David Safier

by David Safier

When Superintendent Huppenthal went on Robin Hiller's "The State of Education" radio show Saturday, he said about TUSD's new Culturally Relevant Curriculum (CRC), "It's as though they were aching for another confrontation." Today on the Bill Buckmaster radio show, Hupp removed any doubt as to what he meant. Either TUSD toes the line, or Hupp plans to crush the district, Tony Soprano style. Except Hupp, unlike Tony, doesn't have to rough anyone up. He has the power of the specially designed law, HB 2881, to bring TUSD into line.

"Our biggest concern is just simply the health of the Tucson Unified School District," Huppenthal said. "We're going down a path that hasn't been healthy for TUSD." [Later] "Tucson can't afford this kind of behavior, this kind of malfeasance. It needs to get its act together."

What path is TUSD going down that's hazardous to its health? It refuses to bow to Huppenthal's demands to water down its new Culturally Relevant Curriculum, which, to Hupp's way of thinking, is too close to what was taught in the dismantled Mexican American Studies program.

What happens if TUSD doesn't submit to Huppenthal's will?

"The idea that we're now going to be in a position where we come in, we hold them in violation of state law, we withhold funds, we go back to court, that is a disaster for TUSD. That means they go on down the path of losing their brand name, becoming a dysfunctional, malfunctioning school district, parents losing confidence, withdrawing their students . . . The school board needs to get its act together, the people developing the curriculum within TUSD need to get their act together and get on a positive path."

by David Safier The TUSD Board voted 3-2 to go ahead with its "Culturally Relevant Curriculum" (CRC) courses in history and government, courses designed to fulfill part of the federal court ordered deseg plan. (As has been the case lately, Stegeman and Hicks cast the minority votes.) School has already started, so the vote may … Read more

by David Safier

New York gave its students a standardized test based on Common Core standards and experienced a stunning but unsurprising drop in student scores, with passing rates going down an average of 21% in reading (47% to 26%) and 30% in math (60% to 30%). It's a tougher test, so naturally students scored lower. But one of the results which hasn't been talked about much is, charter schools had more slippage in passing rates than traditional public schools, especially highly praised charter schools.

The Harlem Village Academy charter school has developed a reputation for excellence, with a 100% passage rate on the New York state test in 2012. This year, that number fell to 21%, a 79 point drop. It makes you wonder what the earlier test scores meant. Had the administrators and teachers figured out how to teach to the old test — not educate their students better, just feed them what they needed to ace the tests — but they didn't know what to expect from the new test so the kids had to take it cold, without all that test prep?

KIPP charters, with schools across the country, probably have the best reputation of any charter school chain that specializes in teaching children from low income families. Some of the reputation is hyperbole, and the schools spend as much as $6,000 more per student than neighboring school districts, but even with the necessary caveats, KIPP students' achievement often looks impressive. But its New York school, KIPP Amp, fell from a 79% passing rate in 2012 to 9% in 2013. Pause a moment to let that sink in. That's a 70 point drop. Less than 10% of students passed. Yet KIPP schools have a reputation for helping students pull themselves up by their bootstraps and graduate high school ready for college, on a par with students from the high rent part of town.

Another charter, The Equity Project, brags about creating a staff of Great Teachers by paying them salaries as high as $125,000. Things were looking good in 2012, when 76% of students passed the state test. The passage rate droped 56 points in 2013, to 20% passing.

by David Safier Steve Gall has put together a petition advocating for legislation requiring daily physical activity in grades K-6 in Arizona. Bottom line: kids are bodies and minds harnessed together, not sedentary test takers. They need regular activity to be physically healthy and intellectually alert. Steve has made significant strides in bringing recess back … Read more

by David Safier

Here's another voice in the growing intra-party Republican battles that've been heating up in Arizona and across the country. Rich Crandall, who left his AZ Senate seat to lead Wyoming's Department of Education, gave the Republic an interview. Shorter Crandall: More education funding, good; Far right wing Republicans, idiots.

Ed Supe John Huppenthal recently changed his tune, calling for more funding for education after fighting funding hikes when he was a senator. An analogy would be a doctrinaire Republican who lost his high income job and finds himself advocating for a raise in the minimum wage. "Oh, I get it. Now that I can't pay the bills, I see the light. Money matters." Crandall, who looks moderate in comparison to the crazies in his party, agrees.

Q: What does Arizona need to do to improve its education results?

A: State Superintendent John Huppenthal really summed this up well last month when he talked about school funding in Arizona. A 2 percent inflation adjustment each year for the next 10 years will not get the job done. If Arizona is going to crack the top 10, it will take significant strategic investments of resources.