Arizona Education Network

2011 Arizona News Service Capitol Roadshow

2011-11-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

{Below is an email we wanted to share from Arizona Capitol Times for an event every Arizonan should plan to attend!}

Introducing the 2011 Arizona News Service
Capitol Roadshow

Join Arizona News Service, parent company of Arizona Capitol Times, as we go on the road across our state to help educate Arizonans about the legislative process. Our mission, as a non-partisan newspaper and media company, is to share information with our clients, subscribers and readers, to help them make decisions on what unfolds at the Capitol. Our team of experts, staff and lawmakers will visit Flagstaff, Tucson, Prescott and Maricopa County.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
December 8
8:30 registration
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. discussions

High Country Conference Center
Northern Arizona University
201 West Butler Avenue - Flagstaff, AZ 86001

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Why Capitol Roadshow?
The Arizona News Service Capitol Roadshow is the only non-partisan glance at Arizona politics. With its mission to engage more citizens in the political process, the Capitol Roadshow will tour the state and educate citizens on vital issues impacting Arizonans.

How a bill becomes a law
Understanding the process of how a bill becomes law is important to being engaged in the political process. Each step in the process is crucial to a bill surviving the legislative process and ultimately becoming a law.

Getting engaged and implementing a grassroots strategy at the Capitol (panel discussion)
Becoming engaged in what happens at the Capitol is an important first step to implementing a grassroots strategy. This panel discussion will help understand the tactics and strategies behind running a successful grassroots campaign.

Social Media – how it's changing the face of politics (panel discussion)
With the emergence of new technologies, social media has become a power player in politics. With almost 1 billion users on Facebook and Twitter, social media has changed the way people communicate, the way information is dispersed and the way people engage in the political system. It's also expected it will change the landscape of next year's state and local elections. Our panel will explore social media and give you strategies for staying current on what's transpiring and what some of the hottest trends will be in 2012.

Media Panel – What's happening at the Capitol, what to expect, redistricting and much more
With an upcoming Legislative Session and Arizona in the midst of redistricting and 2012 elections, this will be a very important time for Arizona's political climate. This media panel will discuss what to expect and how these changes will impact Arizonans.

Q&A with Local Politicians

Free to attend!
Plus all attendees receive a complimentary
Citizen Government Guide, a $19.95 value.

To register visit http://capitolroadshow.eventbrite.com
For more information call 602-889-7129 or email events@azcapitoltimes.com

Sponsored by:
Northern Arizona University

Follow us on Facebook - Capitol Roadshow
or Twitter - @CapitolRoadshow

Click here to opt out of future e-mailings.
Arizona Capitol Times
(602) 258-7026
1835 W. Adams St.,
Phoenix, AZ
85007

Teacher Town Hall Kicks of NBC's Second Annual Education Nation

2011-09-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

A Teacher Town Hall kicked off NBC's second annual Education Nation event on Sunday, September 25, 2011. The major news network began this initiative in 2010 as a means to "engage the country in a solutions-focused conversation about the state of education in America."

Below are two clips from today's Teacher Town Hall, hosted by NBC's Brian Williams.
Part One of Education Nation's Teacher Town Hall:

Part Two of Education Nation's Teacher Town Hall:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To find out upcoming topics for this week's summit or to watch the Live Webcast of the 2011 Education Nation event, click here.

Americans for Tax Reform "Bemoans the existence of public schools"

2011-06-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

Most people would agree that universal public education is the cornerstone of American success as an economic power and as a beacon of democracy in the world.

Apparently, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) doesn't think much of public education. In a recent post defending for-profit colleges, ATR took time at the end of the article to list some of the things they bemoan the existence of - specifically public schools.

You can read the post here, but the offending passage states: "It is unfortunate that these federal spending programs exist. ATR also bemoans the existence of public schools, teachers unions, and Obamacare—but that doesn’t mean we won’t work to mitigate the negative effects of these bad policies or institutions."

As Americans strive to improve our public schools so as to ensure our students are adequately prepared to compete in a global economy, it is important to understand that there are forces like Americans for Tax Reform that would like undermine these efforts by doing away with public schools all together.

Texas School Districts Consider Tax Increases to Fill State Cuts To Education

2011-06-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has an interesting article titled School Districts Look at Increase in Tax Rates out today (6/12/11), which discusses tax options faced by Texas school districts in the wake of state funding cuts to education.

In the recent legislative session, Texas cut $4 billion from the education budget. According to the article,

The local part of public education financing in Texas comes from property taxes: maintenance-and-operations rates set by school boards and, if applicable, a facilities bond interest rate. In 2006, as part of an overhaul of the state’s school finance system, the Legislature voted to reduce property tax rates by a third, setting the majority of districts’ maintenance-and-operations rates at $1 per $100 of property value, with a cap of $1.17. Any district that wants to levy a tax rate higher than $1.04 must hold a “tax ratification election.” About 20 percent of districts have already reached the $1.17 limit...

While Arizona is "an equalized funding state", school districts still vote individually for maintenance and operation overrides, capital overrides and bonds. It is interesting to see how other states handle these issues when Arizonans are discussing the funding of our public education system. Issues such as local commitment to education funding and equal funding statewide are topics of discussion in the wake of substantial cuts to education in the two most recent sessions of the Arizona Legislature.

To read the rest of the New York Times article, click here.

Children's Action Alliance Needs Your Help!

2011-05-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Children’s Action Alliance, an Arizona non-partisan and non-profit child advocacy group, needs your help in the West Valley to let people know how their legislators voted on bills affecting their children, families and local community.

Please join us on Saturday, May 14, 2011, 9:00 a.m. to noon at Falcon Park at 5050 West Indian School Road in Goodyear (east of the Loop 303).

Volunteers will distribute voter education materials door-to-door in nearby neighborhoods.

No experience necessary- just join in the fun!

Volunteers are welcome to participate in an optional training session on Wednesday, May 11, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at UFCW Local 99, 2401 North Central Avenue in Phoenix.

Contact Amy Kobeta at (602) 266-0707 x202

or akobeta@azchildren.org to RSVP or with questions.

http://www.azchildren.org/

AEN Joins Panel Discussion on Education Cuts on Arizona PBS 8 Horizons with Ted Simons

2011-04-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Arizona Horizon's host Ted Simons discusses the impact of budget cuts and other legislation on public education with Senator Rich Crandall, Chair of the Senate Education Committee; Ann-Eve Pedersen, president of the Arizona Education Network; and Chuck Essigs of the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.

How did YOUR legislator vote? Find the 2011 Legislative Session: Education Funding Voting Record by Legislator here.

Join the Campaign for Education 2012 here.

Phoenix Channel 12 News Asks: Where Did the New Sales Tax Money Go?

2011-04-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

Phoenix Channel 12 News's Lunch Cast segment AZ FactCheck set out to answer a question many Arizona voters are asking: "Did the new sales tax that voters approved last spring really help education?"

Watch here:

Special Talk by George Lakoff Monday, April 25 at 5 p.m.

2011-04-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

The Department of Linguistics and the Cognitive Science Program in collaboration with the units listed below

Announce a Special Presentation by

George Lakoff

Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics

University of California, Berkeley

Monday, April 25, 2011

5:00 p.m.

The University of Arizona Main Campus

Harvill Building, Room 150

1103 E 2 St

Tucson, AZ 85721

How Progressives and Conservatives Think Differently:

Understanding the Current Political Conflict in America with Suggestions for a Saner Politics

Progressives and conservatives have very different moral worldviews, conflicting ideas of what is right and wrong — worldviews that cover many areas of life and go well beyond particular issues like guns and immigration. For reasons that are far from obvious, these differences are dominating our political life and surface in violent forms of language, and unfortunately, violent actions.

It is vital that we understand the principles (and there ARE principles) governing these worldviews and hence our political life. The issues in Arizona arise from the same source as the issues in Wisconsin, Ohio, and California, and the current debates in Congress. It is also vital to understand the role that language and communication play in our politics via the framing of issues.

An important phenomenon rarely discussed is “duality,” where people have both worldviews applying to different issues: they are conservative in some ways and progressive in others. Understanding how duality works in the brain is crucial to the development of a saner politics at all levels.

Support for this presentation has been provided by the following:

Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Arizona's Confluence: A Center for Creative Inquiry, College of Education, College of Science, School of Information Sciences, Technology and Arts, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Anthropology, Department of Philosophy, College of Humanities, Department of Psychology, Department of History, Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, Department of Communication, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, School of Government and Public Policy, Department of English, Department of Sociology

Budget Cuts to K-12 Education Discussed on AZ PBS's Horizonte

2011-04-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Horizonte host José Cárdenas discusses impact of budget cuts to public K-12 education on schools and students with Panfilo Contreras, executive director for the Arizona School Boards Association; Chuck Essigs, director of Governmental Relations for the Arizona Association of School Business Officials; and Ann-Eve Pedersen from the Arizona Education Network.

Teacher Day at the University of Arizona Saturday, April 30!

2011-04-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

"In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week, Tucson Values Teachers is proud to partner with the University of Arizona and Champions for Change to present Teacher Day at UA."

Saturday, April 30, from 10 AM - 4 PM

No pre-registration is required. Just come out - free for teachers and 3 family members!

Simply sign in at Flandrau and receive an identifying button, a free tote bag and a program and UA Resource Guide. Then go forth to enjoy free admissions and lots of information and goodies.

* Nearly 50 different UA programs will be sharing information and material for area classrooms at the Business/Education Expo at the College of Education

* Discounts at several Main Gate Restaurants

* Goodies from OfficeMax and Walgreens

* Free Admission and special programs at Arizona State Museum, Flandrau, the Poetry Center, the Museum of Art and lots more!!!

The Tucson community is invited to show up and say thank you to all of our great teachers and their families!

For a schedule of events, click here.

For more information, email Tucson Values Teachers executive director, Jacquelyn Jackson.

Join the Campaign for Education 2012!

2011-04-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

.
It's official. Governor Brewer broke her promise to hold the line on education cuts when she signed the budget Thursday (4/7/2011) evening, slashing an additional $454 million from our public schools, community colleges and universities—bringing the three-year total education cut to $1.35 billion. In the wake of these devastating cuts, people from across the state are asking: What can we do now?
.
The answer couldn't be more clear. Begin organizing for 2012!

It's time for Arizonans to stop putting out fires and start going after the arsonists.time for Arizonans to stop just putting out fires; it's time to start going after the arsonists.

Funding cuts have created an endless series of fire drills in school districts, community colleges, universities and adult education across the state. For the past three years, the education community has done its best to continue providing students with a quality education in spite of drastic reductions. But that task is becoming increasingly difficult as our educational institutions face the cumulative effects of worst-case-scenario budgets that have forced them to cut vital programs and core staff several years in a row. School officials, teachers, parents and students have responded to the disaster with fundraisers and tax-credit drives. As well-intentioned as these actions are, they amount to using a water hose to put out a statewide inferno.

The Arizona Education Network is developing the Campaign for Education 2012. We are mobilizing education supporters statewide to oppose those who are destroying Arizona public education. We are also committed to finding ways, such as a statewide initiative, to fund education--the engine of economic development for our state. Education supporters must be organized by the end of the summer in order to make a difference in 2012. We need your commitment to be involved now!

Please take a few minutes to join the Campaign for Education 2012. Your information will be kept confidential.

Print this flyer , give it to parents at your school, your neighbors, your relatives and your friends to spread the word about the devastating cuts to education and the Campaign for Education 2012.

Our strength is in our numbers! By signing up today, you will help build the strong coalition of public education supporters we need for the next phase in protecting Arizona's public education funding from the destructive game of partisan politics.

.

When you have completed the survey, please consider making a donation to support the Arizona Education Network's Campaign for Education 2012. Click here to donate.

.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

A Bronx Tale: NY Times Looks at Reform at Bronx Middle School

2011-04-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

A fantastic article by Jonathan Mahler appeared in the NY Times Magazine titled "The Fragile Success of School in the Bronx". The article is centered on the daily challenges faced by a middle school principal, Ramón González, of M.S. 223, a public middle school in the South Bronx. The school serves a community with a high-poverty rate.

Despite the challenges of overseeing a school set near a dangerous housing project, with incoming students who present little more than a utility bill and no transcript from previous schools to help evaluate their educational needs, something is working.

Last year, after seven years under González, 60 percent of its students tested at or above grade level in math and 30 percent in English. Not something to brag about in most school districts, but those numbers make 223 one of the top middle schools in the South Bronx. According to its latest progress report from the Department of Education, which judges a school’s growth against a peer group with similar demographics, 223 is the 10th-best middle school in the entire city.

The challenge is how to keep improvement on track.

Read more of this compelling article here.

Arizona Week: "Impact of Education Reductions on Arizona Schools"

2011-04-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Arizona Week host, Michael Chihak interviewed Chuck Essigs, the director of governmental relations for Arizona School Business Officials and Vail School Superintendent, Calvin Baker on the impact of $183 million funding cut signed by Governor Brewer Friday, April 8, 2011.

Note: Link will take you to a brief transcript with a video near the bottom of the page.

NY Times Article Sums Up Education Reform Debate Divisions

2011-04-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

The current debate over education reform was a highlighted topic in an article that ran in Sunday's (4/10/11) NY Times Week in Review, titled "The Deadlocked Debate Over Education Reform." Across the nation, the discussion about education reform among experts and advocates is becoming increasingly polarized, with sides taking hard lines against opposing views and/or approaches.

As is often the case with morally charged policy issues....false dichotomies seem to have replaced fruitful conversation. If you support the teachers’ union, you don’t care about the students. If you are critical of the teachers’ union, you don’t care about the teachers. If you are in favor of charter schools, you are opposed to public schools. If you believe in increased testing, you are on board with the corruption of our liberal society’s most cherished educational values. If you are against increased testing, you are against accountability. It goes on. Neither side seems capable of listening to the other.

Read the entire article here.

No April Fool's Day Joke: House and Senate Approve Deep Cuts to Education

2011-04-01T23:25:00.000-07:00

Arizona Education Network Newsletter ~ Friday, April 1, 2011

We wish we could tell you this is an April Fool's joke, but it's not.

The House and Senate today passed a budget that eliminates $183.2 million from K-12 and $270.8 million from universities and community colleges for a total of $454 million in cuts to education in Arizona. The budget was a compromise negotiated between Gov. Brewer and the Legislature. Brewer did not keep her commitment to hold the line on education cuts --agreeing to $115 million more in cuts than she proposed in her budget.

In addition, the House passed SB1614, which effectively cuts teacher salaries by requiring teachers to pay more into their pension plans. Previously, the teachers and districts split those payments 50/50. Now, teachers must pay 53 percent. District savings will be offset by a reduction in the aid received by the district--amounting to additional cuts by the state.

Read more here.

Former Intel CEO warns lawmakers that education cuts will harm AZ's economy

Just days before the cuts, former Intel CEO Craig Barrett told Brewer and legislators that Arizona's low level of investment in education is damaging the state's economy. Barrett said that if Intel was relocating now, Arizona would not even be in the top 10 states considered.

"Quality education is extremely important to a place like Intel," Barrett said. "(The) education cutbacks don't bode well for that." To attract "those high-paying jobs - the jobs that pay two to three times the average - look for your educational infrastructure to be the key," he said.

Read more here.
Arizona Education Network Press Release on Education Cuts

Governor Brewer yesterday showed complete disregard for our state's faltering economy when she failed to defend public education funding as she had promised she would.

On Tuesday, former Intel CEO Craig Barrett, warned legislators that Arizona will not be able to attract good -paying jobs without investing in education. He warned that Arizona's "education cutbacks don't bode well for that."

