Brewer’s Race to the Bottom

by David Safier

The Republican legislature has conspired over the past few decades to move Arizona from the middle of the pack in per student spending to dead last. But under the stewardship of the Accidental Guv, the slide downward has turned into a Race to the Bottom. Brewer has moved us into subterranean territory. If it were mathematically possible, we would be in 54th place out of 50 states.

So it's sadly apt that Arizona was turned down again for educational Race to the Top funding by the Feds. Apparently, in the first round of funding, what we submitted was slap-your-forehead dreadful. Things got a bit better on our second try. People cheered when we made it past the first cut. But that's as far as we got. No extra education money for us.

Brewer says the state will move forward with our educational plans anyway. And those plans are, what? The further dismantling of Arizona's public education system? With Huppenthal, who thinks private schools are public schools (really, I'm not kidding) in charge of the demolition?

We need to improve the quality of our public education, not shrink it until it can be drowned in the bathtub and replaced by a separate-but-unequal voucher system.

Hmm. Race to the Bottom. Not a bad phrase to describe the current Republican regime.