The Arizona Daily Star endorsed three candidates for the Governing Board of Tucson United School District (TUSD) and Pima Community College (PCC) today. Click here for the editorial.

Here’s whom their editorial board recommends for three seats:

Ralph Ellinwood
Betts Putnam-Hidalgo
Mark Stegeman (incumbent)

This week the Tucson Weekly endorsed Ralph Ellinwood and Cam Juarez for TUSD school board, with “honorable mentions” to Betts Putnam-Hidalgo and Kristel Foster. Read their endorsements, click here. The Weekly did not endorse for the PCC governing board.

The three incumbents on the TUSD board seeking election are Miguel Cuevas, Dr. Mark Stegeman, and Dr. Alex Sugiyama. This is a non-partisan race, with 12 candidates running. For more info the official twelve candidates, click here for my previous blog post, with campaign websites (updated).

And for the Star’s endorsements for Pima Community College governing board in which their editorial board urged change and voting for the political newcomers: http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/change-is-imperative-vote-for-lee-and-fridena/article_ddf76307-5b9f-57ab-b7eb-ac0f4528882a.html:

Sylvia Lee (District 3)
Richard Fridena (District 5)

The incumbents at PCC are “Vicki” Marshall (District 3) and Marty Cortez (District 5).

Another TUSD candidate forum coming up next week:

Save our Students: Save our Schools
TUSD Candidate Board Forum
How will you vote to make sure your child is getting the best education possible?

Our students/children deserve excellent public education and YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT! Learn where school board candidates stand on what matters most to our families:

Description:
(1) Safe transportation to neighborhood schools

(2) No small school closures

Lemonade, Coffee & Pan Dulce!

Join us October 16th 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at St. John’s Catholic Church (12th Ave and Ajo, 602 W. Ajo Way).

Early voting for the AZ General election began on October 11. Vote wisely on or before November 6.

Reminder: TUSD candidates’ forum tonight at Drinking Liberally, The Shanty, 401 E. 9th St. (NE corner of E. 9th St. and 4th Avenue), at 6 p.m. Seven of the 12 candidates
(all Democrats) have confirmed attendance: Don Cotton, Miguel Cuevas, Ralph Ellinwood, Kristel Foster, Camy Juarez, “Betts” Putnam-Hidalgo, Dr.Mark Stegeman. The event will be moderated by Blog for Arizona blogger/former educator David Safier.

And three other upcoming forums listed below in October:

A free forum for the Board candidates for the Tucson Unified School District will be presented from 6:30 to 8:30 PM on Monday, October 1, at the YWCA building, 525 Bonita Ave. Sponsors of the forum are the Tucson YWCA, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson, the Metropolitan Education Association, and Voices for Education. The moderator will be Greg Hart, formerly head of Pima County’s Adult Education (1982-2007) and currently Founder and President of The School, Inc. for struggling youth. All candidates for the three open positions in this non-partisan election have been invited.

12 candidates (including the 3 incumbent board members) are seeking these 3 positions. Click here for earlier post about the 12 official candidates, and another blog post about who’s run for TUSD governing board in the last 10 years (click here).

Other forums on October 4th and 10th:

Save TUSD’s Neighborhood Schools will host a forum at El Casino Ballroom, 437 East 26th St., Thursday, Oct. 4, from 6:00-8:30 p.m. More info on this group on their Facebook page.

A Candidate Forum for TUSD Governing Board will be held on October 10, 7 pm at the Multi-Purpose Hall of Tucson Estates, 5900 W. Western Way Circle, Tucson, AZ 85713. It is sponsored by the Education Watch Committee of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Vote wisely on or before Nov. 6.

Saguaro Eastside Democrats is hosting a candidates’ forum on Monday September 17 for the 12 (yes 12!) people seeking 3 positions on the Tucson Unified School District Board Governing Board. Read my previous post about the official list (click here) of those who are running.

Miguel Cuevas, Dr. Mark Stegeman, and Dr. Alex Sugiyama are currently on the board and seeking election. Cuevas ran for a TUSD board seat in Nov. 2006 and lost, but was elected in Nov. 2008, along with Dr. Stegeman. Dr. Sugiyama was appointed to his seat in December, 2011 and is now seeking election to it.

All 12 candidates were invited and here’s the list of who have confirmed their attendance:

Don Cotton
Ralph Ellinwood
Kristel Foster
Camy Juarez
Betts Putnam-Hidalgo
Mark Stegeman
Alex Sugiyama

The forum will be the New Spirit Lutheran Church, 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail (on the northeast corner at Camino Seco). It starts at 6:30 p.m. with socializing and refreshments, then 7 p.m. for the introductions and later questions/answers. For info on the Saguaro Eastside Democrats contact attorney Pat Wiedhopf at 520-850-6755.

If you miss this forum, Drinking Liberally is hosting a TUSD Board candidates’ forum on Wed. September 26, 6 p.m. at The Shanty, 401 E. 9th St. And there will be two more forums/debates in October — on the 1st and 10th, so stay tuned.

This is a non-partisan race on the November 6 general election ballot.