Education Secretary Arne Duncan today (7/27/10) released the list of finalists for the second round of the Race to the Top federal grant program.  Arizona is one of the 19 finalists.  The other finalist are California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.  All finalists are invited to make a presentation to the review committee the week of August 9th.  The winners will be announced in September.
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Governor Jan Brewer released a statement praising those who worked on the Arizona application.  She cited Senator Huppenthal’s SB 1040 (Teacher and Principal Evaluations), Representative McComish’s HB 2298 (Preparation Providers; Teacher Certification), and Representative Crandall’s HB 2733 (Department of Education; Data Collection) as legislation important to the Arizona application.  Brewer said, “[t]hese bills provided for the adoption of new teacher and principal evaluations, alternative teacher and principal certification, as well as an assessment of and governance for our data system.”
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On March 4, 2010, Secretary Duncan announced the sixteen finalists for the first round of the program.  Arizona’s application came in 40th out of 41 applications.  Ultimately, two states were awarded the first round of program grants.  Tennessee was awarded almost $500 million and Delaware was awarded almost $100 million.  The U.S. Department of Education later released the scores and feedback for all applicants to review.  Arizona applied for the second round of the Race to the Top in June.

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To read more, see below:

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18 States and D.C. Named as Finalists for Race to the Top, US Department of Education, ED.gov, July 27, 2010

Statement by Governor Jan Brewer, July 27, 2010

Secretary of  Education, Arne Duncan’s Remarks at the National Press Club (announcing the finalists), July 27, 2010
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What to Expect: Arizona’s Race to the Top Application, Arizona Education Network, December 17, 2009
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Arizona Doesn’t Make “Race to the Top” Cut, Arizona Education Network, March 5, 2010
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Only Two States (TN & DE)  Win Race to the Top Grants; Arizona’s Scores Released, Arizona Education Network, March 30, 2010

To register to vote or request a mail-in ballot, click here.

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Reminder: independents can vote in the August 24th primary election.

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This post contains the following information:

*2010 Survey on Education for all legislative candidates can be found here.

*2009 Voting Record on Education Funding for the incumbents running in 2010

*2010 Voting Record on Education Funding for the incumbents running in 2010

*Televised debate for both democrats and republicans running for the state-wide office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.  The post can be found here.

*Citizens for Clean Elections debates, both state-wide elections and legislative elections, can be found here.
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2009 Summary of Voting Record on Education Funding: click here for original post.

Legislative Districts are grouped by color for visual differentiation only.
*Resigned in 2010 to run for a Congressional Seat.

