Monday, September 17, 2018
Arizona became an early adopter in the privatization/"education reform" movement almost a quarter century ago when it opened its first charter schools.
From the beginning, the Republicans pushing charter schools had two overlapping goals: open as many charters as possible, and regulate them as little as possible. They're fine using taxpayer money to fund the schools, but their mantra has always been, "Keep your government hands off my charters!" They've kept rules and regulations as few and as toothless as possible.
As a result Arizona has the highest number of charter schools per capita in the country, though other states are catching up. We also have some of the worst examples of unchecked profiteering and what can only be described as legal corruption in the charter school sector you're going to find anywhere.
I'll get to the most recent example of profiteering and corruption involving State Representative Eddie Farnsworth (R, LD-12) in a minute, but first let me make one thing absolutely clear. Republicans have had plenty of opportunities to increase transparency and tighten financial rules on charter schools. The media has written articles about problems for years. Democratic legislators have proposed legislation to put a check on some of charter school operators' worst practices. Republicans have purposely ignored the media warnings and shot down Democratic legislation at every turn. If they retain their control over the legislature and the governor's office, nothing is going to change. You can bet money on it. However, if Democrats increase their power November 6, there's a good chance we'll see increased transparency and tighter regulation, which will, ironically, improve the quality of the charter schools Republicans hold so dear.
Now, to Rep. Farnsworth, who has figured out a way to turn charter schools into a multimillion dollar goldmine.
Tags: Charter schools. Eddie Farnsworth. Benjamin Franklin Charter Schools. Elections , Image
Friday, September 14, 2018
Legendary Teacher Day, is on Thursday, Sept. 27, presented by the Pima County School Superintendent Dustin J. Williams.
Williams is partnering with Nicholas Clement, who established the day of tribute to teachers in 2014. Clement has a doctoral degree in education, has been a long time school administrator and spent his career celebrating teachers.
As a way of thanking our teachers, Clement and Williams have invited the community to recognize a teacher that has affected lives and careers.
Some of the tributes submitted will be collected and the teachers will be represented with a gift card as an expression of gratitude.
The Legendary Teacher Reception will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 25, at 10 a.m. to honor teachers and announce the Superintendent Award.
To post a tribute to a teacher visit this link: http://www.legendaryteacher.com/Tribute
Tags: teachers , education , honor , celebration , learning , awards , Image
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
I've never used emoticons before, but these angry little guys may be just what I need right now.
"Read my emoticon. Damn right I'm mad! I plan to stay mad through November 6. After that, we'll see."
Republicans are doing everything they can to tell Arizona educators to calm down, there's really nothing to be upset about. It's your own fault the Invest in Ed initiative isn't on the ballot. As for your salary problems, blame your school district, not the legislature or the governor. You educators shouldn't bother your pretty, pedantic little heads about all this complicated governing stuff. Just stay in to your classrooms where you belong. After you vote us back into office, don't worry, everything will be fine.
Republicans hate it when their opponents get mad. Oh, they love to rile up their own base. The Tea Party named itself after a bunch of colonists in Boston who were so pissed about taxes, they threw a shipload of tea in the harbor. Our Liar in Chief inflames his base with a steady diet of hate directed at his growing list of enemies. They know it works.They know it brings their supporters out to the polls.
Which is why they want the opposition to stay calm and quiet. Get sad, not mad. Lose gracefully.
I was surprised to find myself featured in an op ed by Jonathan Hoffman in Sunday's Star. I was the poster child and whipping boy for every educator who is angry at Republican elected officials and their fat cat donors and plans to vote them out of office. Hoffman was complaining about a quote from one of my recent posts, Don't Get Sad. Get Mad!:
“We need to be Red-hot angry over the decision by Ducey’s Supreme Court, backed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, to take the Invest in Education initiative off the ballot.”Hoffman hated that "Red-hot angry" phrase so much, he repeated it four times. If anyone missed the point about how dangerous it is to be that angry, he warned teachers they're turning into "Antifa thugs" instead of quiet, staid "college-educated professionals."
Your problems are your own fault, he said.
"You created the problems with the Invest in Ed initiative, not the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry or the Arizona Supreme Court. So, be professional, own the screw-up, and do it right next time."Take the blame. Slink away quietly. Lick your wounds. You can try again two years from now.
