I’m just asking

by David SafierWhy do Arizona Senate Republicans want to tax the rich? Well, that's not exactly what they want. This is what was actually voted on. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday voted to slash the salary of every state and university employee earning at least $100,000 a year by that much for one year. … Read more

Star’s article on Charter School study

by David SafierRhonda Bodfield has an article in the Star on the Stanford Charter School study I posted about a few days ago. It's basically a good, thorough article, which I've come to expect from Bodfield's reporting, with commentary from people on both sides of the issue. But Bodfield made one strange choice. She mentioned … Read more

Why we need Ethnic Studies

by David SafierTom Horne's statement should be required reading in ethnic studies classes — in TUSD schools and at universities. It's a classic. "We should be teaching these students that this is the land of opportunity," Horne told the committee. "We should not be teaching them that they are oppressed." And we should be teaching … Read more

National study: Charter schools a mixed bag

by David SafierStanford University just put out a nationwide study of charter schools. The overall conclusion is that students in charter schools do slightly worse than the same students would do in traditional public schools. But the results are so mixed that the conclusion doesn't mean much. Individual findings in the study are far more … Read more