Political Calendar: Week of January 26, 2020

The Political Calendar is posted on Sundays. Please send us notice of your political events prior to the Sunday before your event 7 days would be most helpful). See the calendar icon in the right-hand column of the blog page for easy access to the calendar. Send notices of your events to blogforarizona@gmail.com. Note: For … Read more

Arizona House

On Opening Day of #AZLeg, Right-Wing Ideology & the Peoples’ Response on Display (video)

Monday, January 13, 2020, was opening day at the Arizona Legislature. Opening day is always fun and full of political drama because there are protests, press conferences with multiple Progressive groups (labor unions, Planned Parenthood, teachers, and others), the House and Senate Democratic Caucus Press Conference, and a big party with great food hosted by … Read more

(UPDATED) Democratic and Progressive reaction to Governor Ducey’s Proposed Budget

Governor Ducey has released his proposed budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year. It has met with mixed reactions among Democratic and Progressive circles. While commending the Governor for investment hikes in areas like education (with more monies for teacher salaries, counselors, and building repair,) infrastructure, and childcare, Progressive advocates point out that the increases are, … Read more

The State needs to Fully Fund Public School Safety Needs

On December 13, the State Board of Education will consider the Department of Education recommendations for close to 400 school safety grant applications for either new counselors, school resource officers, or social workers. According to reporting from AZ Central, the schools that received grant funding recommendations will be able to provide for “148 counselors, 118 … Read more

Is 2020 the Year the Arizona ELL Law Comes off the Books?

Will the political stars finally align to repeal the law (Proposition 203) mandating English Only Instruction for students with limited English Proficiency in 2020? Proposition 203, passed in 2000, has not yielded the hoped-for outcomes as English learners have fallen behind in both English acquisition and mastery of other core and elective subjects children cannot … Read more