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To view the ABEC newsletter using your web browser, click here. | ||
 Monday, November 23, 2009 | ||
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ABEC LEGISLATIVE CONNECTION
January 13, 2010 (Wednesday)
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
House Lawn Arizona legislators are invited to have lunch with ABEC members (more details to follow later).
If interested in SPONSORING this event, contact Susan at susan@azbec.org.
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 Greetings ABEC members and friends ...
... and Happy Thanksgiving! Can you believe we're already heading into the holidays? It seems like we just started this school year. Much has occurred in these few months. A few notes:
I was at the ACT conference recently and participated in a panel about "hot topics" in education. We struggled with how to close the achievement gap, how to outreach to students on the reservations and the migrant communities, how to continue quality postsecondary education when the state support has dropped dramatically, how to continue honors classes without funding, among other difficult issues. It is easy to get depressed about the magnitude of the work and the current crisis. But we must remain hopeful and look at these times as a "call to action." There is opportunity like never before. And there is good news all around us. For example:
Happy Thanksgiving To All!
 Susan Carlson
ABEC executive director
“Is the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Horne v. Flores (funding special programs for AZ English Language Learners) the final blow to a movement to have courts actively involved in school appropriations?” In their new book, Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses: Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America's Public Schools, authors’ Eric Hanushek and Alfred Lindseth trace the history of reform efforts and found that court orders for substantially increased school funding has done little to improve student achievement. According to the authors, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Horne v. Flores “forcefully makes a set of extraordinarily important points. First, educational opportunity is better defined in terms of student outcomes. Second, pedagogical and administrative reforms are often more important than court-ordered funding mandates, which it found had not been very successful. And, third, such judicial funding decisions inappropriately intrude upon the power of states and localities to set their own public priorities and to make appropriate decisions.” The authors DO NOT argue for decreasing financial and other support for public education. Rather, they promote a more effective use of our education dollars at whatever level they might be set. They propose a new approach: a performance-based system that directly links funding to success in raising student achievement. This system would empower and motivate educators to make better, more cost-effective decisions about how to run their schools, ultimately leading to improved student performance. In this book, they show why improving schools will require overhauling the way financing, incentives, and accountability work in public education. School finance aficionados will want to read more>
Reminder - ABEC Board of Directors Meeting will be held Tuesday, November 24, 2009 from 10AM – 2PM at the offices of the Arizona School Boards Association, 2100 N. Central Avenue, Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ 85004. ABEC members are invited to attend. Registration is required since SEATING IS LIMITED. Contact Karen Kehlenbach at karen@azbec.org or (602) 261-6702 to register.
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NEW! Visit our comprehensive list of state and national resources for background and current information in areas critical to the success of the Arizona K-12 public school system. More >>
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ABEC held its Annual Golf Tournament on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at the Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass. In its second year, this fundraising event continues to grow in the number of players as well as funds raised. Tournament results are as follows:
PICTURED (left to right): Rich Pena (Adolfson-Peterson), Robin Berry (Superintendent, Palo Verde Elementary SD), Jeff Keck (Adolfson-Peterson), and Kent Scribner (Superintendent, Phoenix Union HSD)
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL and a HUGE THANKS to our “Corporate” sponsors:
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The Arizona Republic recently published a story on ABEC's "Shadow the Super" program entitled "Legislators shadow educators for understanding." To read the story, click here. This is an opportunity for legislators to visit with a school superintendent in the school district. Legislators spend time interacting with a school superintendent, staff members and students, and see first-hand how education policy plays out "on the ground"; superintendents have an opportunity to hear about the legislator's views and concerns. Superintendents and legislators interested in participating in this ABEC program should contact Karen Kehlenbach at (602) 261-6702 or at karen@azbec.org.
… Orcutt|Winslow for receiving the Learning By Design 2009 Grand Prize for its for the top design IN THE NATION for its design of Bioscience High School (Phoenix, AZ). Read more>
… Recognized by The Phoenix Business Journal for their 2009 “Volunteerism, The Heart of Business Award”:
EDUCATION NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS EDUCATION NEWS:  Brewer: Character education key to higher achievement, fewer problems in students – The Arizona Capitol Times, November 16, 2009
In Arizona, a laboratory for charter schools yields mixed results – The Washington Post, November 16, 2009 Legislators shadow educators for understanding – The Arizona Republic, November 15, 2009 Data on U.S. College Degrees Called Misleading – EdWeek, November 4, 2009 SPECIAL REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS:
Leaders and Laggards (Arizona) – US Chamber of Commerce 95th Arizona Town Hall Recommendations - Arizona Town Hall FROM THE ARCHIVES:
2003-2004 Citizens Finance Review Commission (Arizona) - a nonpartisan panel of business and community leaders, who met weekly for a year and studied Arizona’s revenue systems and made recommendations. Although these recommendations were well supported, few or none have been implemented. It is a starting point for discussions on tax reform.
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The Arizona Business & Education Coalition (ABEC) is a 501(c)3 organization providing a balanced forum for business and education leaders to collaborate and improve K-12 education policy, with linkages to pre-kindergarten and postsecondary education. Guiding principles include: increasing public awareness about the relationship between Arizona’s future workforce and the quality of the K-12 system; actively and effectively influencing education policy; and sharing responsibility for the growth of student achievement in Arizona. For more information, visit www.azbec.org. You are receiving this e-mail because you are a member of ABEC, have signed up to receive our eNewsletter, attended an ABEC or ABEC-related event, or have made direct contact with ABEC.
Copyright 2009. Arizona Business & Education Coalition. All Rights Reserved. |
