The Horne Mutiny

by David Safier Looks like Ed Supe Tom Horne has a little ELL mutiny on his hands, first in Sahuarita and now in Tucson and Sunnyside. Sahuarita started the mutiny by stating it wouldn’t follow the state mandated English Immersion program that would segregate ELL students for four hours a day of intensive English instruction. … Read more

Arizona Virtual School Funding

by David Safier (TASL) In my continuing quest to learn whether Arizona’s Virtual Charter Schools are overfunded, I’ve talked with a few people at the Arizona Department of Education, who gave me valuable information and told me the names of other people who can give me more. With their help, I’ve located the yearly financial … Read more

Are Arizona Virtual Schools Overfunded?

by David Safier (TASL) The Virtual Schools folks are nothing if not organized. They continue to fight the battle against state cuts to online school funding. Their latest salvo: An op ed in the Republic complaining that the legislature is planning to cut virtual school funding. The author, Ann Robinett, is the president of a … Read more

No Child Left Inside

by David Safier Type the phrase, “No Child Left Inside” in Google, and you’ll find what appears to be a national movement to get our children in touch with the natural world. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has a No Child Left Inside site devoted to EE (Environmental Education). The Arizona Association for Environmental Education and … Read more

Readers Read: a Tucson School Story

by David Safier When a Tucson elementary school has 70% minority students and 75% of the kids are on free or reduced lunch, and that school has the highest library checkout rate of any TUSD elementary school, you gotta figure someone’s doing something right. The school is Drachman Montessori Magnet School. Every year it has … Read more