Good news on the tuition tax credit front

by David SafierThe Catholic Tuition Organization for the Diocese of Phoenix, a School Tuition Organization that receives tuition tax credit donations and gives them out as scholarships, never used to allow donors to recommend who the money should go to. But their funding grew stagnant, so they recently decided to accept recommendations. But now they're … Read more

Does this sound threatening to you? Part 2

by David SafierA few hours ago, I posted about a letter from Tom Horne to administrators and school board members that sounded both overly harsh and threatening to my ears. Now I'm wondering if it may be deceptive as well. Just wondering, mind you. I'm not a lawyer or a legislator, so I'm only stating … Read more

Does this sound threatening to you?

by David SafierTUSD board member Mark Stegeman gave me a letter Tom Horne sent out in early May of this year. The gist is, every school district has to comply with the ELL Structured English Immersion model implemented in 2008. Horne's tone is harsh, to say the least. NO EXEMPTIONS FROM FULL COMPLIANCE WITH SEI … Read more

The Roots of Music

by David SafierThis is one of those labor-of-love stories. A New Orleans drummer has started a music program, The Roots of Music, for local kids. They pay nothing and get instruments, instruction, participation in the band and academic tutoring. He says he has 100 students enrolled and 400 on a waiting list. Music has a … Read more

Let the Education Games begin!

by David SafierI've become increasingly convinced we're on the cusp of the most significant educational change we've seen in decades, maybe since the 1920s when child labor laws and compulsory education laws combined to create an explosion in high school attendance and gave birth to the modern high school. For good or ill, K-12 education … Read more