funding

Aug 28, 2015

Fiscal hole gets deeper as school inflation case goes on

After efforts to reach a settlement in the K-12 inflation funding lawsuit faltered this month, both sides in the case see it going all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court. But as the case drags on, the fiscal risks mount for the state.

Aug 20, 2015

Code Red for Arizona’s public schools

If K-12 education funding in Arizona were a patient brought into the trauma center, it would be a “code red” situation. K-12 education funding in Arizona is in dire straits. Arizona public school budgets have suffered deep cuts, so deep that teacher vacancies can’t be filled because both new and experienced education professionals choose not to work in Arizona.

Aug 6, 2015

Governor’s plan is one step in a long staircase toward better Arizona education

For years, education has taken a back seat to other issues during election season. However, since the 2014 election, education has become the top concern for voters in our state.

Jun 3, 2015

State officials say district-sponsored charter schools have no reason to worry

Several district-sponsored charter schools were in a panic about the possibility that because lawmakers omitted a line in the state budget, they could be on the hook to repay the state millions of dollars of funding from previous years.

Jun 1, 2015

Educators say legislative budget error could cost district charter schools millions

When lawmakers approved the state budget in March, they accidentally left out one key part. Because of the omission, several longstanding district-sponsored charter schools – public schools that have reorganized as charter schools to capture more state funding – will be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in back payments.

Apr 29, 2015

Land Department lawsuit to be dismissed

The Attorney General’s Office and the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest have jointly agreed to dismiss a lawsuit over a self-funding proposal for the Land Department after the state agreed to preserve the group’s ability to re-file the lawsuit after next year’s election.

Apr 6, 2015

Dept. of Ed: State won’t lose federal funds over Common Core changes

A top official at the Arizona Department of Education said the state can make changes to Common Core without jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, thanks to an agreement it reached with a national group that helped craft the K-12 academic standards.

Apr 2, 2015

Time to stop stalling a national conversation about transportation

In Congress, members of both parties are trying to figure out how to fix the nation’s transportation funding problem. What they need to remember, though, is that funding is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems with our transportation system.