Arizona Education Network

After another very contentious week of wrangling, the House and Senate finally passed a set of budget bills and sent the resulting package to the Governor for her review. A full recap and links to media articles provided.

The Arizona Board of Regents, university leaders and students in Arizona are engaged in an ongoing effort to revamp the structure of higher education in our state. This week the Arizona Education Network looks at some of the latest statistics and information related to our higher education goals and outlook for the future.

Public Education & The AZ Constitution–It’s Indisputable!
Why did some Arizona Legislators sign a “No Tax Pledge” that puts them in direct conflict with the Arizona Constitution they swore to uphold?

Arizona’s public school standing in the educational world has been slipping over the last decade, to the point where it has now reached a crisis point in funding, ideology and prioritizing. It needs to be stated and reiterated that public education was vital to our Arizona founders, who recognized the integral relationship between a strong public education system and the viability of Arizona as a state.

Enter into this section of the website for practical and factual rebuttals to some of the most “interesting” spin out there!

While charter schools like Basis are known for their excelling programs, many other charter schools have not met their promises.

With the recent k-12 budget cuts the AZ legislature has enacted, many students are coming back to the new school year with larger than ever class sizes.

In the midst of the protracted state budget drama, Arizona families are sending their children back to school. Since early spring of 2009, schools have been preparing their operating budgets based on worst case scenarios. But was their “worst” actually the “best” they should have been hoping for? Unfortunately, we were afraid of this.

By a vote of 14-11, the Senate fails to pass the sales tax referendum for the November 3rd ballot.

Monday, August 10: Legislators are expected to resume budget negotiations today at 1:00pm. The temporary sales tax ballot proposal – long a sticking point with members who had signed a special interest “anti-tax” pledge – is now set to be spun off from the existing tax bill and voted upon as a separate entity. Your Arizona Education Network correspondents provide you with the latest links and answer a number of your questions regarding the budget, how it impacts our schools and how a Washington DC lobbyist seems to rank above the Arizona voter in some legislative circles.

Ready! Set! Go back to school! Your AEN team have a few additional items of academic swag to add to your list; tools you’ll need to be an effective advocate for your child and his/her school community.

A look into how high schools in the Vail, AZ area are replacing traditional textbooks with multi-media sources.

Impact Washington special interest group’s No New Taxes pledge has on the budget crises in Arizona.

A “How To” Guide For Contacting Legislators: information on writing, emailing and calling your elected officials.

The “drop-dead” date for getting the 1-cent sales tax on the ballot has been extended to Monday, August 10th. Arizona senators are still scheduled to convene on Friday, August 7th at 1 PM.

. The fiscal year 2009-2010 budget cleared the House last week but it remains to be seen whether or not it can make it through a vote on the Senate floor. . Opposition to the bill runs strong on both ideological ends of the spectrum.  Senators Ron Gould and Pamela Gorman are withholding their vote  Continue Reading >