Tuesday, April 21, 2015
A resolution that seeks to make the college and university experience debt-free for students was introduced in Congress today. (Our very own U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva was among the representatives who introduced the House version. By the way, the resolution is sponsored by all Democrats).
They want to increase financial aid, lower tuition and offer options to get a degree quicker.
In a statement by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who is the primary sponsor of the Senate's version of the proposal, the congressmen and women involved highlighted the fact that the cost of going to college has increased by about 300 percent in the last three decades. They also said that graduating with debt has detrimental long-lasting effects in the country's economy (college graduates who are unable of buying a house, starting a business, etc.).
"Student loan debt is now the highest form of personal debt in the nation, reaching over $1.3 trillion for 38 million student loan borrowers across the country," the press release said.
Tags: university , college , community college , tuition , obama , raul grijalva , tuition , loans , debt , economy
Monday, April 20, 2015
Transparency of budget expenditures has been a years-long issue between the district and its critics. The governing board argued the district didn't have anything to hide, but that it could not bring an internal auditor on board because there's wasn't enough money for one.
There have been accusations of ill spending, such as for desegregation programs—a major reason a bill that looked to defund these gained support from TUSD Board Member Michael Hicks. (He's demanded for an internal auditor for what seems like forever).
Applicants for the internal auditor position will be interviewed by the committee, which will then recommend finalists to the governing board. Board members have the last word on who gets hired, and the auditor will report directly to them.
The goal is to have the internal auditor in place by July 1, when the district's new business management is in place.
“With a couple of key retirements, we have the funding for the position,” TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez said in a short statement, adding that it's time to put the auditor debate to rest.
For more information to volunteer in the Audit Committee, visit http://www.tusd1.org/contents/govboard/audit.html. And the internal auditor position should be posted on the district's website by now, tusd1.org.
Tags: tucson unified school district , internal auditor , ht sanchez , michael hicks , tucson , education
Friday, April 17, 2015
Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas is launching a statewide tour that will make a pit stop in Tucson at the end of May to listen to your concerns on all-things K-12 education.
There will be a series of public meetings throughout the so-called "We Are Listening" tour to pair up with recommendations from the Arizona Department of Education on things like how to improve a school's curriculum, or the Common Core standards.
“I am dedicated to continually improving the state of education in Arizona through conversations with the people it most directly affects—parents, students, teachers and administrators,” a statement from Douglas said. “It is paramount that Arizona not only has the highest standards possible, but that its standards belong to Arizona and are continually improved to best represent both student and local community needs. This process allows us to hear every voice and set high expectations for every child.”
Tags: diane douglas , tucson , k-12 , education , arizona
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
“The first education statutes enacted for the area now known as Arizona was under the Revised Statues & Laws of the Territory of New Mexico dated January 27, 1860. At that time Arizona was still part of the New Mexico Territory. Those statutes consisted of only ONE page,” Douglas said in a statement. “Now, Title 15, the current 2014-2015 edition of the code, contains more than 1,000 pages. No one can reasonably claim that education has become one thousand times better as a result.”
If it hasn't had a positive effect on education, then Douglas wants it out of the code.
She also touches on Gov. Doug Ducey's request for deregulation "to unburden the private sector to stimulate economic growth."
In the case of education, that would be the removal of allegedly useless regulations in Title 15.
“Arizona’s education code and its associated bureaucracy has grown, although not commensurate with student achievement or student success. It’s time to make Arizona’s education code shorter, not longer," she said. “I strongly support the effort to free up more funding for classrooms, and one way to do that is to remove unnecessary burdens which force local education agencies to use vital funding for administrative costs."
The committee would be made up of school superintendents, human resources and food service workers, business managers and others "impacted by the statutes."
She's asking for applications, by the way.
From the press release:
Professionals in those areas and who are interested in participating on the committee should submit their C.V. or resume either electronically via email to the [email protected] or by U.S. Postal Service to Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1535 W. Jefferson, Phoenix, Arizona, 85007. The deadline to apply is May 15, 2015, with the first meeting planned for June. Please include in the email title, or on the envelope, “Application for Title 15 review committee.”The committee will present its findings by Dec. 1, 2015. The report will be presented to the state Legislature in the 2016 session.
Tags: diane douglas , title 15 , education , arizona , doug ducey , regulations
Monday, April 13, 2015
The University of Arizona has released its plans to increase tuition for most students to balance the budget after severe funding cuts from the state.
Next Monday, the Arizona Board of Regents will host a series of public comment events at the universities, but you can also send the regents an email at [email protected]; a letter to 2020 N. Central Ave., Suite 230, Phoenix, AZ 85004; or a fax to (602) 229-2555. Do it before April 30.
