Arizona Will Proceed with Education Reforms Despite Federal Decision

Press Release

Governor Jan Brewer today announced Arizona is moving forward with its
aggressive and innovative plans for education reform despite the Obama Administration's decision to draw the line at 10 winners in this morning's Race to the Top funding (RTTT) announcement. The education reform proposals developed and approved in the process of compiling this application have united extremely diverse and often divided stakeholders from across the state on a Brewer Administration education blueprint to end years of gridlock and transform Arizona's public schools.

"At the top of my agenda since becoming Governor has been the creation of a high-quality and stable jobs climate," stated Governor Brewer. "One of the most relevant factors in creating that climate is a highly educated Arizona workforce. With the significant buy-in and collaboration of pivotal education and business leaders from across Arizona, we will continue to advance education reform."

"I would like to personally thank all those involved with the state's Race to the Top application, especially Dr. Paul Koehler from the WestEd Policy Center for his tremendous collaborative efforts and outreach," said Governor Brewer. "I additionally want to thank the team of Dr. Karen Butterfield,
Dr. Michael Cowan, Rebecca Gau, Eileen Klein, Jacob Moore, and Vince Yanez who traveled to Washington, DC two weeks ago and did such an amazing job representing Arizona's students, teachers, and administrators."

For complete biographies on presenters, click here: http://az.gov/recovery/assets/docs/08-11-10-ArizonaRTTTPresenterBios.pdf.

"Finally, I also want to thank the diverse and bipartisan stakeholders from around the state including the P-20 Council, Arizona's Congressional Delegation, educators, business leaders, philanthropic organizations, civic leaders, state legislators and policy leaders for their tremendous support in getting the word out about the amazing efforts being made in Arizona to reform our educational system," added Governor Brewer.

Through the work of Governor Brewer's P-20 Coordinating Council and its task forces, comprised of a myriad of key stakeholders, including education, business and community leaders statewide, Arizona began to develop a comprehensive, collaborative plan for Arizona's educational system. The state's process of developing the RTTT application was designed to serve as a roadmap for continued education reform, regardless of whether additional funding is received.

With the development and submission of the first and second round applications, the state has the experience to continue to build a strong framework for building upon our successful reforms. Vital education initiatives have recently been approved by the Arizona legislature and the State Board of Education, including the adoption of the common core academic standards, the reform of teacher tenure and seniority, and an effort to ensure that Arizona has a state of the art educational data system.

Building off of this recent momentum, Arizona's educational reform plan calls for:

Aid in the transition of schools to the new Common Core Standards and the corresponding assessment system;

Complete the build out and training of users on data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals how to improve instruction;

Establish the framework for teacher and principal evaluations, increase the quality teaching pipeline in the highest need schools, provide systemic support for teachers and principals; and

Establish once and for all a process for turning around struggling schools that engages the local community and focuses on instruction within the context of that school and community.

In order to begin the implementation of Arizona's plan and to keep the momentum going, Governor Brewer has called for her P-20 Council to convene again in the next 30 days and develop a detailed implementation plan utilizing the existing resources available in Arizona.

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