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New set of school standards searches for success

Topock, an Arizona town on the far western edge of the state, doesn’t even have a stoplight. But its school district has scrambled to prepare for the new standards and get the Internet capacity and computers necessary for the 2015 debut of the accompanying test.

University officials today pressed the business community and the state for more engagement in creating a robust college education system, even as they acknowledged that schools are adapting to technology-driven changes in higher education.

Gov. Jan Brewer, two state lawmakers and a long-time education advocate were honored Aug. 6 by the Arizona Association of County School Superintendents for their efforts on behalf of K-12 public education.

A federal judge has dismissed a student advocacy group's lawsuit against the state university system.

Among Gov. Jan Brewer's big three priorities for the 2013 legislative session, performance funding for K-12 schools was the one that got left behind.

A group of charter schools is suing the Arizona Department of Education, alleging it is illegally reducing voter-approved funds for teacher pay raises and the classroom.

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday hears arguments in an appeal of a lower court's ruling that requires the state Legislature to give schools an annual funding increase even in lean years to account for inflation.

Arizona’s leading education organizations have launched a long-term, statewide effort aimed at providing the financial assistance necessary to meet the education needs of the children and families of the 19 firefighters who died battling the Yarnell Hill wildfire.

Eileen Klein’s vision for her tenure at the helm of the Arizona Board of Regents centers on pushing the board’s function beyond what it is best known for – setting university tuition rates – into making the organization a driver for improving the state’s economy.

For the first time since the Great Recession hammered the economy, hitting education funding particularly hard, Arizona’s K-12 schools are starting to recoup some of their losses.