Yet, the House, in the dead of night --after striking a compromise with Brewer and the Senate - the House pushed through $454 million in cuts to education funding. They also cut teacher salaries by increasing the amount teachers must pay into their pension plans.

Schools across the state had been planning their budgets for next year based on Brewer's proposed budget. But her failure to stick up for her own plan is now going to push school districts, our community colleges and universities into last-minute, emergency plans based on much deeper cuts than expected for the coming school year.

Not only will the budget cuts damage the state's economy in the long-term, there will also be short-term hits as schools, colleges and universities eliminate thousands of jobs.
To read the full press release click here.

Another AEN Adventure in Live Blogging: AZ House begins work on budget

2011-03-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another grand AEN live-blogging adventure! Your blogging team live-blogged the events and activities of the House, which began sometime around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31, and wrapped in the wee small hours of the morning on Friday, April 1. The earliest post begins way down towards the bottom of the page. As you page down through the festivities, your patience and forgiveness for various typos or grammatical errors is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

AEN Blogging Team

________________________________________________________________

3:46 a.m. We're heading into another COW calendar. Again, the link is here.

Folks, while this is great fun, we are in sore-need of some beauty sleep. We'll have a summary on our website soon.

Also, our newsletter should go out sometime tomorrow afternoon. Be sure you've joined our mailing list!

**Just to clarify any confusion with prior posting of figures/cuts: In this budget--a compromise between the House and Senate leadership, and Governor Brewer--$183M will be cut from K-12 funding, and $198M will be cut from the funding for state's universities and community colleges.

Our apologies for any confusion prior postings may have caused. And with that, thank you for joining us for this adventure in live-blogging!

3:21 a.m. House COW underway.

2:58 a.m. Movement in the House. Everyone looks a little rested. Arizona Students' Association tweeted there will be 18 floor amendments.

Live video from the House Floor here.

2:49 a.m. Well, twenty minutes and no one's milling anymore.

2:21 a.m. A few House members have been spotted milling around on the House floor.

Looks like we're going sunset to sunshine, folks.

1:22 a.m. No movement on the House floor. Won't expect any activity until 2 a.m. Will see how much longer we can hang. Sense a second wind coming.

12:45 a.m. Some word is getting out that the Senate will be voting on the budget at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Wait. Did we say, "tomorrow"? How silly...of course we meant TODAY! Blame it on the moon. Or the exhaustion. Whatever.

Presently, there isn't a confirmation of the Senate's schedule change on the leg website.

AZ Republic report on the budget here.

12:22 a.m. Caucus meetings wrap up for both R's and D's. Word is the House will go to the floor to vote at 1:30 a.m. Members will take an hour siesta.

If you're still awake and fighting sleep, you can review the JLBC fiscal analysis of the budget going before the full House here.

House Floor Session can be watched here.

11:27 p.m. Caucus meetings are still underway, as Joint Legislative Budget Council makes presentation of the cuts to various state programs/agencies. We're listening while trying to get our newsletter ready for distribution tomorrow.

JLBC reports cut to K-12 will equal $183 million. Cut to universities will be $198 million.

If House goes to Committee of the Whole (COW) while the toothpicks are still holding our eyelids wide open, we'll post here. If not, we'll leave the link here, should there be any insomniacs out there.

10:45 p.m. Speaker Adams just announced that following caucus meetings, the budget will proceed for a full vote of the House. Not tomorrow. Tonight. For real. This is not an April Fool's joke. Sadly.

10:24 p.m. House Rules has adjourned.

Up next: Caucus meetings.

House R's will Caucus in House Hearing Room 1. Watch here.
House D's will Caucus in House Hearing Room 2. Watch here.

We don't advise trying to watch them both at the same time. ;)

10:14 p.m. House Rules is underway.

10:05 p.m. SB1624 passes, 9-3. Now all thirteen bills move through House Rules Committee. Live feed for House Hearing Room 4, where rules will meet, is here. This should go rather quickly and then the House should adjourn for the evening.

9:43 p.m. SB1623 passes, 9-3. On to the final bill of the evening, SB1624, environment budget. We're on our way to the finish line, folks! Oh, you're so awesome to have hung with us this long.

9:35 p.m. SB 1621 passes, 9-3. Now SB1622, the general government budget. SB1622 passes, 9-3.

9:04 p.m. SB1621 up now; criminal justice budget.

8:58 p.m. SB1619 passes, 9-3 without the Tovar Amendment. Now on to SB1620. This bill will reduce max. income eligibility for child care assistance and require Department of Economic Security to screen/drug test each adult recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Considering the subject of the legislation, we're betting this one is going down, 9-3.

8:54 p.m. House Appropriations hearing room looks pretty empty. Late hour. Remember, we have 5 more bills to go through this hearing before the entire budget goes to the House Rules Committee. The entire budget will likely not be voted on by the full House this evening, rather will go to House Committee of the Whole tomorrow morning.

8:28 p.m. SB1618 passes, 9-3. Per Arizona Students' Association: amendment was offered as supported by ASA to save financial aid. Amendment passed appropriations.

They are on to SB1619, which addresses Arizona's AHCCCS program.

Rep. Tovar offered an amendment that would pay for transplants at no cost to the state; private funds would be used. Chairman expressed that the late arrival of the amendment made it a challenge to give a thorough vetting in committee. Late arrival of amendment due largely, if not wholly, to the availability of the strikers to members of the minority party. With that said, the amendment has been tabled so that it can be analyzed and given a chance to be adopted.

8:22 p.m. SB1617 passes, 9-3. On to SB1618, higher education.

8:10 p.m. A lot of data being discussed in tonight's committee hearing. Very frustrating, as some of the same flawed talking points from '09 have been resuscitated re: per-pupil expenditures and where AZ falls nationally. We've already rebutted this, folks.

"Response to ATRA's K-12 Education Funding Comparison" (June 2009)

"AZ Schools--Examination of the Facts" (June 2009)

8:01 p.m. Committee is getting ready to vote on SB1617. It's impossible to find words to summarize some of the comments that have been made.

7:35 p.m. Rep. Williams asking Ms. Loredo about percentage of dollars making it to the classroom.

Ms. Loredo says the size of the "pie" being appropriated to schools is impacting the ability of how many dollars actually are available to get into the classroom. Additionally, other issues (like heating and cooling) and various outside factors, with fewer funding, there are simply fewer dollars to stretch into the classroom.

7:26 p.m. Jennifer Loredo is up again for the AEA, to remind about the organization's support for Prop 100 and how these cuts are going to impact the classrooms in schools across the state.

Rep. Campbell asks Ms. Loredo about the per-pupil funding and how the cuts are going to play out.

Ms. Loredo says different things are going to play depending upon the school district. Declining enrollment districts are going to have some hard decisions to make. No way to hold off any of these cuts from making it into the classroom. Two big funds: one is soft capital (supplies, technology); 80% of soft capital off of the table, making it highly probable teachers are going to pay out of their pocket for supplies. Another fund is CORL (capitol outlay). Has been allowed to transfer to Maintenance and Operation budget. With cut to CORL, that will cut the M&O for a lot of school districts. Already hearing of districts doing a salary reduction across the district. AZ has one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios.

Rep. Williams interrupts Ms. Loredo to speak to the point of student-to-teacher ratio. Wants to know where's the data related to the student : teacher ratio.

Rep. Campbell says his data comes from ALEC.

7:21 p.m. We're on to SB1617, the K-12 budget reconciliation bill.

7:17 p.m. Committee still on a pizza break. Can nothing happen on time at the capitol?!?

6:59 p.m. SB1616 passes, 8-4. It's becoming clear there are number of agencies in the state, not just public education, as well as cash-strapped counties that are going to be devastated by this budget.

AEN team blogger commentary: I can't help but consider that many of the voices in today's appropriation hearing come from the very same people/agencies who made up the Yes on 100 coalition (Prop 100--the temporary 1-cent sales tax). It's sad to see so many who find themselves faced with a broken promise.

On to the K-12 budget, SB1617. Wait. Nope. Not yet. It's pizza time. Committee takes a 15-minute break to get grub.

So stretch your legs and catch the last ray of what has been a spectacular sunset.

6:27 p.m. SB1614 passes 9-3. On to SB1615, consolidation of state agencies. Passes committee 9-3. On to SB1616.

We're going to take a small bathroom break before we get to K-12 (SB1617)....

6:22 p.m. Jennifer Loredo with the Arizona Education Association speaking about SB 1614; "We're the one system that does the 50/50." In other words, teachers are the only public sector employees that participate in the 50/50 split. Ms. Loredo states to the committee that she's aware that when the majority party has caucused "behind close doors" there was a great deal of concerns about this policy change.

6:16 p.m. The rest of the bills are clipping right along; SB163 and now to SB1614. SB1614 will reduce pension contributions to public sector--state, university, school district and charter school employees--from a 50/50 contribution split to a 53/47 split. The reduction in contributions will be transferred to the state General Fund.

5:54 p.m After a great deal of explanation of votes, SB 1612 passes 9-3.

5:24 p.m. Ms. Johnson speaking before the committee re: the cuts impacting rural hospitals.

Just to catch you all up, we're still on the General Fund Appropriation Bill for FY 2011-2012 (SB 1612).

5:14 p.m. Conversation about $10 billion in tax loopholes/tax exemptions. Well, not so much conversations as debating/spinning and "twisting" of a report published by the Arizona Department of Revenue.

AEN blog team member's commentary: Close the loopholes, broaden the base, or attempt to meet somewhere in the middle. Do something! It's time we take a serious and realistic approach to addressing our state's fiscal stability. But to cut funding to vital programs that are proven to GROW our economic base is not a healthy approach. IF AZ is broke, if the state's checkbook is empty, how can we afford to hand over approx. $500M to corporations?

5:06 p.m. Rep. Vic Williams (LD 26) reads letter from Craig Barrett that speaks to reforming K-12, money to the classroom and various charter school successes. Not entirely clear if this letter was an op-ed or just a note to various legislative leaders. "Hear from the K-12 community this twisting of what our corporate leaders are saying. He's [Craig Barrett] looking for reform in our current system. Continuously hear this twisting of what our corporate leaders are saying and I wanted to speak to that."

5:00 p.m. Rep. Vic Williams (LD 26) breaks down the budget pie, while reminding committee he supported Prop 100. Rep. Williams suggests educational districts can look at their district budgets--all 228 can find some fiscal solutions.

Rep. Campbell offers support for Ms. Anderson. Several options out there to reform tax code that would make it fair and lower it for average citizens. GI and Morrison Institute have said there are some good choices. Rep. Campbell Reminds committee of $10 billion in lost revenue opportunities. "Some [exemptions] are good, but several exemptions don't need to be there."

Like say the exemption for 4-inch pipe in the amount of $17M a year?

4:56 p.m. Ms. Anderson with Interfaith community addressing the committee is urging committee to expand the tax base, instead of passing the budget. Lower the rate and broaden the base, to include more services that will increase revenue but not increase rates. Sounds reasonable to us!

4:38 p.m. Mr. Barnes with Association of Arizona Community Colleges speaking about cuts to community colleges right now.

Rep. Alston makes comment re: businesses come to community colleges to ask them to design a course for my business, which train workforce for the jobs they are bringing to the state.

Rep. Kavanagh states cut to community colleges is "a 54% reduction to what the state gives to the community colleges. Not a 50% reduction of their funding."

Historical note: funding/providing public education to citizens was one of four MAJOR provisions to a territory joining the union of states.

John Goodwin, the first governor of the Arizona Territory, stated definitively that “self-government and universal education are inseparable. The one can be exercised only as the other is enjoyed.” As early as 1864 he called on the territory legislature to establish free public K-12 and university education, noting that “The first duty of the legislators of a free state is to make, as far as lies within their power, education as free to all its citizens as the air they breathe.”

Thus public schools were already well established in our state by December of 1910, when 52 delegates from across the Arizona territory came together to draft a state constitution.

And as Article XI, Section X in the AZ Constitution states:

"The revenue for the maintenance of the respective state educational institutions shall be derived from the investment of the proceeds of the sale, and from the rental of such lands as have been set aside by the enabling act approved June 20, 1910, or other legislative enactment of the United States, for the use and benefit of the respective state educational institutions. In addition to such income the legislature shall make such appropriations, to be met by taxation, as shall insure the proper maintenance of all state educational institutions, and shall make such special appropriations as shall provide for their development and improvement.”

4:19 p.m. Testimony re: cost shift to counties being given right now. Missed his name. Our apologies. Gentleman was told by his rep: State is the parent, counties children. If true, he says, then the budget is the equivalent of "Cutting kids allowance, demanding more chores and then demanding that they make your truck payments."

Feeling social? Check out and LIKE Support Adult Basic Education in Arizona on Facebook!

4:16 p.m. ASU student from a middle-class home, whose father works for Intel, gives testimony to committee re: cuts to higher education and the struggle families face to provide an education for their children.

4:00 p.m. Lost of last update due to gremlins. Testimony from David Martinez with the Arizona Students' Association re: the impact to the universities and community colleges. Rep. Kavanagh referenced report from Arizona Board of Regents, where it was shared that 45% of the university students do not pay tuition. Mr. Martinez notes that is an average of the student population who qualify and receive financial aid.

Rep. Alston notes that it is a loss to our state/community when being poor is an obstacle in a student being able to attend to college; references fmr. Intel CEO, Craig Barrett's comments from Tuesday.

3:51 p.m. State parks rep speaking about fund sweeps to state parks between $3-5M. "We are operating on a thread and the thread is about to break."

State parks bring in $266M, in addition to $23 million in state and local taxes.

3:47 p.m. If you were ever worried about the move of one Kyrsten Sinema from the House to the Senate Appropriations Committee, rest assured. Rep. Chad Campbell is on it.

3:38 p.m. Representative for Protecting Arizona's Family Coalition, Mr. Schmoltz (sorry for misspelling) is speaking about impact of cuts to families and vulnerable. Concern about the rush and "behind closed door" negotiations.

"Not open and transparent and accountable government....[W]e might not be able to change your minds, we just ask you to step back and slow down and run an open government...that allows for cooling off periods and vetting." Mr. Schmoltz

3:30 p.m. Official word in hearing is there will be a cut of $179M.
Please hold, while we get our thoughts together....

Watch here. Warning: Keep the Motrin handy....

3:20 p.m. House Approps underway. First word is leadership in the House and Senate and Governor Brewer have agreed to a K-12 fund reduction of approx. $200M. If correct, that's a $40M reduction from the Senate's proposed cut. However, it's approx.

3:08 p.m. It looks like we have another 15 minute delay. We're hesitant to suggest this thing might not happen, as we've lived through one too many late night budget cram sessions. Some of us have yet to recover from the '09 Senate session that ran out the fiscal year clock.

2:09 p.m. Now word is Appropriations hearing has been moved to 3:00. If hearing gets started at all, there's no way members get home before midnight tonight.

Arizona Students' Association is reporting cuts to higher ed have been reduced from $235 million to $198 million. We're still searching for K-12 striker.

1:48 p.m. House is recessing. Appropriations will get underway shortly. Find a link to the strikers for SB 1612-1624 (the budget bills), here. The striker for K-12 (SB1617) is not up.

Gang, it looks like it's going to be a very, very long and "fluid" afternoon, as House Speaker Adams requests members to stay close to the Capitol for the remainder of the day.

Link below will take you to HHR 1.

1:37 p.m. Today's Arizona House Appropriations hearing was originally scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. It was later rescheduled for 1:45 p.m. this afternoon. However, with the House Floor Session just underway, it would appear as though the Appropriations hearing won't begin on time.

