Motivated by the defeat of Proposition 204, a group of mayors wants to promote discussion about school funding and reforms.
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said Monday that the group plans to meet with business leaders, school boards and educators to come up with nonpartisan solutions to education problems.
Although the task of funding education belongs to lawmakers and Gov. Jan Brewer, Stanton said he hopes to bring the right people to the table to come up with solutions to present to the Legislature and the governor’s office.
“We embrace the new challenges,” Stanton said. “We just want to make sure that our schools have the resources to get the job done.”
Smith said the mayors would like to bring together stakeholders to come up with ways to make sure schools are adequately financed.
“Hopefully we can bring this out of the partisan political arena into the problem-solving arena,” he said.
Smith said that mayors have a unique perspective to contribute to the discussion.
“While we don’t run school districts, we certainly see the impact that our successes and our failures in the education field have upon our communities and on our ability to compete in the new world economy,” he said.
Last month, Stanton, Smith and eight others formed the Arizona Mayors Education Roundtable, aiming to help produce students who are prepared for college. A news conference Monday expanded that effort to school funding and reforms.
Business leaders from both sides of the Proposition 204 debate said they support the mayors’ efforts.
Tom Franz, president and CEO of Greater Phoenix Leadership, said he hopes this will be the start of an ongoing dialogue about how to implement reforms effectively.
“I think it’s a place where we do need to put politics aside,” he said.
Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, said the mayors’ involvement in talking about reforms, like Arizona’s Common Core Standards, is a big deal.
“This is a very significant undertaking, and we need all of the mayors across Arizona working with our friends in the Legislature and with the governor’s office and with the business community to make sure we implement these standards in an ideal fashion,” he said.
Todd Sanders, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, said that although his group was against Proposition 204 it will be active in the discussions on improving education.
“It’s an economic development problem,” he said.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:19 am on Tue, Nov 27, 2012.
R.I.N.O.s (R-epublicans I-n N-ame O-nly)m LIBS and DEMS.......who don't believe in Democracy...one man/woman = ONE VOTE.
The majority of Arizona Voters voted almost ....2 to 1....AGAINST PROPOSITION 204.
THEY ARE SICK AND TIRED OF SEEING THEIR HARD EARNED TAX-DOLLARS GOING DOWN THE ...FAILED ARIZONA EDUCATION SYSTEM "TOILET".
THEY ARE SICK AND TIRED OF SEEING $7,260.00 PER YEAR PER ILLEGAL ALIEN STUDENT WHO CAME TO ARIZONA BECAUSE THESE VERY SAME MAYOR OR THEIR PREDECESSORS ............THROW OUT THE ..."SANCTUARY CITY".....WELCOME MAT.
NOW THESE TENS AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL ALIEN STUDENTS AND THEIR ..."ANCHOR BABY" BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE TAKING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF TAX-PAYER DOLLARS AWAY FROM TEACHING ........."REAL" AMERICAN STUDENTS.
WHY DON'T THESE ....SO-CALLED LEADERS AND BUSINESMEN STAND UP AND SUPPORT SB1070, SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, SHERIFF PAUL BABEU, GOVERNOR JAN BREWER...............AND PUT ARIZONA THESE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF ARIZONA TAX DOLLARS BACK TO WHERE THEIR RIGHTFULLY BELONG.............TEACHING ARIZONA'S...."AMERICAN" STUDENTS.
Bill in east Mesa posted at 11:09 am on Tue, Nov 27, 2012.
Start the discussion with how the existing funds could be used much more efficiently! We have heard consistently for the last 20 years that we need to give more to education AND WE HAVE but during that same period, the quality of education has gone down even more than the funding has gone up. The mayors can play an important role but it will have to involve a lot more than just another demand for more money to throw at the eduction unions.
Deddzone posted at 1:53 pm on Tue, Nov 27, 2012.
Well, it's a start. Arizona needs better education. Right now it's ranking is far too low in the national average. The Phoenix area could be a major hub for educatoin and business. It just needs to stop being so backward...
soricobob posted at 4:38 am on Wed, Nov 28, 2012.
I believe the Mayors realize that the lion's share of their budget goes to the education "line", over which they have no control. They believe, rightly so, that someone needs to have serious input over that much money, particularly since the bang for the buck has fizzled.
LoydEskildson posted at 11:16 am on Wed, Nov 28, 2012.
Voters spoke already, nearly 2:1 against more money for education. We've more than doubled per-pupil inflation-adjusted spending since the early 1970s and what little evidence there is, both at the national and Arizona levels, shows very little if any improvement to show for it.
Tookie88 posted at 5:12 pm on Wed, Nov 28, 2012.
Here is my two-cents as an educator...we don't need so many schools districts, we don't need such heavy administration at the district level, we don't need more useless programs and inservice trainings. The problem is not how much money education receives as much as it is how the money we do have is spent.
We have way too many kids in the classroom...one way money can be better spent is to hire additional teachers. Another one is to stop jumping on every educational band-wagon out there and focus on the basic skills! I am an elementary teacher and too many students are asked to do things that they aren't ready for because they haven't had time to master the basic concepts. There is a reason why the basic Franklin Schools are always on top!
Also, just a reminder...most teachers I know do not belong to our so-called union in this state. We are a right-to-work state and the union is actually more like an association. The union had done nothing for teachers or education in this state.
Another reminder is that we are not actually at the bottom of education! I hate hearing that! Arizona is about 48 or 47 in regards to student SPENDING and NOT actual student scores. We are actually more in the middle when it comes to test scores which I find pretty amazing when we have less than other states and our teachers make about half what heavy union states pay their teachers. Plus the other states don't have as high of an ELL population as we do. I think we do a pretty amazing job all things considering.
If the mayors really want to help education, they need to make it a priority in the family unit and not just throw more money at it. Too many families use education as a form of free daycare. if you want to improve education, lets start looking at our homes and priorities first.