Tags: Invest in Education initiative , Doug Ducey , Teacher salaries , RedforEd , Image
Monday, September 10, 2018
The University of Arizona came in at number 46 in the 2019 Best Public Colleges category, which is 14 spots higher than it ranked last year. Out of all universities, including both public and private institutions, the UA ranked number 106, 18 spots higher than last year and the best ranking that the UA has achieved in almost 10 years.
UA President Robert Robbins commented on the ranking:
It is our intention to equip our students with the skills necessary to compete and contribute in the increasingly challenging global economy. We are stressing a student-centric approach that focuses greatly on the necessary humanistic and adaptive skills required to excel in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We embrace this broad mission and will work tirelessly to advance our influence on behalf the students and the university. At the same time, we remain proud of our status as a land-grant university and a member of the Association of American Universities. The University of Arizona welcomed 31 percent of this year's incoming freshman class as first-generation college students.The UA also placed on other lists compiled by the U.S. News & World Report, including coming in number 97 on the Best Value Schools list and appearing on the list of A+ Schools for B Students.
The management information systems program at the UA Eller College of Management placed number one out of public universities. Out of public and private universities, the program placed third, only trailing behind MIT and Carnegie Mellon University.
The UA College of Engineering also popped up on the list, ending tied for 55th place overall, and 16th among public universities for doctoral programs.
U.S. World & News Report ranks colleges and universities annually based on 16 measures of academic quality. Find the full U.S. World & News Report rankings here.
Tags: education , University of Arizona , colleges , rankings , national survey , U.S. World & News Report , UA , Image
Friday, September 7, 2018
Young voters can dive into a new semester of political involvement with pool party hosted NextGen Arizona this Saturday at Catalina Terrace (2440 E Hedrick Dr, Tucson, AZ 85719).
NextGen is hosting a pool party to encourage engagement from freshly returning UA students at 1 p.m. There will be free food, drinks, music, water games and the opportunity to get registered to vote.
Over the next few weeks, NextGen will be reaching out to students on over 23 campuses across Arizona and will host several major events, like “Wet n Woke”. They have already registered more than 12,000 voters this year.
If registering to vote is already checked off the to-do list, there is also an opportunity to get signed up to volunteer. Next on NextGen Arizona’s agenda is ensuring young people all over Arizona are informed and empowered to vote for candidates like David Garcia this November.
Tags: UofA , NextGen Arizona , Register to Vote , Pool Party , Things to do , Image
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Get a chance to win tickets to the University of Arizona football games as a raffle will be hosted at the event! Help save lives and give back to your community. Every two seconds someone in the U.S. need blood and one donation can potentially save up to three lives.
1. You get a free physical.
Before giving blood, you must get a quick physical to measure your temperature, blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin levels. After giving blood, a lab takes your blood to do 13 tests for infectious diseases.
2. You will have a balanced iron level
Five grams of iron in the blood is healthy. When you donate a unit of blood, you lose about a quarter of a gram of iron. You regain that iron from the food you eat in the weeks after you donate blood. Having too much iron could affect your blood vessels. Lowering iron may also reduce the risk of a heart attack.
3. The feeling you get knowing you are saving someone’s life.
Blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to someone else. It is the gift of life. You become a real-life superhero. It’s a quick, easy way to give back to your community and feel good about yourself!
Tags: Blood , donate , benefits , karma , lives , football , physical , iron , hero , Image
5 fun facts about soap:
1. Soap making was known as early as 2800 B.C. because there is evidence of a soap-like material found in clay cylinders during the excavation of ancient Babylon.2. The most expensive soap in world, a single bar of Qatar soap produced by a family-run business in Lebanon infused with gold and diamond powder, costs $2,800.
3. The revenue from a soap and cleaning manufacturing industry in the United States was about $50.75 billion in 2010. Scrub a dub dub!
4. In 1806, William Colgate’s company became the first major soap manufacturing company in the United States.
5. Soap makers today use fat that has been processed into fatty acids as a major ingredient in many soaps. Yum?
Find more information about the soap making event here.
Tags: soap , museum , kids , history , Saturday , scents , fun , Image
Brnovich must be new to the concept of privatizing government and profiting handsomely from public funding. For instance, he probably doesn't know much about the Arizona's conservative/libertarian Goldwater Institute, which advocates for privatization and deregulation. Wait, check that. He was Director of the Goldwater Institute's Center for Constitutional Government. OK, so maybe he doesn't have any real world experience with for-profit businesses which make big money by performing government services. Wait, check that too. He was Senior Director for the Corrections Corporation of America, the private prison company.
