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

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.

AEN on KVOA

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

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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.

AEN Prop. 100 - Vote Yes Tool Kit

For ideas and resources you need to effectively get the word out in your community on Proposition 100 - the TEMPORARY 1% sales tax increase - check out AEN's Proposition 100 - Vote Yes Tool Kit!

Tucson Community-Wide Forum on Proposition 100 Thursday, April 22!

Come to a Community-Wide Forum

on Proposition 100

sponsored by

the Arizona Education Network

Thursday, April 22

6 to 8 p.m.

at the Tucson Association of Realtors Conference Room

2445 N. Tucson Blvd., Tucson 

(520) 327-4218

Panelists will include:

Nic Clement, Flowing Wells Superintendent and head of the local School Superintendents’ Collaborative

Chuck Huckelberry, Pima County Administrator

Rainer W.G. Gruessner, M.D., Chairman, UA Department of Surgery

Penelope Jacks, Children Action Alliance, Southern Arizona director

Sue Krahe, Our Family Services director

Stephen MacCarthy, University of Arizona Vice-President for External Relations

Ron Shoopman, President of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council

After the panelists give their presentations, they will answer questions from the audience.

The success or failure of Prop. 100 will have widespread consequences for the entire community, affecting not just your neighborhood school but also your property taxes, emergency room waits, job losses and the affordability of a university education.

Arizona Education Network Forums in the Amphitheater School District: Videos

Below is a series of videos filmed during the Arizona Education Network forums in the Amphitheater School District, April 5 - 7, 2010. For links to the budget presentations by Dr. Vicki Balentine and CFO, Scott Little, click here.

Please note: Due to processing errors out of our control, some of the videos begin with sound and no picture for the first few seconds of play.  The picture comes back in all cases near the one minute mark, with the rest of the video playing fine.  We apologize for the inconvenience.



Arizona Education Network Presentation by Melissa Megna, Co-Founder of AEN



Ironwood Ridge High School Senior Answers AEN's Question: "How has Your Experience at Your High School Benefited You and Prepared You for the Future?"



State of Public Education Funding Presentation by Scott Little, CFO Amphitheater School District


Part 1 of 3: Amphitheater School District 2010-2011 Budget Presentation by Dr. Vicki Balentine, Amphitheater Superintendent



Part 2 of 3: 2010-2011 Amphitheater Budget



Part 3 of 3: 2010-2011 Amphitheater Budget


Part 1 of 3: Q&A with Dr. Balentine & Mr. Little



Part 2 of 3: Q&A with Dr. Balentine & Mr. Little



Part 3 of 3: Q&A with Dr. Balentine & Mr. Little


Check out our YouTube Channel AZEducationNetwork!

AZ Public Media Debate: "Arizona Sales Tax: Fix or Folly?"

For information on Proposition 100, click here.

Extra! Extra! Arizona Education Network – Covert Front Operation...Really?

Some interesting things have happened since we released our legislative voting tally last week. Most of it has been very positive – we’ve received lots of great feedback and everyone who has contacted us directly has been interested in helping us to distribute more information to their local community groups.

It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, however. As someone who is relatively new to the ‘process’ of politics, I think the quick misinformation campaign that was launched against our group is interesting and worth sharing. It is worth talking about publically not just because we feel it is important to put the facts on record, but also because the ‘spin’ we’re seeing in this small example brings us right back to the very reason that AEN was formed in the first place.

Spin zinger one: Arizona Education Network members are “union shills”.

Fact: Well, for starters, none of our AEN board members, writers, researchers or speakers are (or have ever been) union members. We are not speaking for or representing any group other than our own…and we sure the heck aren’t getting paid or compensated in any way.

So why is this label being flung around? We think it is probably because nothing politicizes education in people’s mind like the word ‘union’, and that name-calling is sometimes an effective tool to detract from the real issues. And, yes, it could also have something to do with our rather uncreative choice for a group name (AEN is close to AEA, the teacher’s professional union in Arizona).

Spin Shot Number Two: AEN has ‘close ties’ to other education groups.

Fact: We are a relatively new group and are definitely working to form ‘close ties’ between parents, students and any of the existing groups that impact our schools. We have spoken to school superintendents, elected officials, teachers (union and non-union), private school leaders, business officials, faith-based organizations, and a number of individuals who are concerned about education but are not otherwise affiliated with an organized group.

Education reform and improvement will not occur in a vacuum. Our public schools are intrinsically linked with our individual communities, and it will truly take a collective effort to initiate state-wide improvements. We certainly do not believe that we have the answers to all of the issues facing our schools, and we are grateful for the opportunity to learn and collaborate with others.

Spin zinger three: We are a ‘front’ for a political party.

Fact: No, we aren’t. Our AEN members come from a wide variety of political backgrounds and our core team consists of several Republicans, a couple of Independents and a few Democrats. One of our co-founders worked for a Republican Governor, another was not even paying much attention to politics at all until just last year. We run the political gamut and probably could never come to a consensus about some of the singular ‘hot button’ issues….but we all are 100% unified in the belief that we need fact-based solutions to improve our public schools.

So why the accusation about the political party connections?

On the very same afternoon that we printed our voting record tally, a few politicians went into deflect mode and insinuated that our spokeswoman, Ann-Eve Pedersen, was some sort of party operative working on a partisan attack.

Their ‘evidence’? Ann-Eve’s deceased father was active with his local Democratic party 20 years ago. Her brother-in-law is also an active party member. Though she herself is not active in party politics, she has donated to Democratic candidates in the past.

What they left out – Her father’s widow is a lifelong Republican and a number of her other relatives are active in conservative causes, including a cousin who worked for James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. That’s just a start. We haven’t finished dissecting her family tree just yet in an attempt to discredit her own personal actions and beliefs , but I’m sure there is more ‘dirt’ here…rumors abound that her dog might have Marxist leanings.

What was also missed? Ann-Eve has been a dedicated, unpaid parent volunteer in our local schools for years. She is also just one member of our group, albeit the one brave enough to stick her neck out as a public speaker and to endure prodding into her family’s personal life. Our group is not defined by any one person’s political views, and we certainly do not represent, advocate for or wave the flag for any political party.

Which leads me back to the reason we formed AEN in the first place…

Ideology, spin and inflammatory rhetoric are no substitute for factual information.

The majority of Republican, Democrat and Independent-leaning families in our state send their children to public schools – support for education is not a partisan issue. As a group, we will continue to insist that our elected officials use factual information and adhere to their constitutional duties to our children, communities and our schools.