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New Arizona hotline sees few calls about race-based lessons
Only a handful of complaints out of hundreds of calls to a new state hotline for reporting race-based lessons have warranted investigation, Arizona's top education official said Friday.
ESA advocate heads program, draws parents’ ire
Before working as director of the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program, Christine Accurso was an ESA mom herself and a ferocious supporter of universal expansion, but now the ESA parent groups that Accurso sprang from have turned their backs on one of their own.
NAU plans to expand Indigenous Peoples-focused scholarship, other support
Under a new grant from the Mellon Foundation and the NAU Foundation, Northern Arizona University plans to expand the Indigenous Peoples Living and Learning Center (IPLLC) to 100 more students.
ESA parents complain about mid-year changes
Two months in, Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) parents say the program is at risk of imploding.
Report: teacher recruitment and retention crisis continues
Arizona’s teacher recruitment and retention crisis stretched into a seventh year, according to the most recent survey data from the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association.
Helios study reveals dual enrollment access is inequitable
About half of Arizona schools do not offer dual enrollment, a program which allows high school students to enroll in and receive credit for college classes.
Pandemic, culture wars revive ‘school choice’ policy push
With memories fresh from pandemic-era school closures and curriculum battles — particularly over how matters of gender and race are taught — legions of parents are trekking to the marble floors of their state Capitols to fight to create education savings accounts, also known as ESAs. Such accounts exist in Arizona and West Virginia, though Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs argues the dollars would be b[...]
Governor targets results-based funding for schools
Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs proposed the end of results-based funding in her budget, effectively untying additional per-pupil funding from achievement determined by the school letter grade system.
Parents protest Hobbs’ proposed repeal of universal ESA
A brigade of strollers and children toting magic marker-adorned posters descended upon the Capitol to protest Gov. Katie Hobbs’ proposed repeal of the universal Empowerment Scholarship Account program. Hobbs announced her proposed budget with public education funding hinging on savings from repealing universal ESAs.
Court backs schools over social media posts
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit unanimously ruled school districts reserve the right to discipline and expel students for content posted on social media, so long as the post creates a substantial disruption in schooling and collides with the rights of other students.
Study shows number of students chronically absent jumped significantly
Helios Education Foundation, in partnership with WestEd, headed research on chronic absences rates and found in 2021, one in five K-8 students in Arizona schools was chronically absent. The learning loss from absences, compounded with learning loss from the pandemic, continues to threaten student mobility and drop-out rates.
Voucher foes turn in petition signatures
Foes of universal school vouchers turned in 141,714 signatures Friday to give voters the last word.