SUMMARY VOTING RECORD: EDUCATION BUDGET LEGISLATION 2009 SESSIONS
		Of Total Education Votes				Of Actual Votes Cast
District	Legislator	% For	% Against	% Didn’t Vote		% For	% Against
30	Senator Jonathan Paton*	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
30	Representative David Gowan	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
30	Representative Frank Antenori	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
29	Senator Linda Lopez	55%	5%	40%		92%	8%
29	Representative Daniel Patterson	80%	0%	20%		100%	0%
29	Representative Matt Heinz	30%	5%	65%		86%	14%
28	Senator Paula Aboud	55%	5%	40%		92%	8%
28	Representative David Bradley	70%	5%	25%		93%	7%
28	Representative Steve Farley	90%	5%	5%		95%	5%
27	Senator Jorge Garcia	60%	15%	25%		80%	20%
27	Representative Olivia Cajero Bedford	55%	0%	45%		100%	0%
27	Representative Phil Lopes	70%	0%	30%		100%	0%
26	Senator Al Melvin	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
26	Representative Nancy Young Wright	95%	5%	0%		95%	5%
26	Representative Vic Williams	30%	65%	5%		32%	68%
25	Senator Manuel Alvarez	70%	5%	25%		93%	7%
25	Representative David Stevens	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
25	Representative Patricia Fleming	95%	5%	0%		95%	5%
24	Senator Amanda Aguirre	60%	5%	35%		92%	8%
24	Representative Lynne Pancrazi	75%	5%	20%		94%	6%
24	Representative Russell Jones	0%	95%	5%		0%	100%
23	Senator Rebecca Rios	55%	5%	40%		92%	8%
23	Representative Barbara McGuire	80%	5%	15%		94%	6%
23	Representative Frank Pratt	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
22	Senator Thayer Verschoor	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
22	Representative Andy Biggs	20%	75%	5%		21%	79%
22	Representative Laurin Hendrix	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
21	Senator Jay Tibshraeny	10%	65%	25%		13%	87%
21	Representative Steve Yarbrough	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
21	Representative Warde Nichols	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
20	Senator John Huppenthal	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
20	Representative John McComish	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
20	Representative Rae Waters	95%	5%	0%		95%	5%
19	Senator Chuck Gray	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
19	Representative Kirk Adams	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
19	Representative Rich Crandall	0%	95%	5%		0%	100%
18	Senator Russell Pearce	0%	95%	5%		0%	100%
18	Representative Cecil Ash	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
18	Representative Steve Court	5%	90%	5%		5%	95%
17	Senator Meg Burton Cahill	95%	0%	5%		100%	0%
17	Representative David Schapira	90%	5%	5%		95%	5%
17	Representative Ed Ableser	85%	0%	15%		100%	0%
16	Senator Leah Landrum Taylor	60%	5%	35%		92%	8%
16	Representative Ben Miranda	95%	5%	0%		95%	5%
16	Representative Cloves Campbell, Jr.	55%	5%	40%		92%	8%
15	Senator Ken Cheuvront	45%	0%	55%		100%	0%
15	Representative David Lujan	95%	5%	0%		95%	5%
15	Representative Kyrsten Sinema	90%	5%	5%		95%	5%
14	Senator Debbie McCune Davis	40%	5%	55%		89%	11%
14	Representative Chad Campbell	85%	5%	10%		94%	6%
14	Representative Robert Meza	70%	5%	25%		93%	7%
13	Senator Richard Miranda	40%	0%	60%		100%	0%
13	Representative Anna Tovar	78%	6%	17%		93%	7%
13	Representative Martha Garcia	45%	5%	50%		90%	10%
12	Senator John Nelson	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
12	Representative Jerry Weiers	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
12	Representative Steve Montenegro	0%	95%	5%		0%	100%
11	Senator Barbara Leff	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
11	Representative Adam Driggs	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
11	Representative Eric Meyer	80%	0%	20%		100%	0%
10	Senator Linda Gray	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
10	Representative Doug Quelland	55%	35%	10%		61%	39%
10	Representative Jim Weiers	0%	90%	10%		0%	100%
9	Senator Bob Burns	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
9	Representative Debbie Lesko	0%	95%	5%		0%	100%
9	Representative Rick Murphy	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
8	Senator Carolyn Allen	20%	30%	50%		40%	60%
8	Representative John Kavanagh	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
8	Representative Michele Reagan	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
7	Senator Jim Waring*	0%	95%	5%		0%	100%
7	Representative Nancy Barto	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
7	Representative Ray Barnes	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
6	Senator Pamela Gorman*	0%	90%	10%		0%	100%
6	Representative Carl Seel	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
6	Representative Sam Crump*	5%	95%	0%		5%	95%
5	Senator Sylvia Allen	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
5	Representative Bill Konopnicki	25%	70%	5%		26%	74%
5	Representative Jack Brown	80%	5%	15%		94%	6%
4	Senator Jack Harper	10%	90%	0%		10%	90%
4	Representative Judy Burges	15%	85%	0%		15%	85%
4	Representative Tom Boone	10%	90%	0%		10%	90%
3	Senator Ron Gould	35%	55%	10%		39%	61%
3	Representative Doris Goodale	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
3	Representative Nancy McClain	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
2	Senator Albert Hale	50%	5%	45%		91%	9%
2	Representative Chris Deschene	50%	0%	50%		100%	0%
2	Representative Tom Chabin	85%	5%	10%		94%	6%
1	Senator Steve Pierce	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
1	Representative Andrew Tobin	0%	100%	0%		0%	100%
1	Representative Lucy Mason	10%	90%	0%		10%	90%

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2010 Summary of Voting Record on Education Funding: click here for original post.

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* The LD 30 seat vacated by Rep. Antenori – who had been appointed to the Senate – was not filled by Rep. Vogt until after the Seventh Special Session, which contained three (3) of the five (5) bills considered in this voting record.  Because the seat was vacant and Rep. Vogt was not a member of the House, those three bills do not count as missed votes according to the Arizona Legislative voting record. Therefore, those three bills are not part of those considered in Rep. Vogt’s voting record.

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Televised debates for Superintendent of Public Instruction. For the complete post, click here.
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To view the Democratic Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction debate, click on video link below.
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To view the Republican Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction debate, click video link below.
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To learn more about the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and its importance to public education, go to Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction; Why You Should Pay Attention to this Office

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To read surveys submitted by candidates to the Children’s Action Alliance, click here.

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You can find your legislative district by visiting here or Votesmart.org.

Legislative Districts are grouped by color for visual differentiation only.
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Scroll to the bottom of the page for our methodology and a listing of bills, including links to summaries and voting details. 

As with our 2009 Education Funding Voting Record by Legislator, AEN compiled a summary of all legislators’ voting records pertaining to their support of public education at all levels (K-University) during the 2010 regular and special sessions.  Analyzing all the bills that passed Legislature and sent onto the Governor’s office, AEN identified five (5) pieces of legislation that dealt directly with public education budgets and the dollars allocated to it.   AEN totaled each legislator’s votes “FOR” and “AGAINST” public education funding.  AEN also tallied the number of times a legislator did NOT vote on the legislation pertaining to public education budgets. In our state, which is ranked next to last in education funding nationwide,  AEN defines a vote to protect dollars allocated to public education as a vote “FOR” public education.    Conversely, AEN defines a vote to take budget dollars away from public education as a vote “AGAINST” public education.

