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Long-term education goals won’t be reached in one budget cycle
During the 2008 economic crisis, some Arizonans lost their jobs or their homes, or both. With revenues down, the state budget was drastically cut, and education funding took a beating.
Teachers won’t fall for governor’s claim of ‘new money’
When 60,000 students are without a full-time, certified teacher due to our state’s crushing teacher shortage, Arizona is clearly not living up to its obligation of providing a quality public education to our children.
Public education needs a stable, sustainable revenue stream
As superintendent of the Buckeye Elementary School District, the seventh fastest growing city in the United States, I support and thank Gov. Doug Ducey for his efforts to continue to restore K-12 funding cut during the Great Recession.
Let’s agree – greater education funding will lead to greater quality
Based on a recent poll we released, it seems like we are getting closer to reaching universal support for additional education funding than we’ve ever been – currently, 78 percent of Arizonans agree our schools need more. Put in other words, about four out of every five Arizonans see a need for more public school funding.
Good Samaritan law needed in crusade against opioid overdoses
As I watch Governor Ducey declare a statewide health emergency in response to the opioid overdose epidemic, I feel that it is my duty to speak out.
Rep. Lawrence favors more partisanship in local elections
In a time of extreme partisanship, national division, and increasing intolerance toward others, Scottsdale Representative Jay Lawrence is proposing a bill, HB2032, which would INCREASE the animosity and tribalism in our local communities by requiring local elections to be partisan.
Climate skeptics have valid reasons to question manmade warming
Many people are actively worried about global warming. And it frustrates them that skeptics and “deniers” refuse to acknowledge the “science” of such an urgent, manmade problem.
Time has come to modernize the nation’s obsolete air traffic control system
Like so much of our nation’s critical infrastructure, our country’s air traffic control system is obsolete. For the two million Americans and thousands of Arizonans who fly every day, the failure to modernize the way we fly has real consequences.
ACLU report targets charters for same practices followed by school districts
Affluent families could afford to buy homes in expensive neighborhoods with high-quality schools. As for everyone else, we were at the mercy of our local district school. Students stuck in failing schools had no escape.
Now is perfect time to help foster kids and get a tax benefit, too
The Arizona Foster Care Tax Credit reduces your state income tax obligation $1 for every dollar you give to Aid to Adoption of Special Kids (AASK) or other qualifying Arizona foster care organizations. That means when you give AASK $100 now, you will get that $100 back in the form of a lower state income tax bill. The tax credit limits are $500 for individuals and $1,000 for a couple filing a join[...]
Numerous studies have found that dental therapists provide safe, effective care
In a recent commentary in the Arizona Capitol Times, representatives of the Arizona Dental Association and the Arizona Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons questioned a proposal to expand the availability of dental providers by licensing highly trained dental therapists. The commentary’s writers called the use of dental therapists an “experiment” — an odd way to describe a profes[...]
Opportunity now for Tom Forese to be a true market conservative
I have always supported Tom Forese, even if I have not always agreed with him. As a state lawmaker Tom Forese was a champion of free markets, where he advocated for deregulation that enabled ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft to compete in our economy. I was disappointed, however, to see Mr. Forese stray from conservative principles during his time at the Arizona Corporation Commission.
