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Rep. Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley and Ana Henderson

#LD9 Debate Reveals Clear Choices Between Dem & GOP Candidates

October 15, 2016October 15, 2016 by Pamela Powers Hannley

Rep. Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley (me), and Ana Henderson– the three candidates for the two Legislative District 9 seats in the Arizona House– faced off on Friday night in front of a packed house for the LD9 Clean Elections Debate.

This was the first event– and perhaps the only event– in which voters got to hear all three candidates. Friese and I were the only LD9 candidates who appeared at the Pima County Interfaith Council Candidate Forum, the candidate forum sponsored by the UA pre-law candidate forum, the Arizona Daily Star candidate interview and Pride on Parade— besides all of the joint events with Matt Kopec during the primary. (OK, so Pride wasn’t a candidate forum, but many candidates turned out to show their support for the LGBTQ community and celebrate diversity.)

So– even though this is the first time that most of us got to hear Henderson talk, we learned a lot about her views. Climate change, reproductive choice, homelessness, corporate tax cuts, minimum wage, public banking, gun violence, and, of course, education– the three of us fielded a wide variety of questions from the audience last night. (I’ll link the full video when it is available on the Clean Elections YouTube channel.)

Here’s we learned about Ana Henderson at the debate.

She’s against raising the minimum wage. (She said it’s bad for business, and government shouldn’t be meddling in business– except to dole out more corporate welfare. In a town with a 25% poverty rate, too many workers are just scraping by in the gig economy. They can’t buy the goods businesses are selling if they have no expendable income.)

What Is Our Goal for Education in Arizona? (video)

October 7, 2016 by Pamela Powers Hannley

Funding for education at all levels — but particularly for k-12 public education — has been a HOT button issue in Arizona since Governor Jan Brewer and her henchman, ousted Senate President Russell “SB1070” Pierce, started mercilessly slashing education in 2010, at the dawn of the Tea Party Revolution in Arizona.

After six years of Tea Party cuts to public ed and six years of legislative gifts to private schools, charter schools, and big corporations, in general, Arizona’s education system is on the ropes– demoralized and penniless.

Frustrated parents are angry. Demoralized teachers are leaving Arizona in droves. Aging school buildings are crumbling and dangerous. Contentious schools boards are arguing over how to spend the scraps.

Although some come to school hungry, our children soldier on everyday. Are they learning in this financially and emotionally stressed environment?

No one can pretend that this scenario is anywhere near optimum. Why has this situation been allowed to develop? Our current education system was created by budget cuts based upon right-wing, anti-government ideology and not on what is best for the families and children of Arizona– or what is best for our state as a whole.

Parents & Children Need Help: Let’s Take a Broader View of Education (video)

August 2, 2016 by Pamela Powers Hannley

When my brother and I were small children, we spent our days with Grandpa and Grandma Springer. Mom and Dad both worked in factories– Mom as an administrative assistant and Dad as a union electrician. Back then, there were no day care centers because most Moms stayed home with the kids. If mom worked, grandma … Read more

Stanford University vs the State of Arizona. A contrast in priorities.

October 26, 2015 by AZ BlueMeanie

I accompanied Mark to his 1980 undergrad class reunion at Stanford this past weekend. It was my first visit to the campus and had me wishing I could commandeer a DeLorean to get me back to 1980s Donna Gratehouse (I’m still stuck on that decade lately) and get my teenage shit together so that I could be celebrating my 1990 graduation from that institution as well.

Mark and I ran into a former classmate of his, an Arizona native now living in Seattle, who said that outgoing Stanford President John L. Hennessy had visited Washington to raise funds for Stanford’s endowment and that Hennessy’s stated goal was in the billions. That’s with billions with a B. This is money going to one (admittedly excellent) college in California.

This is not wishful thinking on Hennessy’s part. Get a load of the cash Stanford has on hand:

Strange way for the head of the AZ Chamber to act

September 3, 2015 by AZ BlueMeanie

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Glenn Hamer: “You know, [business considering locating in AZ], you have a pretty face but would be cuter if you’d lose a few pounds!.”

It has long been my understanding that business leaders care deeply about education. They want skilled workers and the quality of school systems is a major factor in decisions about where they will locate new plants and corporate headquarters, so the conventional wisdom goes. But this must not be true for some of them, because this Saturday AZ Republic oped by Glenn Hamer, President of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, was strangely querulous and snide in response to a report that Phoenix was turned down by at least one company due to Arizona’s poor reputation in education.

A recent report that two companies passed over the Phoenix area for relocation is raising big questions about our state’s economic development strategy and our education system.

What can we do better to land top employers? Is our K-12 system up to snuff to attract the most demanding firms? Do we have enough quality schools?

The central question we should be asking, however, is whether these companies had access to Google. A simple search would have revealed that Arizona is an excellent place to invest and grow for a number of reasons, including our educational system.