Here's a little breakdown on the UA tuition proposition, which would need to be approved by the Arizona Board of Regents:
- New undergrads who are Arizona residents will pay $446 more a year, a grand total of $11,403. For out-of-state students, attending the UA would cost $33,630, a hike of more than $3,000 a year.
Tags: university of arizona , arizona board of regents , tucson , education , doug ducey , budget
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Presidents of the UA, ASU and NAU are releasing their tuition and fees proposals for the 2015-2016 school year tomorrow, and a final decision from ABOR is expected by May 4. The regents have, already, been reviewing all the university finances.
At least Ducey is addressing a "solution" to the budget he signed, which cut $99 million from university funding. It kind of touches on something many UA students have been concerned about: their tuition keeps increasing while there are too many middle-to-upper administrative positions at the colleges with six-digit salaries.
Tags: doug ducey , arizona board of regents , university of arizona , arizona state university , northern arizona university , budget , education
Presidents of the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University are releasing their tuition and fee recommendations tomorrow. Gov. Doug Ducey took a big, fat bite of about $99 million from their funding (while giving corporations more tax breaks and private prisons more money), so increases are inevitable.
The UA has to absorb nearly $28 million of the cuts.
For lack of state money, the UA has increased tuition and fees by nearly 188 percent in the past 10 years. The only ones exempt from the burden this time are freshmen who came to the UA last fall. The Arizona Board of Regents approved a tuition freeze last year for eight consecutive semesters. In exchange, these incoming freshmen had to pay 5.4 percent more than other students. Their tuition is about $10,900 a year.
Earlier this year, ABOR said they hoped consequences of the massive budget cuts wouldn't end up on the shoulders of students and their families. While the tuition increase is understandable—this state doesn't value the importance of education—there are other issues in the UA, such as where the money is spent and the lack of transparency from the administration, according to leaders of some student organizations such as the Graduate and Professional Student Council and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Organizing Committee.
The Service Employees International Union, a group that wants to help improve the quality of academic jobs, said that only about 25 percent of the UA's budget expenditures go toward instruction. Tuition increase after tuition increase, students want to know exactly where their money is ending up. Undergraduate and graduate students want a say in all of this. After all, their pockets are the ones affected the most, not those of the people with the higher up administrative positions.
On April 20, ABOR is having an interactive hearing at eight university campuses throughout the state to hear students and the public speak their minds on these tuition proposals. The three universities will present their proposals to the regents in person on April 27.
ABOR is expected to set tuition and fees on May 4.
Stay tuned.
Tags: university of arizona , tuition , budget , doug ducey , education , tucson
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Starting this fall, eight Tucson high schools will get visits from more than 100 AmeriCorps members as part of a two-year project to improve graduation rates, and to make sure these students are aware of their higher-ed or post high school options—college, a job training program or even the military.
“I’m delighted that we were awarded this grant,” said Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild in a statement. “I’ve focused on building a healthy community and this grant, and community schools, will help put students and their families in touch with the services they need to thrive.”
Tucson is the second community in the country to get this Operation AmeriCorps funding, which is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. In total, the investment in Tucson has a value of about $2 million.
Tags: high school , graduation , drop out rates , tucson , education , americorps
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The NY Times has painted the most complete picture of New York's powerful and controversial Success Academy charter schools I've read to date. The schools claim high test scores for low income students, and the claims bear out, with some clarification. Critics claim the charters use pressure cooker tactics to get students to perform and overwork their teachers, and those claims bear out as well, with some clarification. There's plenty of information in the article for supporters or detractors to latch onto.
According to the article, the 43 Success charters, located in poor areas of New York, have very high rates of students passing the state tests, higher in some cases than schools with more affluent students. If the testing in the schools is legit, and I haven't read anything indicating that the students are helped during the testing or the test papers are doctored in any way, that's impressive.
Tags: Success Academy , Charter schools
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Just like so many other anti-Common Core bills this legislative session, the sole surviving bill that would have Arizona ditch the standards died on the Arizona Senate floor yesterday. In a 13-16 vote, four Republicans said no to the legislation.
The bill asked to go back to the standards that were in place five years ago, and adopt new ones by Aug. 2017. Gov. Doug Ducey said on March 23 that he opposes the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards, and urged the state Board of Education to review the standards and find ways to make them less federal government and more in tune with Arizona.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas wasn't happy about the bill's death. This is what she told The Arizona Republic:
"HB 2190 is an effort that I fully support because it puts additional pressure on the Board of Education to listen to the will of the people. As the public weighs in around the state, I still believe it will create sufficient momentum for the board to have to improve the standards."But there's always next legislative session!
All but five states in the country have fully adopted the standards. Four of those—Alaska, Texas, Virginia, Nebraska—only adopted the ones for English language arts.
Tags: common core , arizona college and career ready standards , diane douglas , doug ducey , education
