Arizona: David

by David Safier

The Rs planned to cut $144 million in soft capital funding from district schools. The snafu Thursday only delayed the move.

But now some legislators are asking, Why aren't charter schools feeling the budget ax as well?

Here is among the lamest reasons imaginable for not making cuts to charters.

Crandall said after speaking with the governor’s office and House leadership Thursday about the cuts, staff assured him there would be plenty of cuts coming around to all schools.

“They said it was easier to do it this way right now,” he said. “Whoever didn’t get cut now will be cut in January or February.

by David Safier

In the post below, I wrote about the recent meeting of the R-created committee looking into painting a happy face on the tuition tax credit mess. I mentioned it brought in an "expert," Charles North, to explain that tuition tax credits save Arizona millions and millions of tax dollars.

So who is this "expert," Charles North? He's an econ prof from Baylor University. About Baylor, from its website:

Baylor University in Waco, Texas, is a private Baptist university, and a nationally ranked liberal arts institution.

The only publication of note I could find by North is a book he co-authored in 2008: Good Intentions: Nine Hot Button Issues Viewed Through the Eyes of Faith.

An STO fund sweep? What an idea!

by David Safier

The House task force on tuition tax credits and STOs met Wednesday. This is the House group started by Ds, then joined by some Rs, not to be confused with the Senate committee started by Rs in response to earlier task force.

Both the Republic and the Trib covered the hearing. (If you only read the Star, I don't think you'd have an inkling it happened). My favorite idea that came out of it: If some School Tuition Organizations can't figure out how to give away 90% of the tax credit money that flows in for scholarships, they should return the excess to the general fund.

by David Safier

I've been writing about the potential dangers of the profit motive in K-12 schools, because my teaching experience allows me to understand the nature of those schools. I avoid too much discussion of higher ed because I don't know how it works from the inside.

But a few recent articles make the dangers of bottom-line education evident, where putting "asses in classes" is more important than the education provided to the students.

First case in point: At University of Phoenix, Allegations of Enrollment Abuses Persist. The article is about high pressure recruiting of students.

After federal regulators accused the University of Phoenix of systematic enrollment abuses in 2004, the school's parent company paid out nearly $10 million to resolve the allegations.