Wildflowers are Busting Out All Over

by David Safier It’s wildflower time, and if you want to know where they’re blooming, as well as why and how, first go to the Arizona State Parks’ Ranger Cam page, then to the Parks’ Wildflower Information page. The photo of wildflowers at Picacho Peak was taken Monday, February 18. Some information tidbits: The fall … Read more

More on ELL Funding

by David Safier From the article, English cost going to high court, presented without comment. (For more on this issue, see yesterday’s post, ELL Funding Revisited) The amount of money Arizona taxpayers have to spend to teach English will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The top Republican legislative leaders said Saturday that they … Read more

ELL Funding Revisited

by David Safier (TASL) Yet another judge has ruled that legislators have to adequately fund English Language Learner programs. Not only that, they have to do it by a March 4 deadline or suffer sanctions and/or fines. The cost of complying with the judge’s order could exceed $100 million per year. Rock, meet hard place. … Read more

TASL News Service Opens Its Doors

by David Safier From an article in Saturday’s Star, presented without comment: Facing a lack of funds, the state has temporarily suspended a program that offered free AIMS tutoring to high school juniors and seniors who have failed one or more portions of the state assessment exam. Officials are blaming the funding problem on the … Read more

Some Other Universities Get It Nearly Right

by David Safier Yesterday I wrote about Stanford’s decision that any student whose family’s income is under $100,000 a year won’t have to pay tuition, and if it’s under $60,000, they won’t have to pay room and board either. In a comment, azw88 asked, “Will we see something similar from Yale, Harvard and other top … Read more