I guess it's possible Brnovich hasn't read or seen the many news stories about charter schools misusing state funds during his years in Arizona, or heard the topic mentioned in the halls of government. Possible, but not likely.
So why this sudden concern about charter schools ripping off the public and his call for "a mechanism . . . to make sure that charter schools . . . are not enriching themselves at the expense of students"? Here are four good reasons.
1. He's running for office in a year Democrats look like they have a shot at winning statewide races.The first three reasons are self explanatory. Number four deserves more explanation.
2. He has an able, hard working Democratic challenger, January Contreras, who has a strong record of serving and protecting Arizonans.
3. Education is the top issue for most Arizonans.
4. He's one of 20 attorneys general who signed onto a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act. If they're successful, insurance companies can refuse to cover people with preexisting conditions. He'd rather talk about how much he loves children and education than how he's working to deny people health coverage.
Tags: Attorney General Mark Brnovich , Charter schools , Goldwater Institute , Corrections Corporation of America , Affordable Care Act , Texas v. United States , Craig Harris , Image
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Across the country, teachers give up some of their earning power when they decide to enter their noble profession. Arizona tops the list in earning losses: 36.4 percent.
We're Number 1! We're Number 1! We're Number . . . Oh wait, that's not a good thing.
According to an analysis in the Money section of Time, on average, teachers earn 18.7 percent less than other college grads working full time, factoring in education, age and years of experience. If you consider teacher's benefits, which are higher than in the private sector, the gap goes down to 11.1 percent.
But all pay gaps are not created equal, as we learn in the article's "Teacher Pay Penalty, State-By-State" chart. Scroll way, way down to the bottom, past Oklahoma, past North Carolina, and you get to Arizona, where teachers earn 36.4 percent less than people of similar education, age and experience.
Do you teach in Arizona? If so, slash a-third-plus-3-percent off your earning power.
Tags: Teacher salaries , Invest in Ed , RedforEd , Arizona Chamber of Commerce. , Image
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Saturday I was a guest on the John C. Scott radio show. John and I were discussing the push to arm teachers, which I find abhorrent. A caller wanted to let me know how wrong I was. Here's what she said.
"There was a massacre in 1974 in Israel called Ma'alot. There were 31 children and 4 teachers killed and 115 people wounded. The next day the military moved into the school, and they taught the teachers how to protect the children with guns. Since 1974 there has never been another school shooting in Israel."It's a perfect story. Children harmed, teachers armed, children safe. Perfect. Too perfect.
It's a safe bet, stories this neat and tidy are either complete lies or they leave out important details. That's why as I listened, my Bullshit Detector was maxed out at eleven, lights were flashing and sirens were blaring. But what could I do? I'd never heard of the incident, so I couldn't tell the caller she was wrong. Yet I was damned if I was going to leave what sounded like a perfect fabrication hanging there without a response.
If she was lying, or if she was retelling an inaccurate story she believed, any chance of us carrying on a reasonable discussion was gone. For people to talk about something with the purpose of understanding the issues and arriving at conclusions, not just winning, both sides have to play fair. Otherwise, it's just a question of who's better at fighting dirty.
My sense was, purposely or not, she was fighting dirty. But was the Ma'alot story she told incorrect? I couldn't be sure.
The one card I had to play was my knowledge of how restrictive gun laws are in Israel. It's much harder to get guns there than in the U.S., so the notion that their schools would be filled with gun-toting teachers doesn't make sense. Did the caller know anything about Israeli gun laws, I wondered, or was she just repeating a story she heard?
When she finished talking, I asked, "Do you know anything about how difficult it is to get a gun in Israel?" Silence. Either she knew nothing, or she had already hung up.
I took a chance, figuring the odds were with me.
After I explained how difficult it is to own a gun in Israel, I said, "With all due respect, I'm going to look this up after the show is over, but I don't believe teachers are armed in Israel's schools. I think that's a bogus argument."
After the show, I looked it up. I was right. The thrust of her argument and most of the details were wrong.
Tags: School shootings , Ma'alot massacre , Israel , Gun regulations , Fox News , NRA , Image
