Tag: KTAR
Ducey focuses on water, school safety, teacher shortage in State of the State. See more state education news here
Gov. Doug Ducey said securing Arizona’s water future is his chief priority during his State of the State address Jan. 14 at the Capitol in Phoenix. …
The Safe Arizona School’s plan with more school counselors, more police officers on campus, improved background checks and restricted access to firearms for people who are a lethal threat “will make our schools safer and it’s time for us to get this done,” Ducey said. …
Ducey said more is needed for K-12 education funding with a focus on results, reforms and resources. …
“Four years ago, I heard what sounded like a really good idea to address the teacher shortage,” Ducey said. “If someone graduates from an Arizona university, is willing to stay in Arizona, and teach in a public school, why not allow them to graduate debt-free by providing a scholarship?”
Arizona youth aging out of foster care missing out on services
Numerous services are available to young people aging out of foster care in Arizona, but only a fraction of the intended recipients are taking advantage.
A new brief from the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds only 25 percent of youth who aged out of foster care take advantage of services offered such as money to cover housing and college tuition.
Other services available include being connected to a case work. They can also get help enrolling in college, applying for a job, getting a state ID and opening a bank account.
Arizona universities travel the state helping students learn more about college admissions, financial aid. See more state education news here
As part of the Achieve60AZ initiative, organizations across Arizona – including the state’s three public universities Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona – are seeking ways to increase the number of Arizonans with post-secondary degrees or credentials from the current 42 percent to 60 percent by 2030.
Arizona gets failing grade in ranking of best states for teachers. See related news here
Arizona has been named as one of the worst states for teachers in a new report by the personal-finance website WalletHub.
“Unfortunately, Arizona is the second-worst place for teachers – second only to Hawaii,” said Jill Gonzalez, an analyst for WalletHub.
Gonzalez said she doesn’t think Arizona’s ranking in the “2018’s Best & Worst States for Teachers” report “is any surprise” given there has been “a very high teacher turnover rate in Arizona for a number of years.”
RedforEd movement creates pledge for Arizona candidates. See related news here
The Arizona Education Association has created a pledge it will ask candidates for office to sign in order to hold them accountable on their promise to fund public education in the state.
Arizona teachers are continuing the fight for pay raises and classroom funding even though the InvestInEd initiative was removed from the November ballot by the Arizona Supreme Court.
The initiative, also known as Proposition 207, was expected to bring in $690 million of additional funding to Arizona public schools, according to backers. InvestInEd would have raised income tax rates to individuals who made more than $250,000 and households that made more than $500,000.
Arizona education expansion fund looks to bolster underserved schools
The Arizona Chamber Foundation’s A for Arizona project has launched what it calls a first-of-its kind statewide expansion fund.
Emily Anne Gullickson, the executive director of A for Arizona, said the campaign to aid Arizona schools contains a $1 million matching grant from the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.
“We’re very excited about what this fund can do to sort of spark innovation and help us to move more rapidly to serving more kids in great schools now,” Gullickson said.
Arizona school-choice backers promote vouchers to undocumented immigrants. See other education and political news here
A group promoting school choice in Arizona is marketing the state’s controversial voucher program to Spanish-speaking parents by telling them immigration status isn’t a barrier to receiving public money to attend private school.
American Federation for Children’s online Spanish-language pitch states: “Arizona has a state-funded program that pays for private schools for thousands of children who live in this state. They don’t verify income or immigration status. Children don’t need to have or maintain certain grades.”
Arizona Latinos seeking equal representation in education groups
A group of Latino activists and leaders in Arizona launched a campaign on Thursday in an effort to achieve fair representation on three education boards in the state.
The Arizona for Latino Leaders in Education, otherwise known as ALL in for Education AZ, want Gov. Doug Ducey to appoint more Latinos to the Arizona State Board of Education, Arizona Board of Regents and Arizona State Board for Charter Schools.
Report finds Arizona making slow progress toward education goals. See related news here
Arizona is making a slow progress toward its education goals — but a recent report found that there is still a long way to go before the state reaches all of them by 2030.
The Arizona Progress Meter, a project of Expect More Arizona, found that Arizona has not yet reached any of its seven goals when it comes to education.
Christine Thompson, president of Expect More Arizona, said it’s a start.
AzMERIT test could be replaced with selection of state-approved tests. See related news here
Instead of just one statewide test, Arizona’s public schools may soon be able to choose from a selection of state-approved tests to give their students.
That means the current AzMERIT statewide test may soon become a thing of the past.
This comes after the Arizona State Board of Education voted to put together the list of approved tests as a result of recently-approved legislation.