Link to live feed here.

Your AEN team will be live blogging today's activities/details on the budget deal/compromise. Again, your patience and forgiveness for various typos or grammatical errors is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Nuclear Waste for Schools?

2011-03-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Senator Al Melvin (LD 26) has sponsored a bill (SB 1548) that would allow companies from out of state to store nuclear waste in Arizona. Associated fees and proceeds collected from the state would be put toward funding public education.

The bill passed Senate 20 -9.

Speak Up Against Silencing Educators!

2011-03-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

While the Arizona House and Senate leadership is said to be negotiating the budget with Governor Brewer, two non-budget related bills are moving right along. If adopted, these bills will effectively silence the voices and participation of citizens in professional organizations who, either by their election by Arizona voters or by paid profession, work in public education.

Below are descriptions and the impacts associated with both bills, as well as what you can do to speak up against this effort to discriminate against teachers and repress the local control voters entrust to their elected school board members.

The first bill is SB 1365. This bill targets public and private school employees (teachers, plumbers, secretaries) to require them to renew their membership fees in professional organizations every year in writing. The professional organizations would likely lose members, as well as incur costs associated with creating a government-imposed bureaucracy to comply with this law.

Why this matters:

Membership in professional organizations allows for effective communication about issues. This bill restricts that communication. This bill only applies to professional organizations that have “political purposes” such as communicating to the public how certain laws or proposals would affect schools.
This bill targets education employees, but not other public employees.
This bill makes government bigger by requiring extra administrative work.

The second bill is HB 2002. This bill would prohibit school districts from paying for membership in an association that attempts to influence the outcome of an election, like the Proposition 100 election for the temporary 1-cent sales tax increase for public education and public safety.

This bill targets the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA). Arizona voters exercise local control when electing school board members for the school districts in their community. The citizen-elected school board members debate whether or not they will pay dues to ASBA. School board members are not paid. When a board decides to become a member of ASBA, the dues are paid by the school district.

Why this matters:

ASBA provides 2 very valuable things to Arizona schools:

ASBA keeps school policies up-to-date with the latest changes in law. If every school had to separately pay lawyers to re-write school policies every time a law changed, it would be a huge amount of redundant work. ASBA lawyers re-write the appropriate school policies to comply with the new laws and suggest those changes to school district governing boards that are members of ASBA. Governing board members may choose to simply accept the suggestions or to modify them for their schools. Local control at work!
ASBA trains school board members. There are hundreds of laws and responsibilities that school board members should know. Having a knowledgeable school board ensures the effective stewardship of district policies and procedures. School board members spend their own personal time and cover their own transportation costs to attend ASBA trainings.

ASBA provides information to Arizona voters. Sometimes, school board members elect committees to decide whether ASBA will support or oppose certain election issues, such as Prop 100. When they do decide to support an issue, ASBA communicates its decision, in a straight- forward explanation to the public.

To learn more about ASBA, click here.

What you can do:

Write, email and/or call your elected representatives and urge them to vote "NO" on HB 2002 and SB 1365. Tell them these bills do nothing to balance our state budget. They simply repress the local control voters entrust to their elected school board members, and they discriminate against and silence the voices of our educators, who regardless of their profession, are entitled to the same democratic rights afforded all American citizens.

Join the Rally for a People's Budget this Wednesday!

2011-03-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Rally for a People's Budget

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

State Capitol Rose Garden

1700 West Washington Street

Phoenix, AZ

Directions/map here.

All are invited to participate in the Protecting Arizona's Family Coalition (PAFCO) Rally for a People's Budget this Wednesday at the state capitol.

This will be an energy-filled gathering to call for public accountability against the irresponsible and shameful budgets proposed by some lawmakers. There will be great speakers in addition to legislative and media actions.

Spread the word and bring lots of friends and neighbors!

AEN President & UA President on KUAT's Arizona Illustrated

2011-03-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Watch the full episode. See more Arizona Illustrated.

Arizona Education Network President, Ann-Eve Pedersen and University of Arizona President Robert Shelton joined Kimberly Craft on KUAT's Arizona Illustrated, Tuesday, March 22, explaining the impact of proposed budget cuts on Arizona's students.

To write a letter to the 60 CEOs mentioned in this interview, click here.

Sen. Russell Pearce and Sen. David Schapira Discuss Cuts to Education

2011-03-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

Senator Russell Pearce and Senator David Schapira discuss the cuts to education and the Senate budget now being considered in the House on tonight's (3/21/11) Horizon on Phoenix Channel Eight.

If you have trouble viewing video, click here.

AZ Republic Explains Importance of Dollars Spent Outside of Classroom

2011-03-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Each year the Arizona Auditor General releases a report on classroom spending. “Classroom spending” is defined by the Auditor General’s Report as:

Classroom personnel—Salaries and benefits for teachers, teachers’ aides, substitute teachers, graders, and guest lecturers.
General instructional supplies—Paper, pencils, crayons, instructional aids, etc.
Textbooks, workbooks, software, films, etc.
Activities—Field trips, athletics, and co-curricular activities such as choir and band.
Tuition—Paid to out-of-state and private institutions.

It does not include administration, plant operations and maintenance, food service, transportation, instructional support services or student support services.

On Sunday, March 20, 2011, the Arizona Republic published an investigative article on school funding inside and outside the classroom. The Republic points out that, ” [i]n general, Arizona spends less per student in almost all areas of K-12 because it spends significantly less overall than the nation.”

The Republic also reports that:

“Each of Arizona’s 225 districts faces its own unique factors that affect costs, including size, location, student makeup, property values and the management skills of its superintendents and other leaders.”
“An Arizona Republic analysis shows instead that Arizona K-12 schools spend a smaller share of their budgets on superintendents, principals and other administrators than the national average.”
“The percentage of Arizona children living in poverty and found to have disabilities has risen dramatically over the past decade. Those students need more attention from therapists and counselors, and districts must provide much of it under federal law.” Many of these services are not considered part of classroom spending for purposes of the Auditor General’s Report.
“Arizona’s excessive heat and its many energy-inefficient facilities may push up the share of money to operate school buildings in Arizona, education experts say.”

Read the complete Arizona Republic Report, Arizona schools’ expenses outside of class rise, Arizona Republic, March 20, 2011.

Read our analysis of the 2010 Auditor General’s Report at AZ Auditor General Report: AZ spends nearly $2,500 less per pupil than national avg.

You can also view our analysis of the reports in 2008 and 2009.

UA Proposes 22% Tuition Increase; Additional Increases Possible

2011-03-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Arizona Daily Star is reporting that the University of Arizona is proposing a 22% increase in tuition. If approved by the Board of Regents, the new tuition level will be DOUBLE the tuition charged just six years ago. This would still only raise $22 million. Governor Brewer's budget cuts $67 million from UA and the Senate budget cuts the UA by $92 million.

And this is a state where the constitution requires that "higher education be as nearly free as possible"?

Read the complete story, UA tuition proposal calls for a 22% hike, Arizona Daily Star, March 19, 2011.

Late Night Live Blogging: AZ Senate Debates Budget Bills

2011-03-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

10:28 p.m. As this budget appears destined for the AZ House, we're going to wrap up our late night live blogging. Thank you for hanging with us. Next time we hope to get enough notice to have milk and cookies for all. :)

G'nite.

10:25 p.m. SB 1617 passes.

Time to call your state representatives, as bills will be heading to the House for their consideration!

10:13 p.m. SB 1616 passes. SB 1617 K-12 passes 20-10. Looked away, so unsure who that 10th "no" belongs to. On to SB 1618. Sen. Cajero Bedford rises to explain her vote to point out that members who have children or grandchildren who may go off to school some day, that we're cutting the universities substantially and putting our state at a disadvantage.

Sen. Sinema rises to explain her vote on SB 1617 to point out that this budget will be the deepest cut to universities in Arizona's history. "Shifting the cost of teaching and learning farther onto the students themselves." Cuts to universities in this budget are larger than all the cuts from the last four years combined.

10:11 p.m. SB 1615 passes the way they all are. The rest of the bills will go this way. We'll stay through the higher ed bill, in case anything interesting is said on the Senate floor, though the steam is quickly leaving the room. It's been a long day there, folks. Although, by the looks of this budget, it'll be a longer day for many Arizonans tomorrow and the day after that.

10:07 p.m. SB 1614 passes, 21-9. Yup. On its way to the House.

10:05 p.m. SB 1613, passes 21-9. Bill will now be transmitted to the House. On to SB 1614.

10:01 p.m. On to third reading of bills. It's the whole thing all over again. Just with amendments.

Up first, SB 1612. Sen. Lopez rises to explain her vote. "I hope the members of this body remember the victims of the Arizona tsunami in their prayers. And I vote 'no.'"

21 yes, 9, no bill passes. Secretary will transmitted bill to the House.

9:57 p.m. Sen. Pearce back in the saddle. The Senate secretary is reading the report. Sen. Gallardo has requested a roll call vote, Sen. Lopez has seconded, to include the Gallardo Floor Amendment to SB 1612. 6 yes, 20 nos, 4 not voting. Amendment fails.

9:54 p.m. On to 1624. Baring someone breaking out into a tarantella on the senate floor, it looks like this thing is about to wind down.

9:50 p.m. On to SB 1621. Sen. Biggs Floor Amendments now. And those have been adopted. So bill has been moved and now we're on to SB 1622.

SB 1622 moves on. Now to 1623. Seven minutes to bedtime!

9:44 p.m. Floor amendments being offered by minority party to SB 1620 to reinstate funds for vulnerable Arizonans, seniors and children.

9:41 p.m. Sen. Sinema explaining her floor amendment to SB 1619, which would close a tax loophole and direct funds to AHCCCS. And the amendment fails.

SB 1619 moves forward. On to SB 1620.

9:39 p.m. Sen. Aboud Floor Amendment to SB 1619 would have taken $1.4 million from a fund set aside for auto theft and transfer that money to AHCCCS for transplant services. Amendment fails.

Sen. Gallardo Floor Amendment. Revives the floor amendment from SB 1612, another attempt to put $1.4 million to AHCCCS for transplant services. Amendment fails.

9:36 p.m. On to SB 1619. If they keep up this pace, COW should be done before our bedtime.

More floor amendments. We'll stay online until we're sure the work of the day has concluded. Stay tuned or check back in the morning.

9:32 p.m. SB 1618: Higher Education FY 2011-2012 Budget Reconciliation Bill.

Sen. Biggs Floor Amendment removes language that community colleges provide braille text books. Amendment adopted.

Sen. Schapira Floor Amendment up now re: student aid. Amendment fails.

9:24 p.m. SB 1617 has an Appropriations Committee Amendment. And there's a Schapira Floor Amendment as a substitution to the Appropriations Committee Amendment. Got that?

Sen. Schapira on amendment relates to removing language in the bill that relates to excess utilities, as well as removing the kindergarten tuition language, and "backdoor" tax increases.

Sen. Schapira Floor Amendment fails.

Appropriations Committee Amendment passes.

Sen. Biggs Amendment removes language for school districts and charters to charge all day kindergarten tuition. Sen. Biggs amendment is adopted.

9:24 p.m. Sen. Aboud "On behalf of Pima County, I don't like we have to pay $6 million to the state to help them pay off their debt."

SB 1616 goes forward. On to SB 1617: K-12 FY 2011-2012 Budget Reconciliation Bill.

9:18 p.m. On to SB 1616. There is a Sen. Sinema Floor Amendment, that creates revenue by closing a loophole, that can then fund transplants for AHCCCS patients. The loophole is the Accounting Tax Credit, which allows businesses to claim a tax credit for $10,000 a year for filing their business tax credits.

Sen. Sinema Floor Amendment fails.

9:14 p.m. And now SB 1615. Sen. Biggs Floor Amendment. Sen. Aboud rises in support of Sen. Biggs Floor Amendment. Amendment passes.

9:12 p.m. Now SB 1614. Looks like tonight's COW found it's groove. [COW = Committee of the Whole]

9:11 p.m. On to SB 1613.

9:09 p.m. Sen. Gallardo rises in opposition to SB 1612.

SB 1612 passes COW.

9:06 p.m. Sen. Pearce speaking about the transplant patients, his work to raise private funds for transplants, and the state check book being empty.

9:04 p.m. Sen. Aboud rises in opposition to SB 1612, mentions testimony from representatives from the various counties who spoke out about the cost shift this budget would transfer from the state to the counties across the state.

9:00 p.m. Sen. Landrum Taylor Floor Amendment. Would restore funding to universities. Floor amendment fails.

Sen. Schapira Floor Amendment up now. "It addresses issue re: excess balances in school districts. State law says if they have excess balances they have to stop accessing the property taxes. Assuming the districts are following the law, those districts, if we take that money from them, they'll no long be able to give property owners that tax break. We are indirectly increasing property taxes for tax payers in those school districts."

Sen. Schapira Floor Amendment fails.

8:58 p.m. Sen. Sinema explaining her floor amendment re: to Prop. 204 re: tobacco tax settlement. Hold with us, folks. These floor amendments aren't available online just yet.

Sen. Sinema Floor Amendment fails.

8:57 p.m. Gallardo Floor Amendment to SB 1612 fails. Sad.

Sen. Sinema Floor Amendment is up now.

8:51 p.m. SB 1612 being amended on the floor. Sen. Biggs Amendment passes.

Sen. Gallardo Amendment up now. "I pay $18.00 a pay period and the state pays the rest. What I propose is that the state takes that appropriation and pays for the health care for others first. We're the first ones to stand up and accept government paid health care. I say we cut our health care and cover transplants. Let's make sure we pay for the health care for the most vulnerable people in our state. Let's lead by example and cut our health care first."

Sen. Landrum Taylor and Sen. Lopez rise in support of Gallardo Floor Amendment.

8:47 p.m. Sen. Gould reviewing points of order. "You're only allowed to rise to speak once per motion. If a senator asks you to yield, that is part of your three minutes. You're only going to have three minutes. Sponsor allowed three minutes to open, and three minutes to close. It's gender neutral."

Here we go again....

Senate floor session underway after the conclusion of the Senate Rules Committee hearing. How long tonight's session goes, is anyone's guess. Will live blog for as long as our eye can stay open.

Live Blogging the AZ Senate Appropriations Hearing!

2011-03-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you for following our adventures in live blogging during today's committee hearing. We will be writing up summaries and updates as these bills continue through the legislative process.

It isn't too late to contact your senator and urge them to vote "NO" to this budget package.

If you are feeling social, check out "Can't Survive 235" on Facebook!

And a big "thank you" to Daisy, who sends encouragement from the fine state of Wisconsin.

Your AEN Live Blogging Team

4:15 p.m. The Senate Appropriations Committee has adjourned, passing the last of the thirteen budget bills, SB 1624.

Our apologies for the gap in posting. The only education related bill remaining on today's agenda was SB 1618; FY 2011-2012 Higher Education Budget Reconciliation. We missed committee discussion on this particular bill. However, we will post a link to today's entire committee hearing, once the video has been published on the Arizona legislative website.

The vote detail for SB 1618 is below:

Member Name Vote Member Name Vote             Member Name           Vote

Paula Aboud   N       Sylvia Allen        Y                Olivia Cajero Bedford N

Rich Crandall   Y        Lori Klein           Y                Al Melvin                    Y

Rick Murphy   NV      David Schapira   N               Don Shooter               Y

Kyrsten Sinema N    Steve Smith        Y                 Ron Gould                   Y

Andy Biggs       Y

AYES: 8 NAYS: 4 NOT VOTING: 1 EXCUSED: 0

1:35 p.m. SB 1615 passes. On to SB 1619.

