion of Arizona’s school age population.

Gov. Doug Ducey has promised to sign a bill restoring funding to Joint Technical Education Districts, if a bill ever reaches his desk.