Greg Miller
My fellow charter operators, lend me your ear!!
The most recent poll done by Merrill/Morrison Institute defines how Arizona Voters, yes, “Voters” with a capital V – not just the general public, not just special interest groups (well, maybe voters are defined as a special interest group because only about two-thirds of those eligible to vote, do), not Jay Leno streetwalkers, but real honest to g*d voters, see K-12 education in Arizona today:
- 97% said that a top-quality public school system is either crucial (70%) or very important (27%) to the state’s future.
- Yet a majority, albeit a thin one of 51%, rate our state’s public schools as poor (41%) or very poor (10%).
- 74%, or nearly 8 out of every 10 (remember now) “Voters” say that the state legislature is underfunding our children’s future. That includes 58% of the Republicans. I am of the opinion that they were also making a statement about the need for an improved state legislature and maybe even its electorate.
We get that!! And when we look at the funding gap between districts and charters it even gets worse: Districts receive approximately $7,600/student while charters receive approximately $5,900/student. When we add the secondary property tax for district bonds and overrides, it only gets worse; add another $3,000/student to the district number.
We applaud our elected legislature for doing a very good job of balancing the budget. That was a very good decision, especially with the 7/1/2013 funding cliff that is out there. But we still need to address the educational funding issue. Yet no one seems willing to tackle such a messy and politically charged problem on behalf of our kids.
I would suggest that we get what we need, and the children of Arizona get what they need, and the state legislature gets what it needs. Let’s require a 220-day annual teacher contract with 200 instructional days per year, truly making teaching a profession again, paying the good ones well, and funding this system (OMG) by raising taxes! Arizona voters have spoken. They will support additional monies for (a) student improvement and accountability and (b) more time on task.
We are no longer an agrarian society that needs children in the fields during the summer and fall. We need them in school, raising their achievement levels and preparing themselves for the already demanding knowledge-based economy that you and I live in today, let alone tomorrow, next week, next year, or the next decade. Our competitors – the industrial nations of the world – all have 200 to 220 instructional days a year already! OK, I’ll get down off my soapbox.
Sometimes lawyers really, I mean really, impact my emotional well-being. The ACLU is moving against schools and school districts and their internet filtering programming, ensuring that students have direct access to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) web sites based on “their” First Amendment free speech rights, and they are winning (PFLAG v. Camdenton R-III, a school district in central Missouri). Just what are we going to have to deal with next?
Speaking of vouchers, again, where is the common sense? Did we just provide 120,000 students in “D”-labeled schools eligibility for a 90% voucher to go to a “private school”? Where is the accountability in that? Private doesn’t always mean better!! Private schools don’t have to give state-mandated assessments, let alone be held accountable for their academic results or meeting student Individual Educational Plans. And no one ever “fudges the truth, maximizes their marketing material, or makes claims that can’t be verified,” now do they?
We should not be providing debit cards with the accounts paid by taxpayers to parents for private education without making all those private schools accountable for their programs and student academic performance. Otherwise, we could be funding private “D” and “F” schools with no accountability for academic performance. What is the good in that?
Enough for this month.
Be safe out there! And just what have you been doing for fun lately?
Greg Miller is CEO of Challenge Charter School, Inc., and is a member of the Arizona State Board of Education. Feedback? Contact Greg through the following email address: jkrygier@resolutions-esp.com. All emails – good and bad – will be forwarded on to him.
