The importance of school principals
February 19, 2011
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by David Safier
Reader and commenter Phillip D sent me a lengthy commentary on my post about TUSD's strategy of firing everyone at Rincon and Palo Verde high schools, then hiring back half the teachers. His opinion is, the single most important hire may be the principal.
Here is a short excerpt from what he wrote. You can read the whole thing after the jump.
It’s hard not to conclude that since great teachers are not going to be walking in off the street [to teach at Rincon and Palo Verde] and, like you pointed out, great teachers will not move in from other schools (let's face it, schools have a quarterback problem), it is the principal's responsibility to make sure teachers are not only teaching specific performance objectives from the state standards, but they are given development time to analyze data and prepare lesson plans that will improve scores. In an underperforming school, therefore, it seems like even if most teachers would recoil from what could be perceived as an overreaching, overbearing inappropriate micro-managing, the principal need to take the extra step of making sure the state standards are being taught effectively and making sure methods and protocols are in place in the classroom that will lead to success. The principal is a key factor, more so than usually thought. Again, this is what modern education in Arizona looks like.
Sauce: Tucson Together donation night Tuesday, 2/22
February 19, 2011
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by David Safier Eat at Sauce Tuesday, Feb 22, 11am-9pm, and 20% goes to Tucson Together.
Quick Giffords update
February 19, 2011
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by David Safier This from the UK Daily Mail, via Nancy Young Wright on Facebook. (We live in a strangely, occasionally wonderfully wired, interconnected world.) Gabrielle Giffords is now able to laugh and respond to jokes, eat sushi, and when asked how she was feeling, she said 'I'm better'. Go Gabby!
Three notes of praise for today’s Star
February 19, 2011
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by David Safier Note this in your diaries, BfA readers. Today I praise the Star three times ("Once, Twice, Three Times a Paper") without a hint of snark. 1. The ever-praiseworthy Fitz just keeps getting better in his weekly column. Too many great lines to quote, but here are a few: Attorney General Tom Horne … Read more
An Aha moment
February 19, 2011
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by David Safier Yesterday I wrote about a proposed 50% increase in the amount each person can give as a private school tuition tax credit. (Note, by the way, the bill doesn't offer a similar increase in the public school tax credit, which is already less than half the private school amount.) But I also … Read more
AHCCCS in the Crosshairs
February 18, 2011
by Michael Bryan HHS Secretary Sebelius has indicated that Gov. Brewer's plan to kick everyone who is not federally mandated to be eligible (about 250K people) off Arizona's Medicaid program (AHCCCS) will not violate federal law. Federal eligibility is governed by a number of factors , not income alone, which means that even some people under … Read more
50% rise in tuition tax credit limit. Booze profits for private schools?
February 18, 2011
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by David Safier First the part of HB 2581 I understand. If passed, this bill would allow individuals to raise their yearly private school tuition tax credit contributions from $500 to $750 — a 50% hike. That means a couple's contribution would go from $1,000 to $1,500. Since every dollar of tax credit is a … Read more
Legislative weekly wrap up, with a quick preview of next week
February 18, 2011
by Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings The Arizona legislature's activity, week of February 14. 2011, in review – – The big news this week was the passage of a massive corporate tax cut bill in a special session. The bill, HB2001, is "massive," both in terms of its impact on the state's fiscal situation (blowing a … Read more