1:27 p.m. SB 1615 bill is up now. Just so you don't have to scroll to the bottom of this long post, you can find the link to live feed here.

1:22 p.m. Discussion on SB 1614 and comment from public right now. Up next: SB 1615. Live blogging might hit the "pause" while kiddo is collected from school. :)

SB 1614 passes along party lines. On to SB 1615.

1:15 p.m. SB 1617 passes 9 - 4. On to SB 1614.

12:50 p.m. SB 1617 voting underway:

Sen. Aboud: Can make all the cuts we want, but if we don't have a trained work force, we won't be able to attract businesses to our state. We talk about wanting to create an economy, having jobs, and then we cut education. Votes no.

Sen. Allen votes aye.

Sen. Cajero Bedford votes no.

Sen. Klien votes aye.

Sen. Shooter votes aye.

Sen. Melvin votes aye.

Sen. Sinema votes no.

Sen. Crandall: Making comments on his vote re: to education reform. "We have ways to make education work with the budget we have. Difficult to initiate any kind of educational reform if we don't have people making an effort to learn more." Votes aye.

Sen. Murphy dittos Sen. Crandall's comments. "Education spending has tripled after being adjusted for inflation, and the results have been stagnant at best. The problem is we aren't innovating in our education system nearly enough. I'm glad that this bill is innovating in this state. This country wants the status quo and wants more money for the status quo. They care more about the money....The bottom line is I had a blended education, public and private. And if I hadn't been in those private schools, I wouldn't have been ready." And so on and so forth. Votes aye.

Sen. Schapira wonders what the end result, when have cut too much? When have we sacrificed the core mission of education before funding matter? How big do our class sizes have to get? "At the end of the day, all we're doing is increasing the disparity between 'the haves' and 'the have nots.'" Votes no.

Sen. Sinema thinks the verbal amendment with kindergarten issue is a good thing, but there are a number of things in the bill that cause her great concern. Votes no.

Sen. Gould votes aye.

Sen. Biggs votes aye.

12:47 p.m. SB 1617 being voted on, with both a Biggs amendment and a verbal amendment.

Note: Many organizations have signed in against this bill, however none of them are being read allowed, into the record. This may be a time saving issue, but for those watching, know that the education community put out an all-call last night to those who can sign in, to do so.

12:45 p.m. Sen. Gould acknowledges feeling gamed by Prop. 100, like many voters and those in the education community might. [Albeit for different ideological reasons. Of course.]

12:38 p.m. Jennifer Loredo with Arizona Education Association speaking against SB 1617. Reminded committee about the AEA's support of Prop. 100, the message that we all understood that if we passed Prop. 100 our schools would be spared cuts.

Larger class sizes, reduction in librarians, vital staff. Schools are trying to reduce the impact in the classroom as much as possible, but the reduction in staff is leading many districts to see a rise in class size.

Sen. Aboud asking Ms. Loredo about class size, number of desks available for desks. "We're hearing from teachers, 'We're literally at capacity in our classroom. So when we get another student, and we have nowhere for them to sit, then yes, they are sitting on the floor.'"

12:34 p.m. On to SB 1617 K-12 portion of the budget. Kindergarten portion, requiring all districts that offer full-day kindergarten to charge tuition will be amended on the floor, as it was poorly written and shouldn't have been included in the bill, per Sen. Crandall. That was as much explanation as was offered. We'll post once we learn further details.

12:28 p.m. After 24 minutes of explanation of votes, Senate Committee passes SB 1612, 9-4.
On to SB 1613.

SB 1613 passes 9-4 with no debate.

12:04 p.m. While updating the vote detail, we inserted the votes of some senators out of order. :)

Sen. Cajero Bedford: "With respect to transparency, the state Democrats have had less than 24 hours to go through this budget." Votes no.

Sen. Allen: Constituents are asking her to cut spending. Votes aye.

Sen. Crandall votes aye.

Sen. Klien votes aye.

Sen. Sinema votes no.

Sen. Smith says number of people signed in against SB 1612 is irrelevant, as there have been other bills that haven't turned out as much public input. Asks rhetorical question, "If we don't cut you, who?" paraphrasing, of course. Votes aye.

*Editor's note to Sen. Smith: Maybe the number of folks who have signed in is a testament to the outpouring of support for our state, our state's economic future? Just a thought.

Sen. Melvin: "New class warfare is the public sector vs. private sector.  Concerned about generational theft. This process is working itself out in WI, IN, OH, in other states throughout the country and we have an obligation to make sure we don't spend what we don't have." Votes aye.

Sen. Murphy votes aye.

Sen. Schapira: "To the point of generational theft, we are stealing education away from our children." Votes no.

Sen. Shooter votes aye, after assuring audience that he welcomes public input and participation in process.

Sen. Gould votes aye after an explanation of his vote.

Sen. Biggs votes aye.

12:01 p.m. Sen. Aboud: Public is speaking and they do not want this bill. Votes no.

11:57 a.m. Committee is about to vote on SB 1612. Some discussion re: Sen. Biggs' amendment.

11:52 a.m. The loophole discussion continues. Sen. Sinema points out liposuction isn't taxed. Sen. Gould doesn't want his constituents to pay taxes on their haircuts.

11:45 a.m. Sen. Aboud reminds Sen. Smith that state can get $17 million right now by closing loophole for the 4 inch pipe. Sen. Smith: "Close loopholes for corps, you grow the unemployment line."

11:33 a.m. Mark Barnes with AZ Community Colleges Council up now, discussing cuts to community colleges. Barnes: "I read a study a while ago, that 61% of jobs in AZ in 2018 will require some level of post secondary of education, we hope to be provider of choice." Reminder: In Senate majority proposal, Arizona community colleges would be cut $72 million.

11:26 a.m. Stacy Morely (spelling of last name may be incorrect) with Arizona Department of Education agency speaking now against SB 1612. Concerned cuts to agency, though less than $1 million cut, will impact agency's School Finance and IT programs.

11:25 a.m. David Martinez concludes testimony and discussion with committee. Outstanding voice for our state's university students!

Sen. Allen: "Do you encourage them to adjust their budget without putting it on the back of students?"

11:11 a.m. While we're listening to the comments re: university cuts/impacts, we're reminded of this March 13, 2011 AZ Republic article about the tax break for University of Phoenix's parent company, Apollo, a for-profit university. AZ lawmakers are considering a bill that, according to the AZ Dept. of Revenue, would cost the state $33.2 million annually in tax revenue.

10:57 a.m. David Martinez with the Arizona Students' Association speaking to committee re: the impact of current budget reductions, creating a 63% increase in student tuition to state universities. This increase to tuition, says Martinez, pushes more students to take out loans with large interest rates in order to complete their education. Further, this increase in student loans is adding to the over all national debt when they simply find they cannot repay the loans. Martinez points out that there already has been $230 million cut from higher education funding. Should the budget proposal being considered be adopted, it would equate to a 50% cut in funding to our universities. His testimony continues, as he answers questions from Sen. Schapira (LD17) and Sen. Sinema (LD15).

Per Martinez's testimony, current university cuts have already impacted state universities the following ways:

Over 2,000 faculty/staff positions eliminated

180 colleges programs have merged/consolidated

8 extended campuses have closed

63% raise in state university tuition

10:47 a.m. On the social media front: A new Facebook page "Can't Survive $235!" has been created by university faculty and staff to raise awareness of the devastating cuts to higher education.

10:27 a.m. Posting delayed, as most of public comments continue to focused on (and rightfully so) county concerns re: cost shift. Sen. Al Melvin (LD26) explaining the cost savings of filling jobs once held by county employees with inmates to help counties with maintenance duties, etc.

10:26 a.m. While waiting for comments re: county/prison cost shift, take a look at the LUMP SUM reductions to our state universities, as stated in SB 1612:

ASU total cut: $107 million

UA total cut: $92 million

NAU total cut: $36 million

Arizona community colleges total cut: $72 million

10:00 a.m. Off the education topic, but in way of explaining long pause in update: Comments are being heard on burden shift to counties. Specific concerns are being expressed regarding prisoners. "We're returning a prison population to the counties that we took when you [counties] were broke. We're broke. So we're returning them to you....We're going back to the way things were." Sen. Shooter

9:50 a.m. Public allowed to speak on bill. Given 3 minutes to speak. So far, public comments have urged the committee to avoid devastating cuts to our state's most vulnerable. A great deal of support for public education in the room today.

9:45 a.m. SB 1612 Senate Fact Sheet here. Friend to AEN submitted the following explanation on the difference between SB 1612 the General Appropriations FY 2011-2012 bill, and the rest of the bills listed below.

"[G]eneral appropriations" is for the actual numbers of appropriations, the rest are for 'budget reconciliation bills.' [or BRBs] Since the lege is forbidden by the AZ constitution from passing substantive changes to law in an appropriations bill, the annual budget is actually a package of bills.
One bill, the general appropriations bill, is the numbers bills, while the BRBs are for changes to law to make the budget work

The remaining bills are the BRBs, the bills that make the budget work."

We're grateful for our smart, wonky friends. :)

9:44 a.m. Senate Appropriations underway. Order of bills SB 1612, 1613, 1617, 1614, 1615, 1619, 1616, 1618, 1620, 1621, 1622, 1623, and 1624.

9:32 a.m. Hearing appears to getting a late start. Senators arriving. Feed is live here.

9:15 a.m. Good morning, folks!

Your AEN team will be live blogging the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that is scheduled to get underway at 9:30 a.m. Please have patience with us, as there may be typos, misspellings, and dangling participles.

Feel free to watch along with us by clicking here.

You can find the agenda here.

And to get caught up on the latest news about the thirteen budget bills proposed by the Senate majority party, visit our post by clicking here.

If you'd like to contact your legislator and express your concerns about the cuts to education, click here.

AZ Senate Budget Takes Express Train; Education Targeted for Additional Cuts

2011-03-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, March 15, 2011, the Arizona Senate voted to suspend rules for the consideration of the Senate’s budget package. Thirteen bills relating to FY 2011-2012 were posted shortly after 5 p.m. (MST) for a brief public review before being assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee agenda for Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room 109.

The Senate’s budget proposal is in stark contrast to Governor Brewer’s. While the Governor proposes $842 million in cuts, the Senate’s budget contains over $1.3 billion in cuts across state agencies in fiscal year 2011-2012. The Arizona Republic reports Tuesday evening, “[t]he Senate Republicans’ plan has approximately $400 million of cuts beyond those proposed by Brewer. They include, [$]172 million from K-12 schools, $65 million from universities and $67 million from health programs and social services.”

This means that K-12 education would have a total cut of $262 million in fiscal year 2011-2012. If the Senate budget is adopted, total cuts to Arizona K-12 education funding, community colleges and universities in the last three years would amount to $1.445 billion.

Senate’s State FY 2011-2012 K-12 and Higher Education Budget Bills:

SB 1617 K-12 Education; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation
SB 1618 Higher Education; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

AEN has signed in “Opposed” to SB 1617 and SB 1618.

Why?

We are concerned that the suspension of rules prohibits a proper public review, and calls into question the transparency of the process. Additionally, without information from the Joint Legislative Budget Council relating to the fiscal impact–good or bad–of any bills within in the budget, it is difficult to determine whether or not this budget is fiscally sound and in the long term best interest of Arizona and our overall economic recovery.

Senate’s State FY 2011-2012 Budget Bills:

SB 1612 General Appropriations 2011-2012

SB 1613 2011-2012 Capital Outlay

SB 1614 2011-2012 State Budget Procedures

SB 1615 Consolidation; State Agencies

SB 1616 Revenue; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1619 Health; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1620 Welfare; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1621 Criminal Justice; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1622 General Government; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1623 Regulation; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

SB 1624 Environment; 2011-2012; Budget Reconciliation

Related Articles

Governor’s Budget Proposals on Fast Track?, AEN, February 21, 2011

Brewer scales back plan to cut Medicaid, Arizona Republic, March 15, 2011

Education “Protected”? FY 2008-2010 Cuts Itemized, AEN, January 28, 2011

60 Minutes: NYC charter school's $125,000 experiment

2011-03-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (3/13/11), 60 Minutes aired a segment on New York City charter school, The Equity Project.

The Equity Project (TEP) was founded in September of 2009. TEP holds to three core principles: rigorous qualifications, redefined expectations and revolutionary compensation.

This publicly funded, but privately managed charter school offers a salary of $125,000 to qualified teachers: that's more than double the national average for teachers. TEP's strategy invests most of its operating budget into pay for teachers. TEP founder and principal, Zeke Vanderhoek believes the rigorous recruitment strategy to separate the mediocre teachers from the all-stars will yield excelling results for their students.

But is higher pay helping this charter make the grade?

"When the fifth graders took the New York State math and reading exams, the results were disappointing. On average, other schools in the district scored better than TEP."

Watch the whole 60 Minutes segment below:

To read transcript of this 60 Minutes segment, click here.

Kristof: Pay Teachers More, Stop Demeaning the Profession

2011-03-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has an excellent column today on the profession of teaching and the impact teachers have on their students.

He points out several things we all should keep in mind when considering reforming education.

1. “Until a few decades ago, employment discrimination perversely strengthened our teaching force. Brilliant women became elementary school teachers, because better jobs weren’t open to them. It was profoundly unfair, but the discrimination did benefit America’s children.”

2. “Changes in relative pay have reinforced the problem. In 1970, in New York City, a newly minted teacher at a public school earned about $2,000 less in salary than a starting lawyer at a prominent law firm. These days the lawyer takes home, including bonus, $115,000 more than the teacher, the McKinsey study found.”

3. “Consider three other countries renowned for their educational performance: Singapore, South Korea and Finland. In each country, teachers are drawn from the top third of their cohort, are hugely respected and are paid well (although that’s less true in Finland). In South Korea and Singapore, teachers on average earn more than lawyers and engineers, the McKinsey study found.”

Finally, we can all agree with Kristof that the denigration of teachers needs to stop. Who is going to go into a profession that serves as a punching bag for partisan politics and/or politicians? The top graduates of our schools will not go into a profession that is not respected.

Contact your representatives--local, state and federal--and tell them to stop dumping on teachers. They are not the problem – they are the solution. And they deserve our respect.

Read the entire column, Pay Teachers More, New York Times, March 12, 2011.

NBC's "Education Nation" series takes a look at the film "Race to Nowhere"

2011-03-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To watch a clip of the film and read a brief summary of the screening at St. Gregory College Preparatory School in Tucson, Arizona, click here. To watch the panel discussion that followed the screening, click here.

For more information about the film or to learn more about hosting a screening in your community, visit http://www.racetonowhere.com/.

Great Critique of Bill Gates' Ideas About Class

2011-03-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

Check out this open letter to Bill Gates that ran in the Washington Post, written by an inner city science teacher, Anthony Cody, who now coaches novice teachers in Oakland, CA. Cody responds to the call made by Gates in a speech to the National Governors Association to increase class size for the "best" teachers in order to do more with less resources for public schools. Read an opinion piece by Gates, published in the Washington Post, which echoes his comments to the NGA.

Cody's open letter ends with an examination of the savings Gates proposes in his plan:

Let's take a school staffed by 40 teachers. You identify 25% as the "best," and give these ten teachers four students more each. That means you have served an extra 40 students, allowing you to reduce your staff by ONE teacher. That saves you approximately $75,000 a year, in salary and benefits. But according to this proposal we need to pay these teachers more, so if we pay them say $5,000 each, we have an expense of $50,000. So our net savings is $25,000. This is a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to the cuts our schools are facing. Please check your math, Mr. Gates.

