Linda Lyon 
For anyone following the fight over public education in Arizona, this has been a consequential year. The Protect Education coalition mounted a valiant effort to get Prop 212 on the ballot. But the initiative ultimately failed to qualify after a well-funded pro-privatizers managed to challenge enough petition signatures to defeat the will of over 420K … Read more
Arizona’s education funding system looks a lot like a shortened game of Monopoly. In Monopoly, the player who acquires the most valuable properties gains an advantage that compounds over time. In a shortened version of the game, the properties are dealt at the beginning, and some players simply get a better hand. Arizona’s school districts … Read more
The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision today dealt a serious blow to the Protect Education Act—and to the hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters who signed petitions in just 14 weeks. Those voters were asking for something pretty straightforward: accountability. They wanted guardrails around Arizona’s roughly $1 billion Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. They wanted basic transparency, … Read more
According to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, Colorado ranks first overall, third in higher education, and ninth in Pre-K–12 education. Arizona ranks 43rd overall, 22nd in higher education, and 45th in Pre-K–12. Eight years ago, before Jared Polis became governor, Colorado ranked 18th nationally. Today, it sits at the top. In a … Read more
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled this past Thursday, that religious institutions may decide when their doctrines require them to keep secret, confessions about child abuse. They also can decide who beyond actual members of the “clergy”, are exempt from reporting requirements. The case in question involved two Mormon bishops who will now not have to … Read more