The summary is organized by district and then by legislative chamber:  Senate first, followed by the House of Representatives.  The first set of numbers following a legislator’s name provides the percentage of times the legislator voted “FOR” and “AGAINST” public education, as well as the percentages of times that legislator did NOT vote on the legislation.  This percentage was derived using the total number of bills on which the legislator could have voted.

The second set of numbers for each legislator shows the percentage of times he or she voted “FOR” and “AGAINST” public education, adjusted for the number of public education votes missed.  In some cases, adjusting for the number of missed votes resulted in a significant change in a legislator’s numbers.
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For a listing of non-funding bills from the 2010 sessions that related to education reform, accountability, and personnel changes/mandates, visit 2010 Second Regular Session Education Accountability Bills (PDF)..
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Links to Individual Legislative Summaries (PDF Format)
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Second Regular Session
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Second Regular Session SB1284: School Finance Revision
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Second Regular Session HB 2128: Omnibus; JTEDs
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Second Regular Session HB 2664: STOs; Tax Credit Requirements*
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Second Regular Session SB 1274: STOs; Contribution Date*
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*NOTE: These pieces of legislation do not directly reduce funding allocated to public education and have not been included in the voting record.  However, they increased the ability and extended the deadline for Arizonans to make tax credit donations to benefit private education.   These tax credit donations are monies that would otherwise be added to the state’s general fund, increasing the resources available to balance the budget and lessening the need to cut public education and other general welfare expenditures.
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Sixth Special Session
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Sixth Special Session SCR 1001: Temporary Sales Tax Referral *
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*NOTE: SCR 1001 was legislation that referred Proposition 100 – the temporary sales tax increase–to voters on May 18, 2010.  AEN did not count the vote to refer Prop. 100 to the ballot as a vote “For” or “Against” education related funding.  The fiscal impact to public education was wholly dependent upon the passage or failure of the measure by Arizona voters at the voting booth.  Furthermore, the fiscal impact was unclear until the Seventh Special Session when the budget appropriations and contingency for the passage or failure of Prop. 100 was identified. 
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Click “Senate ” and/or ”House” to see how your legislator(s) voted on this referral. 

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Seventh Special Session
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Three (3) of the five (5) bills in the 2010 Legislative Education Funding Voting Record are from the Seventh Special Session, when the legislature voted on and passed the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 budgets.  This particular budget had two sets of budget reductions for K-12, community colleges and universities, both of which were dependent upon the success or failure of Prop. 100.  Even though voters passed Prop. 100 in the May 18, 2010 special election, the K-12, community college, and university budgets were still cut, however not as severely as if it had failed.  
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Seventh Special Session HB 2001: General Appropriations; 2009-2010; 2010-2011
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Seventh Special Session HB 2008: K-12 Education; Budget Reconciliation; 2010-2011
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Seventh Special Session HB 2009: Higher Education; Budget Reconciliation; 2010-2011
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Seventh Special Session HCR 2001: Early Childhood Development; Health; Repeal *
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*NOTE:  In 2006, voters passed First Things First, approving an 80-cent per pack tobacco tax to pay for early childhood programs such as quality childcare, preventative health care and parenting classes–programs which provide infants and toddlers with a solid foundation to succeed in school.  HCR 2001 referred Prop. 302 to the Nov. 2, 2010 ballot, which if passed will repeal First Things First (FTF). This referendum will not only repeal the program but will redirect $324 million in reserve funds to the state general fund and redirect future tobacco tax revenues to the state general fund.  
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Like SCR 1001 (Temporary Sales Tax Referral), AEN did not include the vote on HCR 2001 as a vote ”For” or “Against” education-related funding.  The fiscal impact to FTF is wholly dependent upon the passage or failure of the measure by Arizona voters at the voting booth, Nov. 2, 2010.  
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Click ”Senate” and/or “House” to see how your legislator(s) voted on this referral.

Click here to find your District

AZ Legislative Districts Map, pdf

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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.
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For a bar graph overview on how each question was answered by all candidates, click Overview of Survey 2010.

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

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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.)

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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%.
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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

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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.
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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.

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According to the report, Arizona has faced four consecutive years with a budget shortfall.  Since 2008, the state has enacted $12.5 billion in one-time budget solutions to address these shortfalls, including but not limited to $2.2 billion in permanent spending reductions, $918 from Proposition  100–the 1-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in the May 18 special election, and $1.5 billion in rollover and payment deferrals.

Over the last four years, Arizona’s K-12 public schools have seen a $883.9 million reduction in funding.  Similarly, funding for the state’s community colleges has been cut by $53.5 million and the universities by $232.5 million.

To review the JLBC’s Comprehensive Budget Solutions for Fiscal Year 2008 – Fiscal Year 2011, click here.

Related AEN articles:
Public School Finance & Equalization Funding: Your Questions Answered
Traditional Public School Finance and Equalized Funding: Your Questions Answered
Charter School Finance and Equalized Funding: Your Questions Answered
AZ Schools – Examination of the Facts
2009 Legislative Sessions: Education Funding Voting Record by Legislator