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Classrooms first: School officials say rhetoric doesn’t match budget reality
Many school district officials and education leaders say Gov. Doug Ducey’s “Classrooms First” slogan and the oft-repeated boast that Arizona will spend more than ever on K-12 education next year are misleading and don’t reflect how budget cuts will affect schools in 2016.
Broadband fee proposed for public schools
No one disputes that broadband is significantly lacking for Arizona’s remote schools, but the battle this legislative session is going to be who pays for it.
Costs soar for new Common Core achievement test
The cost per student for the new test to measure progress under Common Core is nearly 50 per cent more than the AIMS test, causing sticker shock among some lawmakers and advocates for the learning standards.
Schools prepare to implement Common Core without new funding
Funding Common Core was one of the few budget priorities Gov. Jan Brewer didn’t achieve last session, leaving school districts to carry out the new standards while still using old textbooks and materials.
A vital investment: School advocates seek to change attitudes on education spending
Arizona women in a position to influence public policy in education are passionate about the programs they oversee and the students they guide, but inevitably it all comes down to money.
School groups sue over empowerment accounts
Groups representing teachers and public school districts filed suit on Monday against a new state voucher-style system for disabled students, alleging that the program violates constitutional bans on state aid for private and religious schools.
School boards group shut out of ballot campaigns
Some of Arizona’s loudest and most influential voices in education will be silenced in future elections due to a law aimed squarely at keeping the Arizona School Boards Association off the campaign trail.
In response to ASBA’s financial largesse during the 2010 cycle on a couple of ballot measures, the Legislature passed HB2002, which prohibits school districts from spending money f[...]
Lawmakers consider seeking exemption from stimulus requirements
Standing between lawmakers and millions of dollars in budget cuts to education are three letters - M-O-E. Since Arizona started drawing federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, some lawmakers have decried the maintenance-of-effort, or MOE, requirements for portions of the money.
Mixed messages emerge from school override, bond votes
If there's a message in the results of this month's school bond and budget override votes, the meaning is up for wide interpretation. The approval rate for overrides and bond issues requested by school districts on Nov. 2 was lower than the five-year average, leading some to conclude that the public's willingness to pay more taxes for education has decreased.
Midyear property tax repeal a potential ‘nightmare’ for counties
Legislative Republicans may have to reconcile themselves to at least one year of the state equalization property tax. It would be theoretically possible to repeal the tax retroactively during the next legislative session, so that property owners would be reimbursed for the taxes already paid under the equalization rate. But any lawmaker hoping to do so can expect fierce opposition from county trea[...]
Brewer still pushing tax hike, but doubt may be creeping in
Gov. Jan Brewer is still committed to getting a temporary sales tax increase on the ballot, and she still believes Arizona's voters would support it. But perhaps for the first time since she unveiled her plan in March, signs of doubt may be showing through Brewer's publicly optimistic rhetoric.
