Arizona Legislature

Pima Canyon

Tucson Then & Now: How Far Have We Come in 35 Years? (video)

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Tucson was a happening place back in 1981 when I moved here. Earthquakes in California and blizzards in the Midwest had prompted waves of migration to the sun belt. The town was bustling, and everyone was from somewhere else. Opportunity was in the air– as evidenced by all of the things that started in the … Read more

Rep. Victoria Steele and Pamela Powers Hannley

Transitions for the New Year: Powers Hannley Says ‘I’m In It To Win It’ #AZLD9

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Rep. Victoria Steele and Pamela Powers Hannley
LD9 Rep. and Congressional District 2 candidate Victoria Steele with Pamela Powers Hannley, LD9 House candidate at DGT Luncheon in September.

The beginning of a New Year is often a time for transitions.

On Monday, January 4, 2016, I will make a major life transition as I step down from my 11-year position as Managing Editor for The American Journal of Medicine. Beginning in 2016, I will be working part-time as the Journal’s Social Media/Technology Editor, managing the blog, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts, as well as writing occasional editorials, like this one in the January issue.

Why am I voluntarily leaving a great job? Because I want to work for the people of Arizona in the Legislature, and I am willing to put the work in to get elected. This transition will allow me to dedicate more time to my campaign for the Arizona House, representing Legislative District 9. This is the seat currently held by Rep. Victoria Steele, who is challenging CD2 Rep. Martha McSally for Congress in 2016.

I’m it in to win it. Transitioning from full-time to part-time will give me the time to knock on more doors, attend events, and talk with more constituents about my ideas for making Arizona more prosperous and more equitable place to live.

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Here we go again…

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The second regular session of the Arizona 52nd Legislature officially begins on January 11, 2016.   If past performance is any indication, that means it won’t be long until we see numerous anti-public education bills proposed, some of which will be reruns. With the Inflation Funding Lawsuit settled (pending approval by the voters on May 17th), it … Read more

CTE is a win-win-win

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Tim Cook, CEO of Apple was recently asked why his company moved its production to China. “It’s skill”, said Cook in response to Charlie Rose on “60 Minutes. “The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills” he said. “I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.” Okay, so the CEO of the most profitable company in the world moved production out of the U.S. because American workers don’t have enough vocational skills.   Surely, that makes alleged “pro-business” legislators stand up and take notice, right? You would think, but this is Arizona.

In our state, the public high school districts charged with offering these tuition-free “vocational kind of skills” or Career and Technical Education (CTE) are Joint Technical Education Districts (JTED.) These JTED offer a variety of programs in fields such as business, computers and media, health science; and industrial technologies just to name a few. Students in JTED programs earn high school credit, and in some cases, may earn college credit, industry certifications, and/or a state license through combination of hands-on training and classroom instruction.

As the Pinal County Chair for the Arizona School Boards Association, I toured the Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology (CAVIT) in Coolidge this year.   This district has a partnership with eleven area high schools and offers aesthetics, cosmetology, dental assistant, fire science, law enforcement, massage therapy, medical assistant, nursing assistant, and veterinary assistant training programs. I was very impressed with what I saw at CAVIT. Engaged students were learning not only valuable trades skills that will earn them certificates and jobs when they graduate from high school, but also how to be valued employees. I left CAVIT thinking “this is exactly what we need in Arizona.”

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Doing the Right Thing Isn’t Complicated

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When I read the recent Cronkite News Service article “20 Years in, Arizona charter schools on firm ground” I wanted to rename it “20 Years in, Arizona charter schools still serve only 15 percent of the state’s students.” That’s when I realized how pointless this debate is. You know, you tout charter school offerings and performance and I come back with “yeah, but charters cherry pick their students and don’t have to put up with the same level of transparency and accountability.” Enough already!

How about we try something different? First, we recognize that charter schools weren’t originally designed to compete with community district schools, but rather, “to allow teachers the opportunity to draw upon their expertise to create high-performing educational laboratories from which the traditional public schools could learn.” Except for the part of allowing “teachers the opportunity” some charter schools have mostly done that. Take BASIS schools for example. Known for their rigor and academic success, these schools have an in-depth enrollment process that includes a placement test, they push their students hard, and they require significant involvement by parents who are likely already more engaged with their child’s education than the average. These factors no doubt contributed to BASIS Scottsdale ranking #2 high school in the nation for 2015 by U.S. News & World Report. There are takeaways from the BASIS model that would likely improve academic success at some district schools, but their high attrition rate is proof enough that it won’t work for the vast majority of students.   District schools can’t “attrit” students – they must educate all.

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