Melvin votes against allowing teaching of the Holocaust

by David Safier This is . . . really something. Al Melvin is all for HB 2281, the anti-ethnic studies bill whose title should probably be "The Tom Horne anti-TUSD La Raza Studies Bill." Melvin voted for it along with his fellow Republicans. But before the final vote, he voted against an amendment that says … Read more

My conclusion: No red flags at Sonoran Science Academy

by David Safier I've listened to a number of people and read quite a bit of material, and I've come to the conclusion there is no reason to condemn Sonoran Science Academy. In fact, the Sonoran Science schools appear to be very serious about their educational mission, and the students appear to benefit from going … Read more

Imagine Schools take a beating in the NY Times

by David Safier I've posted often about problems with Imagine Schools, a corporation out of Virginia that runs 71 charter schools across the country, including 13 in Arizona. Saturday, the issues raised here, on other blogs and in local papers across the country (no papers in Arizona, unfortunately) received major coverage in the NY Times. … Read more

Teacher unions need to bend on teacher protections

by David Safier I am now and always have been a union man, and especially a teacher union man. Without the unions, school conditions would be dramatically worse for students and for teachers. Having said that, I always felt uncomfortable when the union protected teachers who weren't any good at their jobs. Every time I … Read more

More about Sonoran Science Academy

by David Safier Last December, Tucson Weekly ran an article by Tim Vanderpool about the Sonoran Science Academy charter schools: Hidden Agenda? Parents raise concerns that a Tucson charter school has ties to a Turkish nationalist movement. Today, Tim Steller has a long, excellent piece in the Star about Sonoran Science. It's well researched, informative … Read more