Read Anthony Cody's entire letter in the Washington Post by clicking here.

St. Gregory Hosts Community Screening of "Race to Nowhere"

2011-03-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, March 3, St. Gregory College Preparatory School in Tucson, Arizona hosted a community screening of the film Race to Nowhere. The two-hour documentary the New York Times calls a "must see....alter ego to the better-known Waiting for Superman, examines how today's educational system is primarily driven by testing results, rather than by the quest for a quality, well-rounded educational experience for our students.

The idea for the film was born when its director, Vicki Abeles, found herself in endless battles with her children over homework. As she became increasingly concerned about how overwhelmed they were from the pressure to perform and live up to testing demands, Ms. Abeles began conversations with parents and students in her immediate community. Later, she traveled across the country to hear from parents, students, and medical/mental health experts who were having similar experiences in their own communities.

The result of these cross-country conversations is a compelling film that prompts its viewers to examine the current norm in our educational culture, the pressure it is placing on our students to produce, and how the social and emotional well being of our children is profoundly impacted.

A panel of Tucson area education experts and advocates led a community discussion following the film. Panel members included:

Malika Johnson, Director of College Counseling at St. Gregory
Michelle Berr, History Department Chair at St. Gregory
George Davis, former University of Arizona provost and former University of Vermont president
Ann-Eve Pedersen, Board President, Arizona Education Network
Eve Rifkin, Principal, City High School
Barry Bedrick, head of St. Michael's Parish Day School

Discussion between audience and panel members highlighted small points of disagreement with the film's portrayal of the educational environment. However, all were concerned that the current culture of testing is corrosive, not only to the educational experiences parents want for their children but to our country's access to critical and imaginative thinkers, inventors, and leaders in a global economy.

To learn more about this film or to inquire about hosting a screening in your community, visit here.

"Race to Nowhere:" It's no "Waiting for Superman" but it's Honest ~ John Merrow, Huffington Post October 2010

Parents Embrace "Race to Nowhere," on Pressures of School ~ New York Times, December 2010

The Daily Show Highlights: Teachers Vs. Wall Street pay, and a conversation with Diane Ravitch

2011-03-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

While most agree that the issues facing education and our country's teachers are hardly laughing matters, sometimes comedy shines a more pure light on how wildly the wheels are coming off of the bus.

Thursday, March 3, the Daily Show's Jon Stewart concluded his week's theme on educators and education. The show began with Stewart, delivering in his signature sharp style, a satirical examination of a major cable news channel's coverage of the teacher pay versus Wall Street pay "debate" and ended with a thoughtful conversation with Diane Ravitch, author of "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education."

Watch highlights from the Thursday's show here:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Crisis in the Dairyland - For Richer and Poorer - Teachers and Wall Street

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show - Diane Ravitch
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Is all "reform" good?

2011-03-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

Reform is the new "it" word in education, but is all reform good? It is important to stay up to date about the different reform ideas and how they may actually affect your child's education. The following articles talk about some of the problems/issues with different reform ideas. Check them out.

How Finland emerged from recession with the best education system in Europe, The Irish Times, March 1, 2011
One of the big ideas in reform is to emulate Finland. However, Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, a senior education consultant to the Finnish Government, points out that, "Finland has not employed any of the market-based educational reform ideas in the ways that they have been accepted within education policies of many other nations, United States and England among them. By contrast, a typical feature of teaching and learning in Finland is high confidence in teachers and principals as respected professionals."
Read More>>

There Are No Silver-Bullets in Education Reform, Forbes, February 28, 2011
E.D. Kain discusses the reform efforts led by Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., the impact of the Gates and Broad foundations and teacher assessments. Kain concludes that, "[t]he accountability movement has shifted the focus away from American ingenuity and creativity in favor of strict testing regimes in an attempt to compete with Japan and Finland."
Read More>>

Finally there are two pieces by Diane Ravitch,
Why America's teachers are enraged, CNN, February 20, 2011 and
Ravitch:'A moment of national insanity', The Washington Post, March 1, 2011
In the articles Ravitch discusses the "corporate" reform movement and its untested ideas. She also laments the organized attacks against teachers in the name of reform.
Read more CNN>>
Read more Washington Post>>

A Message for Teachers from Jon Stewart

2011-03-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Crisis in Dairyland - Message for Teachers

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

Brewer Discusses $500 Million Tax Cut Deal on Sunday Square Off

2011-02-21T19:14:00.000-08:00

Governor Jan Brewer appeared on Phoenix Channel 12's "Sunday Square Off" to discuss the tax cuts for businesses she signed into law last week.

Governor Brewer called the legislature into special session to vote on and pass a $500 million tax cut package. It isn't clear how soon, if ever, businesses and jobs will return to Arizona as a result, nor how education and vital state programs will be sustained after punching such a substantial hole into the state's already depleted revenue collections.

When asked by commentator Brahm Resnik if it was fair for businesses to get this large tax cut package when universities and patients on AHCCCS are left to face further cuts in funding, Governor Brewer replied, "Absolutely. Absolutely."

Why?

According to Governor Brewer, "It's the business that drives the economy." Not education. Not patients.

Watch below:

Civility Breaks Out In Tucson

2011-02-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

The cause of civility is being advanced in Tucson, Arizona.

Today, the University of Arizona announced that Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton will co-chair a new National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. According to a press release by the University of Arizona,

One of the key goals for the institute is to connect people with diverse viewpoints and to offer a venue for vigorous and respectful debate. Among the institute's first events will be an executive forum with media, foundation, academic, government and corporate leaders regarding moving forward the national conversation about civil discourse and proceeding with constructive solutions.

Last week, Gabrielle Gifford's aid Ron Barber announced the formation of The Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding. The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, which will administer the fund announced that,

The fund, created by the Barber family, will support nonprofit programs or organizations that work to heal the wounds inflicted on January 8, 2011. It will honor those who lost their lives or were injured that day, and will pay tribute to the first responders, citizens and medical personnel who came to their aid. The fund will support nonprofit activities in public schools, faith communities, and mental health. Concerts will play an important role in building the fund and in healing and unifying our community.

An all star fundraising concert, featuring Jackson Browne, Alice Cooper, and many other musical acts will kick off the fund on March 10, 2011. Tickets are on now sale at Ticketmaster.

To read more about The National Institute for Civil Discourse and The Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding, see below:

Bush, Clinton to Chair New National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona, UANEWS, 2/21/11.

University of Arizona Sets Up Civility Institute, New York Times, 2/21/11.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse Website

The Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona

Shooting victim Barber launches fund for Civility, Respect and Understanding, FOX11AZ.com, 2/17/11.

Browne, Cooper to play benefit in Tucson, Ariz, Arizona Daily Star, 2/17/11.

Are all parents ready to help their students?

2011-02-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

We came across a great opinion piece in The Christian Science Monitor, Want better students? Teach their parents. Author Jerome Kagan, a professor at Harvard, discusses the importance of parents in the preparation of children for school. The article highlights problems faced by children raised in families with limited education. Kagan points to a Tufts program of early intervention using ten, two hour home visits to work with the parents of economically disadvantaged two-year-olds. Low-cost limited interventions with parents seems to have an effect. We encourage you to take a look at the article.

Fortunately this past November, Arizona voters rescued our First Things First Program, which targets funds to early childhood development. Sadly, parents who need services to improve their educational potential were not so lucky; all state funding for GED was eliminated in the last legislative session. This seems counterproductive if you are trying to encourage families with limited education to prepare their children for school.

To learn more about preparing adults to help their children go to these web sites: Tucson Area Literacy Coalition, TucsonLiteracy.org and Pima Community College Adult Education. You may also want to check out a program that has had success in Arizona and other states, Parents as Teachers. You can find out if they are in a location near you by putting in your zip code here.

Kotterman v. Huppenthal: Superintendent of Public Instruction

2010-09-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

.

Two candidates have emerged from the Arizona primary election for Superintendent of Public Instruction. They are Penny Kotterman and John Huppenthal. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is the top education official in the state, and acts as the Chairman of the State Board of Education and is the head of the Department of Education. The Superintendent of Public Instruction influences policy in the legislature, is responsible for the implementation of education legislation and is in charge of the Department of Education and its interactions with school districts. Further, the Superintendent of Public Instruction commands the bully pulpit on education issues and has a great deal of influence on the direction the state takes regarding educational issues like school funding. Because of the importance of this officeholder, we have gathered information to help you make an informed decision on November 2 when you elect the next Superintendent of Public Instruction. To read why you should pay attention to the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, click here.

.
SURVEYS

Each candidate was offered the opportunity to fill out a survey about public education that the Arizona Education Network wrote. To read their views on this 13 question survey, click the pdf links below.

Kotterman's Survey on Superintendent of Public Instruction

Still awaiting Mr. Huppenthal's survey that was emailed to him on 9/13, 9/14 and 9/18.

VIDEO

The office of Clean Elections held a 30 minute debate between the two candidates. Hear what they have to say about how they would lead the public education system in Arizona.

Huppenthal v Kotterman Clean Elections Debate

.

.

For related links, visit:

Arizona Superintendent of Public Education: Why You Should Pay Attention to This Office

Penny Kotterman: http://www.pennykotterman.com

John Huppenthal: http://www.johnhuppenthal.com

Quick Facts: Public Education Funding in Arizona

Are Your Candidates Education-Friendly, a guide on voting records and surveys.

First Things First: Prop 302 Your Questions Answered

.

.

Survey: 2010 Arizona State Legislative Candidates

2010-07-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Survey: 2010 Arizona State Legislators Election

Click here to find your District

AZ Legislative Districts Map, pdf

View the original post on our website here: http://www.arizonaeducationnetwork.com/2010/07/survey-2010-az-legislator-election/

For information about facts on school choice, funding, taxes, as well as our protocol and a blank copy of the survey, please see below. If a candidate did not submit a survey, it is noted by their name.
.
For a bar graph overview on how each question was answered by all candidates, click Overview of Survey 2010.

.

District 1: General Area: North-Central AZ; Cottonwood, Prescott, Sedona, Williams

Senate: Bob Donahue
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 639-1885
Email: rdonahue@calbeone.net
Senate: Steve Pierce
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 445-6824
Email: contact@electstevepierce.com

House: Lindsay Bell
Click for Bell's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 778-0348
Email: LindsayBell@electlindsaybell.com
House: Noel Campbell
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 776-7030
Email: noelcampbell@noelcampbell.com
House: Karen Fann
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 308-3995
Email: fannm@cableone.net
House: Andy Tobin
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 710-2351
Email: tobin2010@andytobin.com

District 2: General Area: Northeast AZ/Grand Canyon; Flagstaff, Hopi Reservation, and Navajo Nation

Senate: Kee Allen Begay, Jr.
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 814-7347
Email: keebegay@mfcouncil-kbjr.com
Senate: Gloria Hale-Showalter
Click for Hale-Showalter's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 810-4171
Email: gloriahs@mail.com
Senate: Jack C. Jackson, Jr.
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 554-5607
Email: jackjacksonjr@gmail.com
Senate: Sylvia Laughter
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 487-7087
Email: navajostaterep@hotmail.com

House: Tom Albert
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 971-0930
Email: apeytont@aol.com
House: Pat Carr
Click for Carr's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 214-8210
Email: patcarr@tubacity.net
House: Tom Chabin
Click for Chabin's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 774-8625
Email: reptomchabin@q.com
House: Albert Hale
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 871-4559
Email: ahalelaw@citlink.net
House: Frank Mulligan
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 226-0428
Email: flmulligan@gmail.com

District 3: General Area: West & NW AZ; Bullhead City, Fredonia, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Page

Senate: Ron Gould
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 680-7871
Email: ron@RonGould.com
Senate: Beth Weiser
Click for Weisser's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 530-5995
Email: valvico@yahoo.com

House: Ray Cullison, II
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 757-3460
Email: cullison2010@gmail.com
House: Doris Goodale
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 753-2306
Email: doris.goodale@yahoo.com
House: Nancy McLain
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 763-5146
Email: NMclainBHC@aol.com

District 4: General Area: West-Central AZ; Black Canyon City, Sun City West, Northern Surprise

Senate: Tony Bouie
Click for Bouie's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 221-1437
Email: campaign@tonybouie.com
Senate: Scott Bundgaard
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 582-2445
Email: scott@bundgaard.com
Senate: Sue Dolphin
Click for Dolphin's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 690-3780
Email: sldolphin@gmail.com
Senate: Shawn Kohner
Click for Kohner's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 909-7376
Email: kohnerazsenate@cox.net

House: Judy Burgess
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 899-1624
Email: burges@myexcel.com
House: Karina Guerrero
Click for Guerrero's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 688-5399
Email: karina4AZ@cox.net
House: Jack W. Harper
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 680-3530
Email: JackWHarper@Hughes.net
House: Eric Sheats
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 325-3275
Email: esheats@ericsheats.com
House: Tim Zobel
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 799-0084
Email: tazobel@hotmail.com

District 5: General Area: Eastern AZ; Clifton, Globe, Holbrook, Payson, Safford, Show Low, St. Johns, Winslow

Senate: Sylvia Allen
Click for Allen's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 536-3566
Email: syallen5@frontiernet.net
Senate: Elaine Bohlmeyer
Click for Bohlmeyer's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 474-5587
Email: elaineforarizona@q.com
Senate: Bill Konopnicki
Click for Konopnicki's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 418-2217
Email: kono@zekes.com

House: Keith Alexander
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 651-0455
Email: charalexander@netscape.net
House: Brenda Barton
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 428-6979
Email: Barton4AZ@gmail.com
House: Chester Crandell
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 535-4107
Email: c.crandell@hotmail.com
House: David Rodriguez
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 425-4708
Email: AZRodriguez@yahoo.com
House: Bill Shumway
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 289-2785
Email: bnshumway@cableone.net
House: Prescott Winslow
Click for Winslow's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 587-0934
Email: WinslowStateRep@cableone.net

District 6: General Area: Phoenix N of Thunderbird Rd, Between 51st Ave and 16th St

Senate: David Braswell
Click for Braswell's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 524-5704
Email: dbraswell1@cox.net
Senate: Pat Flickner
Click for Flickner's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 237-3965
Email: pat4AZ@gmail.com
Senate: Lori Klein
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 218-6090
Email: lklein4@cox.net

House: Bill Barker
Click for Barker's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 915-1692
Email: billbariz@msn.com
House: Teri Conrad
Click for Conrad's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 742-7306
Email: teri.conrad@hotmail.com
House: David Fitzgerald, III
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 688-8217
Email: DavidFitzgerald2010@gmail.com
House: Steve Kaiser
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 332-6121
Email: steven.kaiser@gmail.com
House: John Adam Kowalski
Click for Kowalski's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 319-3190
Email: john@pivotproductions.net
House: Deborah O'Dowd
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 329-0284
Email: leonardclark385@hotmail.com
House: Amanda Reeve
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 677-1745
Email: amandareeve@cox.net
House: Rick Robinson
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 581-1721
Email: Rick@QCECO.com
House: Carl Seel
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 818-9293
Email: carlseel@cox.net
House: Clint Van Wuffen
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 703-5990
Email: vwforhouse@gmail.com

District 7: General Area: Phoenix N of Thunderbird Rd, between 16th St and Pima Rd

Senate: Ray Barnes
Click for Barnes' Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 248-0797
Email: wfdudley@dhtax.net
Senate: Nancy Barto
Click for Barto's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 569-4742
Email: nancybarto@cox.net
Senate: Brad Buch
Click for Buch's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 353-7442
Email: bradbuch@cox.net
Senate: Bob Green
Click for Green's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 717-7262
Email: bobgreen@q.com
Senate: Eric Shelley
Click for Shelley's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 705-7883
Email: eric@ericshelley.com

