An Update on Education Standards in Arizona

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As most of you know, the Common Core State Standards was introduced in the U.S. back in 2009 in draft form. It is an education reform for K-12 students in English language arts and mathematics that would help the students to apply for various college courses and programmes. The initiative was commenced by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association (NGA) and aims to set consistent standards in education in all U.S. states.

Challenges in Arizona

Although most of the states have participated in the Common Core State Standards Initiative, some states like Arizona are facing challenges in adopting them. The policy, planned to be successfully implemented by the 2014-2015 school year, was eventually renamed as Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards (AZCCRS) to pacify the opponents. The initiative expects the students to meet certain criteria before they complete their education which will help them in graduation and make them job ready.

Currently, the state’s Republicans are engaged in an argument over the abolition of Common Core Standards policies. However, the argument is mainly among sections of the Republican Party, rather than between the Democrats and the GOP members. Arizona has faced challenges in adopting Common Core from the beginning which even led Republican Governor Jan Brewer to rename the Common Core programme in the state to alleviate the controversy. However the new name, College and Career Ready Standards, included little changes to the education initiative and failed to appease its opponents.

Even after the renaming, the State Republicans have been bickering about whether to adopt the new standards which are barely different from the Common Core initiative that has been opposed by the tea party groups and the parents since its introduction. Currently the argument has shifted to the Arizona State Board of Education. Moreover, 2 appointees from the Board of Education, who have voted in favour of the policies, are set to lose their seats.

Conflicts in the Board of Education

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In the Board of Education, the nomination period for its members expires after one year if they remain unconfirmed by the Senate and the 2 targeted members are rather close to the end of the nomination period. Apparently, these members had voted in favour of Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards during their terms. Thus it is most likely that Diane Ortiz-Parsons and Vice President Greg Miller have not been confirmed due to their votes for Brewer’s programme.

Kimberly Yee, the Chairwoman of the State Senate Education Committee commented that the pair had serious attendance problems and that is the source of the issue. Ortiz-Parsons had not been present in 4 meetings from 2009 to 2014. Her opponents are using this pretext to contest her return to the education board.

However, the office of Governor Brewer is strongly criticising Kimberly Yee, Chairwoman of the Committee, and Senate President Andy Biggs for not confirming Ortiz-Parsons and Miller. Although Yee has been looking for replacements, but Andrew Wilde, spokesman for the Governor affirmed that Brewer is not set on nominating someone else for these positions. It can be clearly inferred that Republican Governor Jan Brewer and her Republican partners are striving to block the elimination of Common Core Standards in the state of Arizona.

Common Core Relief Bills

Senator Kelli Ward has co-sponsored Senate Bill 1388, which is one of the 4 Senate bills that intend to free public schools from implementing the Common Core policy. Ward’s proposal aims to remove the imposition by Arizona State Board of Education to follow federal academic standards and let the charter schools and districts to develop their own programme. He believes that as the new standards are unproven, it might turn out worse than the earlier education standards in the state.

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Senator Al Melvin has sponsored the Senate Bill 1310 that proposed to ban the Arizona State Board of Education from imposing the Common Core. He believes that schools need to have the liberty to design their own educational objectives and that implementing the standards would result in unnecessary investment of money, effort and time. Melvin said, “We can do a better job at the state level than the federal government dictating standards.”

Moreover the House Bill 1395 was voted 17-12 by the state Senate in March that permitted the public schools to choose their own curriculum and reject the new standards. The charter schools and school districts are supposed to commence schooling under the Common Core standards by the current school year. Some of the school districts have already purchased materials and trained teachers by spending millions in order to follow the new curriculum.

Steve Gallardo, Democratic State Senator of Phoenix, opposed Melvin and said the new education standards can be beneficial as they were designed by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). He said, "Republican and Democratic governors coming together to look at how we are going to advance our education system throughout our entire country.”

Currently, we can observe the same scenario in most U.S. states all over the nation, especially those states that are dominated by Republicans. In states like Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma and Wisconsin, the Republicans are also experiencing intra-party arguments as some are supporting the move while others are opposing the policies.

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