Equal access to quality education is under attack in Arizona .
Last year, Arizona became the first state to adopt a universal school choice voucher program , building on its decadeslong legacy as a pioneer in educational opportunity — a legacy that is particularly beneficial for minority students.
Almost immediately, Arizona’s teachers unions set about trying to undo this achievement , circulating petitions in an effort to trigger a referendum on the law that they hoped would lead to its repeal. However, they didn’t even manage to collect enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot. Such is the popularity of school choice.
Ironically, then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was the one who announced the effort had fallen short, even as she credited the unions with submitting an improbably high number of signatures, based on independent estimates.
Now that she’s been sworn in as Arizona’s new governor, Hobbs is asking the legislature to repeal the program , proposing to redirect the money back to the state’s sclerotic public school system. Lawmakers should reject this request out of hand for the sake of Arizona’s children, especially black and brown children.
It’s difficult to overstate the significance of Arizona's universal voucher program, which provides genuine educational choice to well over 1 million students across the state.
This is particularly important in Arizona, which by many measures ranks dead last in public education. Predictably, educational outcomes are lowest for minority students .
That means minority students have the most to gain from access to high-quality charter schools. Black students, specifically, seem to benefit most from access to charter schools. But it’s not just black students who are taking advantage of the opportunity that Arizona’s pioneering approach to school choice offers. As of 2021, 59 % of Arizona charter school students identified as nonwhite.
So why would Hobbs want to eliminate a program that improves educational outcomes across the board while also increasing racial equality?
Hobbs claims that eliminating the universal voucher program will save money, even though voucher programs such as Arizona’s have been proven to be cost-effective. In reality, the only group that stands to gain from eliminating the voucher program and sending those children back to traditional public schools is the teachers unions . The more parents who opt to take advantage of vouchers, the fewer children will be left in traditional public schools that are dominated by teachers unions — and they know it.
Anything that threatens teachers unions is also a threat to Hobbs’s political career. As Hobbs boasts on her own website, a coalition of the state’s largest unions, including the Arizona Education Association, endorsed her bid for governor.
With the backing of the AEA’s 20,000 members and generous financial support from the AEA’s political action committee, Hobbs squeaked out a narrow victory, winning by just 17,000 votes.
In return, Hobbs made some generous promises to the AEA, such as hiring thousands of new public school teachers and giving teachers an average raise of $14,000 (a 27% increase). But she can’t deliver on those promises if parents take advantage of school choice through the universal voucher program.
Unfortunately, Hobbs is placing her own interests and the interests of her AEA allies above the interests of Arizona’s children and their parents. She’s choosing to side with the teachers unions even when it means actively fighting against equal access to quality education.
Yes, it’s sad. It’s always sad when our elected officials choose special interests over the interests of the people, especially when children are the ones who stand to suffer the most.
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DaQuawn Bruce is the executive director of Concerned Communities for America, a 501(c)(3) advocacy group that promotes economic empowerment, public safety, free and fair elections, and quality education for the black community.
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PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- While thousands of visitors explored Arizona last week, lawmakers lifted the state’s education spending cap, avoiding widespread layoffs and school closures. Now some are calling for a more permanent solution.
The group Stand for Children Arizona will be at the Arizona State Capitol today along with parents, kids, and education leaders urging lawmakers to find a long-term solution when it comes to education funding. “We’re excited because we’re gonna have little kids delivering these Valentine’s Day cards to the Senate leadership,” Daniel Hernandez with the Stand for Children Arizona said.
Last year’s bipartisan state budget gave schools a big boost in funding, but districts couldn’t spend the money already allocated to them without the legislature lifting the state’s decades-old cap on education funding. As in 2022, it came down to the wire for lawmakers to lift the cap by a two-thirds majority. Many individuals are panic this will happen every year unless there’s a more permanent fix.
“We are really, really concerned this becomes a political football where every year we tell the schools, you can spend this money or not really because we are not going to give you the authority to spend the money we’ve already given you. We’re going to create a situation which is already untenable,” Hernandez said.
GOP Representative Matt Gress with District Four says it’s time to modernize the education spending cap rules. “This will happen every single year until we update that formula, and I think there’s widespread interest to do so,” he said. Hernandez is pushing for the legislature to refer this issue to the 2024 ballot so voters have the ultimate say.
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PHOENIX — Taking dual enrollment classes in high school increases a student’s chances of going to college, but access to these courses that provide students college credit is not equal across Arizona.
The latest findings come through a policy brief conducted by Arizona State University and the Helios Education Foundation.
“Students who take a dual enrollment course in Arizona are twice as likely to go to college than students who don’t,” Senior Vice President of Community Impact and Learning for the Helios Education Foundation Paul Perrault said.
Perrault added these students have an increased likelihood of staying enrolled in college.
One reason is such courses expose high school students to college-level curriculum, preparing them to transition successfully from high school to college.
However, dual enrollment participation varies among student populations, according to the policy brief.
“For example, Hispanic or Latino students are only about half as likely to have taken a dual enrollment course than a white student,” Perrault said. “The same can be said for a low-income student.”
Statewide, the rate of students taking dual enrollment courses has been increasing over the past few years, but it’s lower than what post-secondary education supporters would like.
The policy brief shows about a quarter of high school graduates in Arizona take at least one dual enrollment course.
