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Regents vote to end mandatory student fee
Tuition bills for students at Arizona’s three universities will no longer include a $2 fee to fund a politically active, non-profit group.
The bills will contain a check box instead allowing students to contribute voluntarily to the Arizona Students Association, a group that advocates on student issues and lobbies at the Legislature.
University presidents say they’ve met mandate to do more with less
Briefing lawmakers Wednesday, presidents of Arizona’s three public universities said they have met the state’s mandate to do more with less.
State prepares for debate on costly Common Core educational standards
Those who support Arizona’s new Common Core standards for math and English education say they help turn students into better thinkers and prepare them for college and the workforce.
Those who question the new standards say they could create added expenses for public schools, including new textbooks, teacher training and the need for new technology. They say the price tag, still undete[...]
Brewer seeks $317 million in new spending, largely for K-12
The Governor’s Office unveiled an $8.9 billion budget plan today for fiscal year 2014, which included $317 million in new spending. “We’re finally comfortable using red, so that should tell you something about the state budget,” John Arnold, director of the governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, joked about the bright red color of the budget books distributed to the me[...]
Appeals court overturns school funding ruling
The Arizona Court of Appeals overturned a Superior Court judge’s ruling, saying legislators must abide by a voter mandate to increase K-12 education funding to account for inflation.
Fiscal crisis past, Legislature still to be frugal in 2013
With a fiscal crisis that forced billions of dollars in state government cuts mainly over, the Arizona Legislature enters its 2013 session Monday with a budget surplus but little appetite among majority Republicans to loosen the purse strings. The state has socked away about $450 million in a rainy day fund and has more than $1 billion in total surplus going into the budget year that begins Jul[...]
AG’s Office, sheriffs to provide firearms training to school personnel
In the wake of the massacre that left 20 children dead at a Connecticut elementary school, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office wants to provide firearms training to one employee at every school.
Under the plan, which Attorney General Tom Horne announced today, every K-12 school in the state can designate its principal or another employee to receive extensive training to in firearms[...]
Expert says state should focus on help for struggling schools
It is time for the state to curtail its preference for school choice policy and find a way to help parents who choose to stay at failing schools rather than encouraging them to leave, an Arizona State University professor said on Dec. 12.
Panel recommends tax credit continuation
A panel of representatives and senators yesterday recommended the continuation of a dollar-for-dollar tax credit program for contributions to groups that provide scholarships to students in private and parochial schools.
Horne files objection over possible revival of ethnic studies program
Attorney General Tom Horne is back in court again fighting to keep a Mexican American Studies program out of the Tucson Unified School District.
Regents temporarily halt student fee
The Arizona Board of Regents decided Monday not to levy a fee against university students next semester to fund a politically active non-profit group.
School-choice group pushes parent trigger law
First it was featured in a controversial summer movie, and now it could come to a school near you. A liberal school-choice group from California is trying to build a coalition of local education groups to pass an Arizona law allowing parents to take over failing schools.