House: Craig Barton
Click for Barton's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 493-2281
Email: craig.barton@cox.net
House: Kristin Burroughs
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 329-1411
Email: kburroughsk@cox.net
House: Heather Carter
Click for Carter's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 697-9777
Email: heathercarter@me.com
House: Don Chilton
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 770-8894
Email: donchilton@q.com
House: Michael Coskun
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 743-0550
Email: michaelcoskun@gmail.com
House: Michael Edward Farrar
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 231-0767
Email: mikefarrar1@hotmail.com
House: Jim Iannuzo
Did not submit survey
Phone:
Email: representative@iannuzo.com
House: Peter Royers
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 867-0907
Email: peter.royers@cox.net
House: David Smith
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 990-7500
Email: dbsdbsatty@yahoo.com
House: Howard Lee Sprague
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 388-4766
Email: spragueforld7@hotmail.com

District 8: General Area: Scottsdale, Fountain Hills

Senate: Michele Reagan
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 922-7370
Email: VoteReagan@cox.net
Senate: Stuart Turnansky
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 809-8000
Email: s1tur@aol.com

House: Michael Blaire
Click for Blaire's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 221-8511
Email: mike@blaire2010.com
House: John Kavanagh
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 837-5612
Email: drjohnkavanagh@cox.net
House: John Kriekard
Click for Kriekard's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 473-1176
Email: jkriekard@msn.com
House: Ray Mahoubi
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 332-6829
Email: rmahoubi@hotmail.com
House: Paula Pennypacker
Click for Pennypacker's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 556-6787
Email: paulapennypacker@aol.com
House: Michelle Ugenti
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 213-0046
Email: mugenti@hotmail.com
House: Eric Ulis
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 246-7930
Email: ERIC@ERICULIS.COM

District 9: General Area: Peoria, Sun City, Nort-Central Glendale, Youngtown

Senate: Rick Murphy
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 486-4488
Email: info@rickmurphyaz.com
Senate: Michael Patti
Click for Patti's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 221-9466
Email: Vote4Patti@gmail.com
Senate: Sheri Van Horsen
Click for Van Horsen's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 547-7428
Email: svh_kasmir@yahoo.com

House: Diane M. Douglas
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 979-9425
Email: Info@dianedouglas.com
House: Rick Gray
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 340-8091
Email: rick.gray@cox.net
House: Debbie Lesko
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 878-9761
Email: Debbie@debbielesko.com
House: Shirley McAllister
Click for McAllister's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 876-9198
Email: sunmacaz@cox.net

District 10: General Area: Phoenix and part of Glendale between Northern& Bell Rd, 51st Ave and Cave Creek Rd

Senate: Linda Gray
Click for Gray's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 938-2914
Email: lindagray16@yahoo.com
Senate: Justin Johnson
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 722-9690
Email: pdoan@riester.com

House: Bill Adams
Click for B.Adams' Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 934-5087
Email: billadams2010@cox.net
House: Aaron Jahneke
Click for Jahneke's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 509-0561
Email: aaronjahneke@yahoo.com
House: Doug "Q" Quelland
Click for Quelland's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 978-8772
Email: Dougquelland@cox.net
House: Jackie Thrasher
Click for Thrasher's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 978-6767
Email: jackie@jackiethrasher.com
House: James Weiers
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 993-9775
Email: jimweiers@juno.com
House: Kimberly Yee
Click forYee's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 750-9507
Email: kimberly@kimberlyyee.com

District 11: General Area: Paradise Valley, North-Central Phoenix

Senate: Rich Davis
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 221-6120
Email: info@richdavisforarizona.com
Senate: Rita Dickinson
Click for Dickinson's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 955-2772
Email: rdickinson9@cox.net
Senate: Adam Driggs
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 959-4848
Email: addriggs@juno.com
Senate: Andrew Smigielski
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 492-7644
Email: andrew@andrewforaz.com

House: Shawnna Bolick
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 418-2469
Email: 4azbolicks@cox.net
House: Bev Kraft
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 943-0030
Email: bevkraft@hotmail.com
House: Kate Brophy McGee
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 359-3366
Email: bkmcgee@cox.net
House: Eric Meyer
Click for Meyer's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 607-0660
Email: electericmeyer@gmail.com
House: Dusti Morris
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 904-3843
Email: dustifordistrict11@yahoo.com
House: Eric West
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 350-6753
Email: eric.west@gmail.com

District 12: General Area: Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Surprise

Senate: Tyler Kissell
Click for Kissell's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 578-6804
Email: tyler.kissell@gmail.com
Senate: John Nelson
Click for Nelson's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 872-7215
Email: nelsonforsenate@hotmail.com
Senate: Eve Nunez
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 866-8833
Email: eve@evenunez.com
Senate: Clark Silver
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 451-3160
Email: clarksilver@cox.net
Senate: Michael White
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 910-9526
Email: mwhite@peoriaud.k12.az.us

House: Angela Cotera
Click for Cotera's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 877-2671
Email: cotera4az@gmail.com
House: Justin Dahl
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 684-4802
Email: electjustindahl@gmail.com
House: Steve Montenegro
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 826-8108
Email: SteveMontenegro@gmail.com
House: Jerry Weiers
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 677-0755
Email: mike@lawreed.com

District 13: General Area: Phoenix West of Grand Ave, South of Camelback Rd, to Tolleson and Avondale

Senate: Steve Gallardo
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 337-1604
Email: gallardoforsenate@live.com

House: Richard Miranda
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 469-2393
Email: rmiranda2@cox.net
House: Martin J. Quezada
Click for Quezada's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 469-2393
Email: Quezada.for.AZHouse@gmail.com
House: Anna Tovar
Did not submit survey
Phone: (623) 907-8673
Email: atovar25@msn.com

District 14: General Area: Phoenix West-Central, North of Van Buren to Glendale

Senate: Robert Meza
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 326-4432
Email: elizmf@yahoo.com

House: Chad Campbell
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 576-7414
Email: chad@chadcampbell.org
House: Debbi McCune-Davis
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 256-7185
Email: dmdaviscampaign@aol.com

District 15: General Area: Central Phoenix

Senate: Kyrsten Sinema
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 570-7217
Email: ksinema@cox.net
Senate: Bob Thomas
Click for Thomas' Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 462-1117
Email: rwthomas123@aol.com

House: Lela Alston
Click for Alston's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 278-2002
Email: lalston2@msn.com
House: Ken Clark
Click for Clark's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 456-0489
Email: 2010@kenclarkforaz.com
House: Caroline B. Condit
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 486-5067
Email: condit2010@live.com
House: Katie Hobbs
Click for Hobbs's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 318-9033
Email: katie@katiehobbs.org
House: Luisa Evonne Valdez
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 413-3182
Email: lehallvaldez@gmail.com
House: Les White
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 488-3102
Email: telephonewiz@hotmail.com
House: Paul Yoder
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 335-1401
Email: azmystrow@yahoo.com

District 16: General Area: Phoenix South of Van Buren to South Mountain

Senate: Victor Jett Contreras
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 766-0719
Email: victorjett10@gmail.com
Senate: Leah Landrum
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 292-3778
Email: LANTAY2@EARTHLINK.NET

House: Cloves Campbell Jr.
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 309-9786
Email: clovesiii@aol.com
House: Ruben Gallego
Click for Gallego's Survey, pdf
Phone: (623) 308-9292
Email: pdoan@riester.com
House: Sandra Gonzales
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 306-1760
Email: yoemesmg@yahoo.com
House: Michael Gular
Click for Gular's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 478-5359
Email: gularforazhouse@cox.net
House: Cristy Lopez
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 525-4651
Email: drclopez@yahoo.com
House: Catherine H. Miranda
Click for Miranda's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 672-4298
Email: friendsforcatherinemiranda@yahoo.com
House: Jim Munoz, Jr.
Click for Munoz's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 305-8784
Email: DarleneforMunoz@gmail.com
House: Angel Torres
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 305-7496
Email: aatorres29@hotmail.com

District 17: General Area: Tempe

Senate: Garrett Chartier-Dickie
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 695-8495
Email: garret.dickie@gmail.com
Senate: Wendy Rogers
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 829-1846
Email: mike@scherrercpa.com
Senate: David Schapira
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 588-5439
Email: info@davidforaz.com

House: Ed Ableser
Click for Ableser's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 343-1602
Email: voteed@gmail.com
House: P. Ben Arredondo
Click for Arredondo's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 921-2311
Email: benarredondo@cox.net
House: Cristian Dumitrescu
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 242-6653
Email: micu23@gmail.com
House: Donald Hawker
Click for Hawker's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 897-6509
Email: donaldhawker@aol.com
House: Gregor Knauer
Click for Knauer's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 966-0649
Email: gregorknauer@gmail.com
House: Damian Trabel
Did not submit survey
Phone: (260) 249-3866
Email: damian_trabel@hotmail.com

District 18: General Area: West Mesa

Senate: Andrea Garcia
Click for Garcia's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 206-4750
Email: andreacarciaLD18@gmail.com
Senate: Robert Hernandez McDonald, Jr.
Click for McDonald's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 406-0559
Email: mcdonaldforld18senate@gmail.com
Senate: Russell Pearce
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 834-6465
Email: RussellPearce@cox.net
Senate: Andrew Sherwood
Click for , pdf
Phone: (480) 773-1005
Email: sherwood.andrew@gmail.com

House: Cecil Ash
Click for Ash's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 892-4687
Email: cecilash@gmail.com
House: Michael Conway
Click for Conway's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 707-8570
Email: maconway@msn.com
House: Steve Court
Click for Court's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 246-1035
Email: sgcourt68@msn.com
House: Chris A.H. Will
Click for Will's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 461-1299
Email: brielle58@yahoo.com

District 19: General Area: East Mesa

Senate: Rich Crandall
Senate: Russell Pearce
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 835-7072
Email: rcrandall@cnresource.com
Senate: James Molina
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 919-6024
Email: james@jamesmolina.com

House: Kirk Adams
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 505-9009
Email: kirk@kirkadams.org
House: Kit Filbey
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 981-5300
Email: kit@maxion.us
House: Justin Olson
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 677-2643
Email: jolson2010@gmail.com
House: Scott Perkinson
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 818-4710
Email: sperkinson@pri.us

District 20: General Area: Ahwatukee, West Chandler, South Tempe

Senate: John McComish
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 496-6943
Email: jpmccomish@cox.net

House: Jeff Dial
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 203-9616
Email: jd@jeffdial.com
House: Bob Robson
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 786-0809
Email: drobson@381.coxatwork.com
House: Christopher Tolino
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 885-5761
Email: chris@christolino.com
House: Rae Waters
Click for Waters' Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 893-0198
Email: rae@raewaters.com

District 21: General Area: East Chandler, Queen Creek, Sun Lakes

Senate: Steve Yarbrough
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 897-1060
Email: sby@acsto.org

House: Tom Forese
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 381-8090
Email: voteforese@gmail.com
House: Linda J. Macias
Click for Macias's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 201-3991
Email: lindajmacias@aol.com
House: Javen "JD" Mesnard
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 650-4509
Email: jdmesnard@gmail.com
House: Venessa Whitener
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 299-1295
Email: svzwhite@yahoo.com

District 22: General Area: Gilbert, South Mesa

Senate: Andy Biggs
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 926-9401
Email: biggs4senate@cox.net

House: Eddie Farnsworth
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 857-8073
Email: eddiefarnsworth2010@gmail.com
House: Laurin Hendrix
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 232-7862
Email: laurinh@cox.net
House: Paul Howell
Click for Howell's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 326-0456
Email: dbacksfanatic@cox.net
House: Brett Petillo
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 603-9284
Email: brett.petillo@gmail.com
House: Kelly Townsend
Click for Townsend's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 295-9438
Email: kune_fish@yahoo.com
House: Steve Urie
Did not submit survey
Phone: (480) 830-8355
Email: steveurie@aol.com

District 23: General Area: Central AZ, Apache Junction, Casa Grande, Coolidge, Eloy, Florence, Maricopa, Oracle

Senate: Matt Byers
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 625-1757
Email: mattbyersinc@hotmail.com
Senate: Rebecca Rios
Click for Rios's Survey, pdf
Phone: (602) 540-4043
Email: rebecca_rios@hotmail.com
Senate: Steve Smith
Click for Smith's Survey, pdf
Phone: (480) 225-8939
Email: smithsteve8@yahoo.com

House: Ernest Bustamante
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 487-2192
Email: ernestbustamante2008@gmail.com
House: John Fillmore
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602) 886-6691
Email: johnf80@msn.com
House: Barbara McGuire
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 363-5002
Email: barbmcguire@hotmail.com
House: Frank Pratt
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 836-9592
Email: frank@frankpratt.org
House: Ralph Varela
Click for Varela's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 836-8330
Email: varela_ralph@yahoo.com

District 24: General Area: Southwest AZ, Ehrenberg, Parker, San Luis, Yuma

Senate: Amanda Aguirre
Click for Aguirre's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 783-0101
Email: AmandaAZSenate@aol.com
Senate: Jack Kretzer
Click for Kretzer's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 376-6871
Email: fourlegs183@yahoo.com

House: Russ Jones
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 726-7799
Email: russ@rljones.com
House: Lynne Pancrazi
Did not submit survey
Phone: (928) 782-1455
Email: mpancrazi1@roadrunner.com
House: John Weil
Click for Weil's Survey, pdf
Phone: (928) 246-6524
Email: jweil001@aol.com

District 25: General Area: South-Border AZ, Bisbee, Douglas, Gila Bend, Marana, Nogales, Rio Rico, Tonopah

Senate: Manuel V. "Manny" Alvarez
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 642-3529
Email: malvarez@vtc.net
Senate: Gail Griffin
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 378-4333
Email: griff4333@gmail.com
Senate: Craig Smith
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 265-3560
Email: electcraigsmith@gmail.com

House: Ken Davis
Click for Davis' Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 720-0400
Email: kendavisforarizona@gmail.com
House: Patricia Fleming
Click for Fleming's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 378-4386
Email: fleming4az@gmail.com
House: Peggy Judd
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 507-1735
Email: busbarn@vtc.net
House: Ruben Ortega
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 378-6474
Email: binz14@cox.net
House: David Stevens
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 732-1003
Email: davidstevens2010@cox.net

District 26: General Area: North Tucson, Catalina, Oro Valley

Senate: Cheryl Cage
Click for Cage's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 579-6238
Email: cherylcageAZ@gmail.com
Senate: Al Melvin
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 825-2894
Email: ALMELVIN3@GMAIL.COM

House: Wade McLean
Click for McLean's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 591-0340
Email: wademclean@comcast.net
House: Terri Proud
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 403-1134
Email: terriproud@hotmail.com
House: Vic Williams
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 390-9946
Email: vic520w@gmail.com
House: Nancy Young Wright
Click for Young-Wright's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 403-4632
Email: nyw1@earthlink.net

District 27: General Area: Central and West Tucson

Senate: Olivia Cajero Bedford
Did not submit survey
Phone: (602)926-5835
Email: ocajerob@yahoo.com

