Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

A World-Class, Not Third World, Educational System

The easiest and smartest investment is in our kids. We have used education as a punching bag for too long and we shortchange and shorten our future as a result of our short-sightedness. Instead of striving for the bottom in education, we need to be shooting for the top. States with smart students attract high-paying jobs, not those ranked 50th or 51st.

We should extend the one penny sales tax until such time as the regular budget can make up for the lost dollars (e.g., establish a sunset), or make it permanent if more traditional and responsible approaches aren't possible.

Stop allowing opponents of improved education investment from distorting or misusing statistics to falsely claim and justify policies or programs that harm Arizona's educational system. The costs of diesel fuel for school buses is not a component of per-pupil education spending.

Make a public pronouncement that excellence in education is one of the top priorities in Arizona and we will no longer accept near-bottom rankings in any education achievement or funding category. There used to be a time when states competed for above average. Arizona competes for the floor.

Put traditional and charter schools on level playing fields when it comes to choice of finance formula, teacher and administrative staffing requirements/criteria and capital.

Examine how to enhance R&D, commercialization of R&D products, intellectual property ownership and entrepreneurship at our colleges and universities.
Enhance programs that help place Arizona graduates in Arizona jobs upon graduation.

While performance-based pay sounds good, there are studies from Education Week and the Rand Corporation that show bonuses have had little or no effect on teacher, student or school performance and, when state education budgets are tight, the program's funding gets slashed further diminishing its effectiveness. Many states are rethinking their use of merit-pay in light of the fiscal reality that some legislators don't apparently like paying teachers competitive wages in the first place. It is important to have the discussion, but it must be done in an open and transparent manner.

I support treating teachers like the skilled professionals they are and pay them accordingly. Just as in the private sector, the hard part is agreeing on what pay package best motivates them. If teachers and administrators don't understand or accept the program, there is little chance it could ever be successful. But right now the jury is still out on whether merit pay is the best model, especially during tough economic times.

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