Sign In
Free Newsletter
Monuments to education funding
Reid Buckley, brother of the late political commentator William F. Buckley, Jr., used to ask audiences, “Do you know how high a pile one million bucks would make in thousand dollar bills?” After a pause, he would answer: “Seven inches.” Then he asked, “Now, do you know how high a pile one billion bucks would make in thousand dollar bills?” Again, after a pause: “Well, 28 feet higher [...]
It’s high time for school finance redesign
Funding Arizona’s K-12 public schools is on the mind of every educator, most policymakers, and business leaders — those who count on a ready workforce. The Arizona Business & Education Coalition (ABEC) presents a set of proposals to redesign the school finance system entirely, to support increasingly higher levels of learning in all public schools.
Arizona reports gap in English learning compliance
A new report says many Arizona public schools don't comply with state requirements for instruction of students learning the English language.
Education advocates mulling tax increases, major reforms
With a temporary sales tax increase set to expire in 2013, education advocates are looking to ask voters for another way to fund schools.
But though several organizations are considering ballot measures for the 2012 election, no one is quite sure what those proposals will look like or what taxes would be raised.
‘Future of education’ panel previews education reform debate
Implementing new technology, competition, accountability and effective funding will be the key to preparing Arizona’s children for the complex global marketplace that now awaits them, a panel of education experts said Tuesday.
Charter school groups await Horne’s response to funding lawsuit
While efforts to drastically change Arizona’s school finance system have not materialized in recent years at the Legislature, two lawsuits that aim to do that are creeping through Maricopa County Superior Court.
3 vie in GOP primary for state schools chief
With early voting starting next week, the three candidates in the Republican primary for state superintendent of public instruction are trying to distinguish themselves from their opponents who hold similar beliefs on improving schools in Arizona.
Dem superintendent candidates tout classroom experience
To Penny Kotterman and Jason Williams, it only makes sense that the superintendent of public instruction should be classroom educator. For years, though, that hasn’t been the case.
Sounding the alarms
When students return to schools in a month or less they will encounter bigger class sizes, fewer teachers and librarians, bus routes eliminated, and classrooms and corridors that aren’t quite as clean as they’ve been in the past.
After May 18: What Arizona must do next
Regardless of what happens to the Proposition 100 sales tax hike on May 18, Gov. Jan Brewer and the Arizona Legislature have a lot of work ahead of them.
School vouchers resurface
School choice advocates are pushing to amend the state Constitution to allow students in failing public schools to use vouchers at private schools.
Bill would require 8th graders to take citizenship exam
A proposed strike-everything amendment to S1404 would mandate that public and charter schools require that eighth-graders pass a civics test of at least 20 questions. Those questions would be taken from a portion of the exam given by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as a required step in the naturalization process.