House: John Bernal
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 665-1848
Email: johnbernal2004@hotmail.com
House: Eric Carbajal Bustamante
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 591-2485
Email: CarbajalBustamante@gmail.com
House: Gene Chewning
Click for Chewning's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 780-6177
Email: chewningazhouse@aol.com
House: Robert I. Compton
Click for Compton's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 631-5721
Email: cancerrob57@cox.net
House: Dustin Cox
Click for Cox's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 301-4845
Email: dustincox@gmail.com
House: Bob Gilby
Click for Gilby's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 743-9153
Email: bgilby@cox.net
House: Sally Ann Gonzales
Click for Gonzales' Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 883-7968
Email: sally.gonzales@msn.com
House: Sami Hamed
Click for Hamed's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 903-1190
Email: Govhamed@aol.com
House: John Kromko
Click for Kromko's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 791-7497
Email: jkromko@dakotacom.net
House: Macario Saldate
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 632-5654
Email: msaldate@cox.net
House: Kent Solberg
Click for Solberg's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 245-0454
Email: kenstools@aol.com

District 28: General Area: North and Central Tucson

Senate: Paula Aboud
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 323-7264
Email: paboud@msn.com
Senate: Ted Downing
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 323-8766
Email: votedowning@cox.net
Senate: Dave Ewoldt
Click for Ewoldt's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 887-2502
Email: dave@reststop.net
Senate: Greg Krino
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 271-5170
Email: gkrino@hotmail.com

House: Steve Farley
Click for Farley's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 320-0044
Email: sfarley@igc.org
House: Ted Prezelski
Click for Prezelski's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 349-9046
Email: prezelski@aol.com
House: Mohur Sidhwa
Click for Sidhwa's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 293-2101
Email: mohur2010@gmail.com
House: Ken Smalley
Click for Smalley's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 325-4000
Email: kelinda@cox.net
House: Tim Sultan
Click for Sultan's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 440-7442
Email: timsultan2010@gmail.com
House: Bruce Wheeler
Click for Wheeler's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 795-4848
Email: brucewheeler@cox.net

District 29: General Area: Southeast-Central Tucson, South Tucson

Senate: Linda Lopez
Click for Lopez's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 889-1161
Email: chapalinda@cox.net

House: Matt Heinz
Click for Heinz's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 305-9362
Email: HeinzforAZ@gmail.com
House: Pat Kilburn
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 343-0022
Email: kilburn29@gmail.com
House: Daniel Patterson
Click for Patterson's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 305-9828
Email: dpcampaign@gmail.com

District 30: General Area: Green Valley, Patagonia, Northeast Tucson, East Tucson, Sierra Vista, Southern Tucson, Vail

Senate: Frank Antenori
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 465-8850
Email: vote4frank@cox.net
Senate: Todd Camenisch
Click for Camenisch's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 955-1948
Email: toddcamenisch@yahoo.com
Senate: Marian Ann McClure
Click for McClure's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 749-2548
Email: mar42ian@msn.com

House: Brian R. Abbott
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 241-2935
Email: brian_arizona@msn.com
House: Andrea Dalessandro
Click for Delassandro's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 648-2092
Email: Andrea4LD30@gmail.com
House: David Gowan
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 559-0878
Email: davidgowan1@cox.net
House: Kurt Knurr
Click for Knurr's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 456-0399
Email: knurr4az30@hotmail.com
House: Parralee Schneider
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 749-0312
Email: mmstucson@aol.com
House: Doug Sposito
Click for Sposito's Survey, pdf
Phone: (520) 455-9326
Email: doug@az30house.com
House: Ted Vogt
Did not submit survey
Phone: (520) 269-2463
Email: vogt4arizona@gmail.com

.
.
Some facts to keep in mind when reading the surveys:
.

School Choice:
Arizona already has a robust school-choice environment. In fact, we are a leader nationwide in the school-choice movement. In addition to traditional public schools, Arizona has approximately 500 charter schools, provides public tax credits for private schools, and allows home schooling. However, with all this choice, nearly 90% of the parents still choose to send their children to public schools.
.

Taxes:
Our state general fund spending hasn’t varied much when it is compared to the total personal income of Arizona citizens each year. The highest income to state spending ratio in the last 16 years was 5.2% in 1995 – it was 4.7% in 2008.
.
What has changed dramatically is our tax structure. Corporate income tax rates have declined from 9.3% in 1990 to 6.98% in 2008. The JLBC reports that our yearly corporate tax revenue was actually lower between 1998-2004 than it was in FY 1997.
.

Personal income taxes have dropped from a range of 3.80-7.00% in 1990 to 2.59-4.54% in 2008, and the number of tax credits and loopholes introduced during that time means that many individuals and businesses pay less than their actual published tax rate.
.
For more information about taxes, see:
AEN & ASBA--Your Questions Answered, pdf
Arizona Indicators, Public Finance, Arizona Tax Burden : May 2009
Historical Perspective on Arizona's Tax Structure: Past, Present, and Future, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

.

Funding: According to most national sources, Arizona ranks near the bottom of all states in per-pupil funding. The latest figures from the 2007-2008 Census Bureau [1] show Arizona at $7, 608 per pupil compared to the national average of $10, 259 per pupil. (New York led the funding at $17, 173 per pupil.)

.
It is worth noting that these figures do not include the steep cuts to public education legislators made during the last two years. The Arizona legislature cut $2.2 billion from K-12 and university/community college funding since 2008 [2]. These cuts have crippled many school districts, especially in rural areas. The cuts have resulted in class size increases; the loss of specialist teachers and programs like music, P.E. and gifted services; even the loss of basic necessities like paper. While some point to high administrative costs to justify these cuts, administrative costs in Arizona for public schools average nearly 2% less than the national average of 9.0%.
.
To read more about funding issues, see:
AZ School--Examination of the Facts ,
Arizona Auditor General Report on Classroom Spending 2009: A Closer Look
Per Pupil Spending by State 2007-2008 [1]
Education Reductions, Plus Rollovers, January 2009 [2] (This entailed cuts of over $1 billion to K-12 education in the last 18 months plus the additional borrowing of nearly $1 billion from the schools to help fill the deficit.)
Budget Cuts JLBC July 2010

.

Survey Protocol:
All candidates running for the state Senate or House of Representatives in the 2010 primary were asked to complete our survey on issues surrounding public education in Arizona. The survey consists of 12 multiple-choice questions. A comment section follows each section allowing candidates the opportunity to clarify or elaborate upon their answers. Per our protocol, candidates were emailed the survey on on June 22 and sent two reminder emails prior to the July 16 deadline. If a candidate did not submit a survey, it is noted by their name.
.

You may wish to take the survey yourself to help you identify your own educational priorities; or, you may want to mail a copy to a candidate who did not return a survey to AEN. Click Blank Survey 2010, pdf to get a copy of the survey for your use.

.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Debates: July 2010

2010-07-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Phoenix-based PBS channel Eight recently aired a special edition of Horizon where host Ted Simons moderated two Clean Elections debates with the candidates running for Superintendent of Public Instruction. The first debate featured Republican candidates Margaret Dugan, John Huppenthal, and Beth Price. The second debate featured the Democratic candidates Penny Kotterman and Jason Williams.

A wide variety of education subjects including teacher accountability, standards, AIMS testing, education spending and all-day kindergarten were addressed.

To learn more about the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and its importance go to Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction; Why You Should Pay Attention to this Office

.
To view the Democratic Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction debate, click on video link below.
.

.
.

To view the Republican Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction debate, click video link below.
.

.

To learn more about the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and its importance go to Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction; Why You Should Pay Attention to this Office

Traditional Public School Performance Outpaces Charters According to AZ Learns Data

2010-07-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

.An analysis by the Arizona Education Network of the Arizona Learns 2008-2009 Achievement Profiles for All Schools published by the Arizona Department of Education shows that traditional public schools performed better than charter schools over the same period.

The report lists the performance results of 463 charter schools and 1432 non-charter, traditional public schools. Breakdowns of the schools' performance ratings are as follows.

.

School Performance Ratings by Type of School


	Number		Percent
Rating	Traditional	Charter	Traditional	Charter
Excelling	321	74	22.42%	15.98%
Highly Performing	214	35	14.94%	7.56%
Performing Plus	511	98	35.68%	21.17%
Performing	349	229	24.37%	49.46%
Underperforming	21	24	1.47%	5.19%
Failing:	16	3	1.12%	0.65%

.

When the top three categories (Excelling, Highly Performing, and Performing Plus) are aggregated, 73.04% of traditional non-charter schools are in these three categories versus 44.71% of charter schools. Most concerning are the 5.25% of charter schools that are underperforming or failing versus 2.7% for traditional schools in these categories.

.
For additional information, see below:

Arizona Learns 2008-2009 Achievement Profiles for All Schools

State's original charter schools up for renewal, East Valley Tribune, July 2, 2010

Arizona State Board for Charter Schools

.

Parents not happy with the state of school system in Arizona & disappointed in their elected leaders (poll)

2010-06-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

.

A recent statewide survey conducted on behalf of Expect More Arizona finds that voters in the state are concerned with the education system, disappointed in elected leaders, and worried that the quality of the education system costs Arizona economic and job growth opportunities and needed talent and expertise. However, while voters view a wide array of people and groups as responsible for their disappointment, they ultimately believe that they, too, (along with everyone else) have a role to play when it comes to improving education in Arizona.

.
An excerpt from the press release states:

Respondents are also fully aware of the link between a solid education system and the success of the state‟s economic future: Forty-three percent ranked the economy and education as the most important issues facing Arizona. In fact, nine-tenths indicate they agree economic development and job growth rely heavily on improving education across the entire continuum, and especially at the K-12 and higher education levels. Further, fewer than half (48%) said they believe Arizona is a good place for young people to start a career, a troubling statistic, given that Arizona‟s college graduates are the critical workforce pipeline for a variety of the state‟s current and future knowledge-based industries. “Arizonans have for years said they want a high-quality education system, even before it became as critical as it is now to compete in the 21st century economy,” said Paul J. Luna, Chairman of the Board of Expect More Arizona. “We are finding that across the board, people are ready to take action; they realize the quality of education impacts their quality of life.”

.

For an actual PDF download of the poll, click Expect More Arizona Voter Poll Summary 6_16_10.

Expect More Arizona Press Release, click here.

.

Expect More Arizona is a statewide public-private partnership dedicated to creating a movement of Arizonans who value education as our state’s top priority and are actively engaged in strengthening the entire continuum from birth through career. To learn more about their mission and their work, visit www.expectmorearizona.org.

.

AEN on KVOA

2010-06-23T19:12:00.001-07:00

The Arizona Education Network Executive team was recently highlighted on a local Tucson, AZ station.

.

.

Parents Fighting for Education

KVOA -4

Posted - 6/11/2010 at 3:05PM by Naomi Pescovitz

KVOA -4TUCSON - Fed up with school cut backs, bigger class sizes and what they call a "crises," a group of parent activists has formed the Arizona Education Network. These parents say Arizona can't give up on its schools.

"This isn't a sacrifice, this is an investment," Vice President of the Arizona Education Network Jenifer Darland said.

In part, it is a watchdog group for busy parents.

"We watch very carefully, we stay up into the wee hours into the night following what the legislature's doing and we let you know so you know how to protect your children," Arizona Education Network Board President Ann-Eve Pedersen said.

They post all that information on their website. Parents can follow their legislators and see how they voted on recent education issues.

"They're going to be looking at the legislators' records as it pertains to education. Those that aren't supportive of education probably have something to worry about," Arizona Education Network Cofounder MaryLee Moulton said.

These parents say funding public schools will make Arizona a more attractive place to live and work, which could boost our economy.

"If you vote for education and you vote to invest in education, you're voting to increase your economic base. You're voting to keep people here in our state because they can send their kids, they can trust that their sending their kids to quality funded education," Darland said.

They also say now is the time to get involved.

"This is a moment, kind of a tipping point moment for Arizona, and education is important not only to the future of their children but to the future of our state," Moulton said.

For more information on the Arizona Education Network, visit their website at: arizonaeducationnetwork.com.

Education and Priorities a Concern for Raytheon: 6/18/10

2010-06-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

Raytheon Missile Systems would like to see local and state governments be pro-business, support education and help create an environment that makes people and businesses want to come to Tucson.
.

.

Taylor W. Lawrence, president of Raytheon Missile Systems, gave that assessment in response to a question at an Arizona Technology Council luncheon speech June 16 at the Desert Diamond Casino and Hotel.
“We need to do what we can to retain talent,” Lawrence said. “If the talent goes to other states, businesses and industry will have to go where the talent is.”

.In his speech, Lawrence stated that "education was a concern." He explained that "as baby boomers begin to retire, the United States will face a shortage of engineers and innovators." According to the article, Lawrence quoted a study "showing that in 2004 China produced 500,000 engineers, India produced 200,000 and the United States produced on 70,000 engineering graduates."
.
"Because of these alarming facts, we feel an urgency to put as much effort into science, technology, engineering and math education as possible for our youth,” Lawrence said.

.
To read the full article, visit:

News: Education and Priorities a Concern for Raytheon, Inside Tucson Business, June 18, 2010

Public School Finance and Equalization Funding

2010-06-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Part I: Traditional Public School Finance and Equalization Funding

Part II: Charter School Finance and Equalization Funding (coming soon)

.

.

Q and A on Public School Finance and Equalization:

Part I

.

What does it mean when I hear that Arizona is an equalized funding state? The Arizona state constitution calls for the legislature to “enact such laws as shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a general and uniform public school system.” Equalization laws strive to standardize the amount of funding a school district receives to educate each student regardless of differences in property wealth between districts.

.

What does property wealth have to do with school funding? Prior to 1981, schools were funded mainly by the collection of property taxes from the residents and businesses located in the school district. Districts with high property wealth could generate lots of money to fund schools with relatively low tax rates, while districts with lower property wealth struggled to generate funds for their schools.

.

Does equalization mean my property taxes no longer fund public schools? No. Public schools are still funded by property taxes. The first funding source for public schools is local property tax collections. The next funding source is the state property tax, better known as the county equalization tax[1]. Finally schools are funded by the state’s general fund. If a school district does not receive enough money from local property taxes to fund its schools, the state’s general fund, which has been supplemented by the state equalization property tax, makes up the difference in the funding needed.

.

So how is equalization different from the old system of funding schools via property taxes? The equalization law established a formula that attempts to standardize revenues and expenditures across school districts to fund annual budgets. The law dictates how much money can be raised for annual maintenance/operations[2] and capital needs[3]. In other words, the state legislature became the body that determines how much revenue can be generated to fund school budgets instead of a school district generating as much money as the district’s property wealth could muster.

.

So, how does the state decide how much money school districts will get? The formulas used to determine this are very complicated. In the simplest terms, the state sets the Base Support Level (BSL)–or per pupil funding level–for maintenance/operations budgets. The maintenance/operations budget is the largest portion of a school’s budget. It pays for all day-to-day operations in a school year and its largest component is salaries. It also sets the base levels for unrestricted capital and soft capital funding. Capital funds are provided for expenditures on furniture, fixtures and other items that are expected to last for more than one operating year. Soft capital is provided for textbooks, software and other instructional materials used directly by students in the classroom.

.

To explain this in the simplest way possible, the state takes a count of students by district. The BSL and capital funding levels are multiplied by the number of students in each district. The dollars are totaled, and this sum becomes the equalization base funding level for each school district.

.

The equalized base funding level is the amount of money the state authorizes school districts to receive from property taxes and the state’s general fund.

.

It doesn’t seem right that a school district receives the same amount of money for every student. Isn’t it more expensive to educate high school students, for example, than it is second graders? The state recognizes that some students require more resources to educate than others. When computing the maintenance/operations portion of school funding, the student count in each district is actually a weighted student count[4]. A wide array of weights has been established for use in the funding formula, depending on the types of students in the mix. For example, the weight for a high school student is higher than the weight for a second grade student. The weight for a student with a learning or physical disability is higher than the weight for a student who does not have a disability. But, regardless of the weighting system, a student in any one category–a fourth grade student with a hearing disability, for example–will bring the same amount of funding to whichever district the student attends[5].