Most students in Arizona take the courses on their high school campus with a dual enrollment-certified high school teacher, and they are more likely to take an English or math course. Others take the courses on a college campus.
Perrault said one way to increase the number of students taking dual enrollment courses is by increasing availability. Nearly half of all high schools in Arizona don’t offer them, according to the policy brief.
Cost is also a barrier to dual enrollment courses for some students.
Some school districts have partnerships with local colleges to eliminate or minimize the costs to students and their families.
Perrault said his organization is working with policymakers to provide financial support for dual enrollment courses to low-income students.
“Your background shouldn’t dictate whether you have access to these courses or not,” he said.
Arizona lawmakers voted Wednesday to let public school districts spend all the money they were promised by the state, eliminating the risk that schools would abruptly lay off teachers or close before the end of the year.
The move allows schools to spend nearly $1.4 billion that exceeds an arcane spending cap approved by voters in 1980.
Some Republican lawmakers had pushed to make major changes to education policy in exchange for lifting the cap, such as expanding the value of private school vouchers. School administrators feared they'd hit the cap before lawmakers acted, forcing them to abruptly cut off their spending.
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"Our teachers can focus on giving students every opportunity to achieve success, not shutting down classrooms," Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement.
The Senate approved the measure in a 23-7 vote on Wednesday, a day after the House passed it 46-14. Approval required a two-thirds supermajority and does not need a signature from Hobbs.
School districts in Arizona will be able to spend all the money promised by the state, following a vote by state lawmakers.
Voters approved the spending cap in response to a growing anti-tax movement in the 1970s and ‘80s spurred by California's approval of strict property tax restrictions. It was meant to restrain the growth in school spending, tying it to the size of the student population and inflation.
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But school expenses have grown considerably, due in part to the proliferation of technology that didn't exist in the 1980s. Other factors have combined to trigger the cap as well.
When voters in 2000 approved a sales tax increase to boost school spending, they exempted the additional revenue from the spending cap. But when lawmakers extended the tax in 2018, they didn't include the exemption.
The bipartisan state budget adopted last year included a substantial increase in school funding. Democrats say then-Republican Gov. Doug Ducey promised to call a special session before leaving office to lift the cap but never did so.
Lifting the cap lasts for one year. A permanent fix would require voter approval. Otherwise, lawmakers will likely face the same issue again next year.
Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Queen Creek, said in a statement that the additional funding has not brought big enough improvements in test scores.
"With extra funding comes a greater responsibility from our K-12 public school districts to provide a better education for all students, and we intend to make sure this happens," Petersen said.
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Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, said the teachers union is grateful for lawmakers "who voted to end the infuriating uncertainty."
"But our state Legislature ultimately needs to eliminate the cap entirely, so that we are not forced to have this same fight year after year," Garcia said. "Educators are signing contracts for the 2023-2024 school year right now, and the constant, looming possibility of monthslong school closures only makes it that much harder for schools to retain qualified and passionate educators."
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Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs’ battle with the Republican-controlled legislature is expected to heat up again early next week.
Updated: Feb. 16, 2023 at 11:13 PM MST
Two bills aimed at protecting landowners from over-intrusion by carbon pipeline builders died today in a senate committee
Some of the proposal included a controversial bill that would do away with early voting entirely and ban electronic counting devices.
The budget bill was among 12 other legislative bills the Governor vetoed and sent back to lawmakers.
Three Arizona GOP lawmakers introduced the so-called "Women's Bill of Rights," but critics say it hurts the transgender community.
State lawmakers passed a bill that would ditch rental taxes in Arizona but critics say it would hurt essential services.
Arizona women’s basketball beat the University of California, Berkeley 80-57 in McKale Center on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 12 p.m.
First Half
Esmery Martinez started the game off by making two free throws within the first minute. Cal quickly responded, with Leilani McIntosh making two free throws.
At the end of the first quarter, Arizona only had a two-point lead; the score was 12-10 Wildcats. Arizona had a 75% free throw average and a 20% 3-point average in the first quarter.
At the half, Arizona was winning 33-20, and Cal struggled to beat the Wildcats' defense. Arizona struggled with their 3-pointers, having only made one out of the three that they took in the second quarter.
Second Half
In the third quarter, Arizona scored 22 points, giving the Wildcats a 15-point lead over Cal. Arizona made four out of seven of their 3-point shots taken, averaging at around 57%.
With 7:53 left in the third quarter, Paris Clark made a beautiful 3-pointer off a fast break that was assisted by Shaina Pellington.
Head coach Adia Barnes made three substitutions, putting Helena Pueyo, Jade Loville and Maya Nnaji back into the game with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
Arizona continued to hold the lead for the rest of the game, scoring 25 more points on Cal's defense. The Wildcats made seven out of the eight free throws taken in the fourth quarter.
Key players
Martinez stepped up in the game, securing 15 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the Wildcats. Pellington also scored 24 points against Cal.
Important numbers
Arizona is on a five-game winning streak against Cal, going back to 2020.
Cal had 14 points off turnovers compared to Arizona's total of 23 points off of turnovers. The Wildcats had 26 bench points while Cal had 20. Arizona capitalized on their fast breaks, making a whopping 19 points, which was 10 more than Cal, who only had nine.
Looking ahead
The Wildcats will be in McKale Center this week playing the No. 4 University of Utah on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m.
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