Featured Stories
The Odd Couple to visit BASIS
September 15, 2009
by David Safier No, not that odd couple. Much, much odder. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton are scheduled to tour acclaimed charter school BASIS Tucson for a few hours on Oct. 1, BASIS spokeswoman Arwynn Mattix confirmed Monday. This is part of a nationwide tour. Along with U.S.
ASU jumps into charter schools
September 15, 2009
by David SafierI find this to be a promising development. ASU has teamed with the Phoenix Elementary School District to create two charter schools "under the umbrella of a non-profit group called University Public Schools Inc." The focus is "on steering disadvantaged kids toward the university gates." If the schools are successful, everyone benefits. If
Indiana paper warns of Arizona-like tax credits
September 15, 2009
by David SafierIn another example of the benefits that can come from good investigative journalism, Fort Wayne's Journal Gazette published an editorial today using the East Valley Trib's articles on Arizona's tuition tax credit abuses as a warning for Indiana. Indiana just passed a tuition tax credit law. It's only $2.5 million, a drop in
Peeking Into Charter Schools: Imagine Schools
September 14, 2009
by David Safier “It’s our school as much as anyone else’s school. We’ve made it very clear that if you don’t trust us, don’t start with us, because we are there forever. It’s very difficult to unwind this marriage, and it was meant to be that way.”Dennis Bakke, founder, President and CEO of Imagine Schools
Star suckered by G.I. once again
September 14, 2009
by David SafierIt's just too hard to resist. Easy to read stats and charts, easy to understand conclusions, a bit of punch to the results. The Goldwater Institute should be in marketing, not think-tanking. Oh, wait, that's right. It is. Last Thursday I showed the methodological weaknesses of two G.I. studies that "conclude" private schools
Documentary, “Fatally Flawed,” to play at Loft
September 13, 2009
by David Safier For those of you who are fans and/or followers of the election integrity efforts to look into the RTA election results, the film, Fatally Flawed, is a must see. It will be playing at The Loft Wednesday, September 16, 7pm. The director is J.T. Waldon, a local documentarian. He and his crew
Cindy McCain: compassionate (about migraines) conservative
September 13, 2009
by David SafierHow typically conservative is this? Cindy McCain, wife of U.S. Senator John McCain, today announced she would work to raise awareness of migraine among the public and health professionals and pledged to take her message to leaders in Washington to increase funding for research into migraines, a condition that affects some 36 million
