Sign In
Free Newsletter
School freeze – Educators push for delay in test repercussions
Arizona public schools would get a one-year freeze on consequences from a new high-stakes learning test under legislation the state Department of Education plans to offer during the next session.
Empowerment Scholarship Account program generates controversy
Max Ashton is a senior at Brophy College Preparatory with a 4.0 grade point average. He is also blind.
The Drama of Common Core
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.
Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic – retention? Third-graders face new reading standards
Arizona children entering third grade this year are the first who will have to prove that they can read at an acceptable level or face being held back.
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.
Education dilemma — what to do with vacant school buildings
The Goldwater Institute is proposing a policy that would require school districts to sell their vacant buildings within 18 months and close down and sell failing schools with low enrollments.
State appeals court ruling on education funding
The Attorney General’s Office is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that said lawmakers violated the will of voters three years ago when they failed to increase education funding to match inflation. The state filed the appeal and argued that the Arizona Court of Appeals erred in its Jan. 15 decision in which it found that the 1998 Voter Protection Act allows vote[...]
Lawmakers question putting children into isolation rooms
After the approach was compared to prison scenes in the movie “Cool Hand Luke,” a Mesa lawmaker took the first step Monday toward ending the practice of placing unruly schoolchildren in isolation rooms.
Arizona education policy gets C-minus; still enough for 8th place
An advocacy group gives Arizona a C-minus in a national report card on education policy but notes the state has made strides in reform and has room for growth.
After Prop. 204 defeat, experts agree schools need an infusion of money
In a more prosperous time, the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District in northern Arizona received a grant to buy computers.
Many of those technological wonders are still serviceable, but that’s precisely the problem. David Snyder, the district’s director of business services, said the computers are old — about seven to nine years old.
Melvin eyeing nuke facilities for school funding
Sen. Al Melvin is hoping there is a dual solution to the problems facing K-12 schools and nuclear power plants, and he wants Arizona to take advantage of the opportunity.
Nuclear plants need a place to store waste and reprocess spent fuel, and Melvin thinks Arizona would be ideal. And if Arizona became home to such a site, Melvin said it could be used to fund schools.
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.
