AZ Charter School Board Conflict of Interest?

by David Safier This is interesting. I wrote yesterday about Arizona Virtual Academy sending student papers to India to be commented on and scored. To get official confirmation for my information, I spoke with Mary Gifford at the school. I summarized parts of our conversation in that post. I was nosing around the internet today … Read more

$97 Million Surplus at the AZ Ed. Dept.?

by David Safier According to The Skinny in the current Tucson Weekly: State agencies didn’t spend all the money they anticipated, so there’s an extra $189 million still left in those bank accounts. That includes $97 million from the Department of Education and $54 million from AHCCCS, the state’s health-insurance program. $97 million Tom Horne … Read more

AZ Online Charter School Outsources Education

Note from Mike Bryan: David Safier has been doing a great job covering aspects of the education scene on BlogforArizona that are largely ignored by the MSM (and he’s become quite a wit with his missives from the McCain “Ranch”). In his first endeavor at an investigative piece, on outsourcing at one of Arizona’s online … Read more

School Sports Play the Tax Credit Game

by David Safier (TASL) This is going to be one of those rare posts where I don’t know where I stand on an issue. I have to admit, I’m confused. The top story in today’s Star sports section is, TUSD athletes pay more to play this fall. TUSD is raising its pay-to-play fee from $30 … Read more

McCain Plays Fast and Loose With Education Alliances

by David Safier You can sum up McCain’s education policy by saying he’s for school vouchers and . . . well, that’s about it. He also wants merit pay and he likes the idea of higher salaries for teachers working in difficult schools, but those are on the periphery. It’s all vouchers all the time … Read more