Arizonans will get a bit more time to weigh in on the proposed new science standards for high schools, including the bid by Diane Douglas, the superintendent of public instruction, to eliminate several reference to "evolution.''

"I believe in God,'' the governor said.

The state's top school official is trying to downplay - and in some cases remove entirely - references to evolution in the standards of what students are supposed to be taught in Arizona high schools.

House Majority Whip Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, is telling teachers who oppose the job action to send her emails at her official state address detailing that they actually want to go to work but can't because the school has been closed. Townsend told Capitol Media Services she will write back -- and from her official state email account -- to provide proof that they made that claim.

In her annual State of Education speech Monday, Douglas cited statistics showing that more than one out of every five teaching vacancies at the beginning of this school year still remained unfilled four months later.

Gov. Doug Ducey kicks off the legislative session Monday with a call for more education funding -- but not with the tax hikes that some say are necessary to provide truly adequate funding for schools.

Diane Douglas is not directly contesting the ruling by Judge Wallace Tashima that the 2010 law was approved by lawmakers out of "racial animus'' and that "no legitimate pedagogical objective motivated the enactment and enforcement'' of the law targeting the Mexican American studies program in Tucson Unified School District.

Declaring the law unconstitutional, a federal judge on Wednesday permanently blocked the state Department of Education from restricting "ethnic studies'' programs in the Tucson Unified School District -- or even demanding information from the school officials about what is being taught.

A new report shows that nearly 2,000 teaching positions in Arizona remain vacant four months into the school year. And 866 have quit since August or just never showed up. The survey of 172 districts and charter schools also found ...

The Arizona Department of Education has spent more than $100,000 to correct problems that led to the misallocation of millions in federal funds, and those costs could continue to rise.