.

What about teacher compensation? Some teachers have more credentials and experience than others. Wouldn’t school districts with highly skilled and experienced teachers have to pay more of their maintenance and operations dollars for salaries than others? Yes. The state formula includes adjustments to accommodate high levels of teacher experience (in excess of the state average calculation) and those districts that participate in Career Ladder and other qualified performance-based pay systems. School districts that employ highly experienced teachers and/or who participate in these merit pay programs receive more dollars than districts that do not[6].

.

If the state guarantees full funding for each student, what stops school districts from setting property tax rates really low and getting most or all of their funding from the state? The legislature also sets the Qualifying Tax Rate (QTR). This is the tax rate the legislature uses to determine how much money a school district will get from the state, if any. The QTR is multiplied by each district’s Net Assessed Property Value (NAV). The answer to that equation determines the source(s) of a school district’s funds.

.

If the equalization base funding level is greater than QTR x NAV, local property taxes will not be adequate to fund the district’s budget. The remaining amount of funding is provided by the state’s general fund. This is called basic state aid.

If the equalization base is less than QTR x NAV, no basic state aid is provided and the primary property tax rate is set at the level required to generate the equalization base.

.

Don’t high-wealth districts still have an advantage over lower-wealth districts? Their property tax rate can still be much lower even though both are capped at the QTR. Yes, wealthier districts can enjoy lower rates and still fund the equalization base. However, school districts cannot assess rates lower than 50% of the QTR. If the property values in the district are such that this tax rate generates more funds than the equalization base, the excess taxes are remitted to the state to offset basic state aid for other districts. In actual experience, there are very few school districts that can fund the equalization base with a tax rate less than 50% of the QTR. The school districts that do are generally districts with high property wealth and relatively few student-aged residents.

.

If the state limits the amount of money a school district can generate for its annual budget to the equalization base funding level, why is the primary property tax rate on my tax bill higher than theQTR? Property tax rates used to fund public schools can be, and generally are, higher than the QTR. This is because the state allows school districts to budget for expenditures that are outside of the equalization base funding level. Some of these expenditures are funded by property taxes that require voter approval before they can be assessed; other expenditures are funded by property tax rates that do not require voter approval to be assessed.

.

Now I’m really confused. When can a school district assess property taxes for expenditures outside of the equalization base funding level? Let’s start with non-voter approved tax assessments. School districts operate under different conditions that make it unrealistic to standardize funding completely. For example, some school districts operate under government-mandated desegregation and civil rights agreements. Compliance with these agreements incurs unique costs in these districts. Consequently, the legislature allows the districts to generate revenues through additional property taxes that do not have to be approved by the property owners in the district.

.

Another type of expenditure outside of the equalization base funding level is expenditure for adjacent ways. School districts incur costs to improve a public way that is adjacent to land owned or leased by the district. These expenses may include intersection traffic signals, sidewalks, utility lines, etc. The state allows a school district to impose a non-voter approved property tax to fund costs for specific projects.

.

Other non-voter-approved expenditures include spending on transportation costs in excess of those provided by the state’s equalization formula, small school adjustments, dropout prevention, and more.

.

School districts add up the amount of revenue needed for each of these expenditures and, using the NAV, determine the additional property tax rate that needs to be charged to generate this revenue. This additional property tax rate is added to the rate necessary to fund the equalization base funding level (the QTR), and the district’s primary property tax rate is determined. This is why on many property tax bills, the primary property tax rate is likely higher than the QTR set by the state.

.

What are voter-approved expenditures outside of the equalization base funding level? The state allows school districts to ask voters to approve maintenance/operations and capital budget overrides to increase funding for schools during the seven-year life of the overrides. Currently districts can ask for two types of maintenance/operations overrides: a ten-percent K-12 override and a five-percent K-3 override. School districts can also ask voters to fund a ten-percent capital budget override. Finally, a school district can sell voter-approved bonds to increase capital expenditures beyond the unrestricted capital funds provided by the state’s equalization formula[7]. School districts decide to ask for an override and/or capital bond issue, determine the tax rates required to fund the proposals and place the requests on their local ballot for voters to approve or reject. If approved, the additional tax rates are assessed and shown separately on the property tax bill as secondary property tax rates.

.

What stops a school district from going crazy and levying outrageous property taxes for expenditures outside of the equalization base funding level? Many of the non-voter approved expenditures outside of the equalization base are unlimited in their scope. What keeps school districts from taxing property owners indiscriminately is legislation called Truth in Taxation (TNT). Passed in the late nineties and amended several times thereafter, TNT requires taxing bodies–including school districts–to provide public notice of intent to raise taxes. If school districts taxed for revenues in an unreasonable manner, constituents could use the TNT notification to identify the parties responsible and vote them out of office. TNT laws also require the legislature to reduce the QTR and the equalization property tax rate to compensate for across-the-state increases in property values. These measures are intended to have a dampening affect on tax rates.

.

It seems like the old system was a lot simpler. Why did the state decide to create an equalized funding system? During the 1970s, a wave of litigation in the United States was decided in favor of plaintiffs who sued on the theory that funding schools based mainly on property wealth was unconstitutional. Though no lawsuit was brought in Arizona at that time, the legislature heeded the constitution’s “general and uniform” language pertaining to education and enacted the equalized funding mechanisms described in this article.

.

{Part II on Charter School funding below}

[1] The equalization tax rate is set by the legislature each year. For fiscal years 2006-2008, the rate was set at zero. This resulted in the state general fund taking on a larger percentage of public school funding than in years when the state property tax was collected. The state equalization property tax returned in fiscal year 2009 and was set at $0.33 per $100 of Net Assessed Property Value (NAV).

[2] The maintenance/operations budget makes up the lion’s share of a school district’s funds and is comprised mainly of salaries for staff. It also includes student transportation costs, career ladder, teacher experience payments and other annual operating costs.

[3] The state provides funding for two types of capital expenditures. Unrestricted capital pays for a district’s capital needs – expenditures on facilities and equipment with a life span greater than one year. Soft capital is used for the purchase of materials generally used directly by students in the classroom, like textbooks, software and equipment investments that last longer than one year. There are separate base funding levels for these two types of capital expenditures.

[4] The weighting system is too complicated to describe in this article. There are Class A weights and Class B weights. The M and O calculation uses a different weighted student count than the capital calculation. Suffice to say here that the formulas attempt to adjust for different types of students when computing the amount of funding per student.

[5] Small school districts (under 600 students) and isolated school districts receive additional weight to adjust for the economies of scale that are lost under these circumstances. This is an exception to the equalized per student funding between districts.

[6] The state legislature has closed most merit pay programs to new school districts, citing questions regarding the effectiveness of the programs. Consequently, school districts that did not install programs prior to this closure do not qualify for this extra funding. The Gilbert Public School District successfully sued the Arizona Department of Education, contending the program is unconstitutional as it pertains to the “general and uniform” clause. The case is currently under appeal to a higher court. Meanwhile, the state legislature has proposed to end state funding of these performance-based systems and allow county officials to levy the property tax needed to fund this increase to a school district’s equalization base, shifting the funding from the state level to the local.

[7] Districts also sell bonds for new school construction. In 1994, the state high court ruled this method of funding school facilities to be in conflict with the “general and uniform” language of the constitution. In response to this case–Roosevelt v. Bishop–the state established the School Facilities Board (SFB) which sets uniform standards for the physical facilities of school districts and oversees the allocation of funding for construction, building renewal and deficiency correction from monies allocated by the state’s general fund. However, this legislation does not preclude a school district from selling bonds to raise capital over and above that provided by the SFB for purposes of constructing schools and improving facilities beyond the minimum standards required by the law.

.

.

Q and A on Public School Finance and Equalization: Charter Schools

Part II

.

Coming soon.

.

Legislative Newsletter: May 13, 2010

2010-05-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

Arizona Education Network Newsletter

Countdown to Proposition 100, Let's Get the Vote Out!

May 13, 2010

Let's Get the Vote Out for Proposition 100!

We've been asked by many education supporters what they can do in the final days before the May 18 election to help get the word out. Here are a few ideas, as well as contact information for organized efforts in the Tucson area:

1. HOLD SIGNS ON ELECTION DAY - Tuesday, May 18

Hold "VOTE YES TODAY ON PROPOSITION 100" signs outside of your school at drop-off and at pick-up. Remember to stand off of your school grounds. If you plan on holding a sign at your school, please sign up here with your name, the school you plan to cover and whether you will at drop-off, pick-up or both.

2. SEND EMAIL AND FACEBOOK MESSAGES to your family and friends encouraging them to vote Yes on Proposition 100. For a sample email letter, click here for a message to send your friends.

3. MAKE PHONE CALLS TO VOTERS. If you live in the Tucson area and are interested placing calls to potential voters, contact Marisela de Solis Kester with the Proposition 100 campaign in Tucson at phxmom05@gmail.com. There will be opportunities to make phone calls in the evenings and during this upcoming weekend.

4. PAINT YOUR CAR. Paint your windows with the message "Vote Yes on 100". You can buy window chalk at Michael's, ACE Hardware or your local 99-Cent store. Have a window painting party at your next baseball game or swim practice.

5. HELP HAND OUT FLYERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATION CEREMONIES. The Arizona Student Association is looking for volunteers to help hand out Proposition 100 materials this Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. If you are interested, contact David Martinez at dm3@azstudents.org. Volunteers will meet at 7 a.m. in the ASUA offices on the third floor of the Student Union.

For more information and/or ideas, visit AEN's Prop. 100 - Vote Yes Tool Kit.

As the May 18 Vote Approaches

You are Making a Difference

The Proposition 100 vote is less than a week away. The future of our local schools and universities hangs on the outcome of the vote on Tuesday, May 18. This has the potential to be a very close election. Every vote counts!

And no matter the result, we can celebrate because thousands have found their voice once again. And it is because of you.

Because of you, thousands of voters were registered in communities around Arizona.

Because of you, hundreds of registered voters signed up for the permanent early voter list and will now receive their ballots at home, making voting more likely.

Because of you, Arizonans are chipping away at the partisan albatross that has constrained a true, open, and honest dialogue about the state of public education.

Because of you, the sleeping giant is awakening.

And because of you, Arizona's students have a chance.

Proposition 100 is just the beginning, the first miles in a marathon to restore a basic and solid footing for our children's future. We will get there, because of you!

One example of education supporters at work.

100 STANDS for education on Saturday, May 8, 2010.

Election Day: What You Need to Know

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, May 18.

Polling places will be limited since this is a special election. You may not be voting at your regular polling place. You also can vote early at several early voting locations. To find an early-voting location in your county or your polling place for the May 18 election, click here.

If you received a ballot by mail, please remember to vote YES and send it back. You can also take your early ballot to any polling place on Election Day.

Your Proposition 100 Questions Answered - Recap

Here are the top questions we've been hearing regarding Proposition 100 and the answers that we have published. If you hear any of these questions raised, please provide answers so potential voters will have a better understanding of Proposition 100.

Is it true that the one-cent temporary sales tax will cost the average Arizona family $400 a year?An Arizona family of four would have to spend $40,000 dollars a year on sales-taxable items for that to be the case. According to the US Census American Community Survey of State Median Income by Family Size in the past twelve months (2008 inflation adjusted dollars) the median income of a four-person Arizona family was $69,452. Considering that many expenses such as mortgages and services are exempt from sales tax, it is highly unlikely that the average Arizona family would pay anywhere near $400 more in sales taxes.

Won't the money raised by Proposition 100 just be shifted to pay for corporate tax cuts? Money raised by the one-cent sales tax increase is mandated to go to education, health and human services and public safety. While a corporate tax cut was discussed, no corporate tax cut bill emerged this legislative session.

Why are some people saying Proposition 100 is really an 18% increase? The 18% refers to the increase in the current tax rate of 5.6% to the proposed rate of 6.6% (if Proposition 100 passes). That is a simple mathematical difference of 17.85%. By calling Proposition 100 an 18% increase; opponents have created the misperception that the increase is really 18 cents on the dollar. Proposition 100 is a one-percent sales tax increase or one-cent on each dollar spent. ONE PENNY! If you purchase a DVD player for one hundred dollars you would pay an additional one dollar, not an additional eighteen dollars.

Related Articles:

Proposition 100: The 1% Temporary Sales Tax Increase - Your Questions Answered (Updated 4/24/2010)

Op Ed: Vote Yes on Prop. 100, the One-Cent-Sales-Tax Increase

Contribute online today via
PayPal

Or mail your check to:

The Arizona Education Network
4728 East Sunrise Drive, #210
Tucson, AZ 85718

Thank you for your support!

______________________

_________________________

May 18, 2010

Special Election for Prop. 100 - Temporary 1% Sales Tax

Prop. 100 Facts

Without the temporary sales tax, more than $420 million in K-12 funding will be cut.

Prop. 100 will devote two-thirds of revenues generated to education funding and one-third to health and human services and public safety.

The tax will automatically repeal on May 31, 2013. It would take a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or another voter proposition to keep the tax increase in place.

For more information see Prop. 100: The 1% Temporary Sales Tax Increase-Your Questions Answered

Arizona Education Network Voter Guide: Important Dates, Information, and Resources

_________________________

Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan Speaks Out on the State of Education

in Arizona

"Is the state proud to that it's 49th in investment in education?" Secretary Duncan asked. "I don't know that that's something I'd be proud of.... If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.... We have to educate our way to a better economy."

To view the entire interview,

click here.

_______________________

Contact Arizona's U.S. Congressional Delegation and Urge them to Sponsor and Support the

Keep Our Educators Working Act (S. 3206)

The Education Commission of the States estimates that this federal legislation to save our schools could bring $406 million to Arizona K-12 and higher education. For details click here.

________________________

Three steps you can take to support public education in Arizona: Vote,Vote,Vote

Vote YES on Prop. 100, the sales tax referendum, Tuesday, May 18.
Vote for pro-education candidates in the primary election, Tuesday, August 24.
Vote for pro-education candidates in the general election, Tuesday, November 2.

Helpful Links:

Arizona Education Network Voter Guide; Find your Legislator

Check us out at:

www.arizonaeducationnetwork.com
Follow us on Twitter, AZEducationNet
Join us on Facebook!

Interested in having the Arizona Education Network speak at your school or community group event? Email us at outreach@arizonaeducationnetwork.com for information and dates.

The Arizona Education Network is a non-partisan, all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that provides factual information and advocates for public education.

“When Adults Fight, Children Lose.” ~ U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Speaks Out on the State of Education Funding in Arizona

2010-05-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Kim Covington with Channel 12 KPNX in Phoenix sat down for an exclusive interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in Washington, D.C. to discuss the state of Arizona’s investment in public education and the second round Race to the Top application.

Duncan called on Arizona’s lawmakers, teacher’s union, and business leaders to work together on education funding instead of politicizing the issue.

Arizona currently ranks 49th in per pupil spending. Covington reports that in order for the state to catch up to the national average, Arizona would have to increase spending by 44%, or $2.7 billion.

With over $270 million in recent cuts to public education, the largest cut in the nation, Arizona currently has only three potential options to aid education funding; Proposition 100, the temporary one percent sales tax increase, the “Keep our Educators Working Act”, a U.S. Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, and the Race to the Top round two competitive grant.

“Is the state proud to that it’s 49th in investment in education?” Secretary Duncan asked. “I don’t know that that’s something I’d be proud of…. If you think education is expensive, try ignorance…. We have to educate our way to a better economy.”

Watch the interview below.