Citizen Staff
Hot school issues: AIMS, charters, vouchers
By DINA L. DOOLEN
ddoolen@tucsoncitizen.com
and MARY BUSTAMANTE
mbustama@tucsoncitizen.com
The winner of the contest for superintendent of public instruction may make fundamental changes to the way Arizona runs charter schools and administers the AIMS test.
The six men – three Republicans, two Democrats and a Libertarian – in the race for schools chief each has his own solution to bolster the state’s beleaguered public education system.
Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards is a hot-button issue, with four candidates opposing it outright.
For Democrat Rob Rich, eliminating AIMS as a high-stakes test is his top priority. He wants to combine it with the Stanford 9.
As a junior high principal, he objects to how AIMS tests eighth-graders on math concepts that some haven’t learned yet.
Former state Sen. Keith Bee, a Republican, opposes AIMS as a graduation requirement. He suggests schools return to testing at the beginning of each school year. AIMS is given in the spring, and test results are returned at the start of the next school year.
“If you set the standards at each grade level and you’re pre-testing and post-testing your class and holding the students accountable at the grade level, you don’t have to worry about a high-stakes graduation test,” he said, “because the children will not have been moved along if they didn’t meet the standards.”
His top priority is to get more money into classrooms.
Democrat Jay Blanchard prefers one standardized test, the voter-approved Stanford 9. Assessment tests have been “a mess” through the terms of the last four schools chiefs, he said.
Incumbent state schools chief Jaime Molera is pushing to reform AIMS.
He wants to refine an alternative, the Equivalent Demonstration of Standards Proficiency, which allows students to do a project instead of taking the test.
“We should not back off the academic standards, but how we test them should not be one-size-fits-all,” he said.
Republican Tom Horne said Molera’s idea would lead to “thousands of parents” doing their children’s AIMS projects.
He is calling for a back-to-basics approach in the classroom that he says will lead to success on a high-stakes test. And, he added, “there needs to be a standard for higher achievers, an honors designation, so we’re not just bringing up the bottom.”
Although Arizona leads the nation in the number of charter schools, the candidates disagreed on whether they should exist.
Bee, a longtime charter school supporter, said the state has all the charter school laws it needs. Enforcement of existing laws is the key.
Molera said that under his leadership the past 14 months, those laws have been strictly enforced.
The issue of charter schools drove Blanchard to enter the race. He wants to make them as accountable as other public schools. Rich believes in a “level playing field” that he said ultimately would make neighborhood schools the choice of parents.
Horne, who claims to have been key to the creation and proliferation of charter schools in Arizona, opposes state certification for charter school teachers. Public school teachers must be certified by the state.
He and Bee said school vouchers are illegal under the Arizona Constitution. (The U.S. Supreme Court ruled they are legal and gave states the option of setting up a voucher plan.)
Horne and Bee said charter schools make vouchers a moot issue because they give parents a choice between public schools and charter schools. A voucher system would include private schools.
Molera supports vouchers and expects they would survive a legal challenge.
Blanchard opposes vouchers altogether. “The answer is to give public schools more choice. Let (Tucson Unified School District) have a couple of high schools that have more of the attributes that Salpointe (Catholic High) has, like mandatory parent participation and strict dress codes.”
Because private schools account for about 10 percent of student enrollment statewide, Rich doubts they would have room for all the students who may want to attend them under a voucher system.
“We need to stop tinkering, tackle the issues, and help the children in need. If we are going to improve schools, we have to improve social services,” Rich said.
Libertarian John Zajac is unopposed in the primary. His views will be examined in a story published closer to the November election.
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Biographies
Jay Blanchard
Birth date: Nov. 3, 1946
Party: Democratic
Profession: Educational psychology professor at Arizona State University, state senator
Education: Ph.D. from University of Georgia in reading education; bachelor’s degree and master’s of science in teaching degree from Drake University in Iowa
Political experience: State senator, precinct committeeman and vice chairman of District 30
Web site: www.Blanchard2002.com
Top issue: Leadership and stable funding
Endorsements: The Arizona Republic, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Rod Rich
Birth date: Jan. 19, 1949
Party: Democratic
Profession: Junior high principal
Education: Bachelor’s degree in social studies education and master’s degree in counseling from Purdue University in Indiana
Political experience: Volunteer in 1969 as college student, supporting Birch Bayh for the U.S. Senate
Web site: www.azkids.org
Top issue: Eliminating high-stakes testing
Endorsements: Arizona Education Association, AFL-CIO, National Association of Social Workers, Arizona chapter of ACORN, Arizona Human Rights Fund and Planned Parenthood
John C. Zajac
Birth date: March 25, 1957
Party: Libertarian
Profession: Producer and director of radio and TV commercials
Education: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Stanford University in California
Political experience: Secretary of the Arizona Libertarian Party since 1997; precinct committeeman since 1995
Top issue: School choice and competitive testing to replace AIMS
Web site: None
Endorsements: None
Keith Bee
Born: Dec. 5, 1965
Party: Republican
Profession: Business owner (Bee Line charter bus company, serving Tucson and Phoenix areas)
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business and agriculture from University of Arizona
Political experience: Two years in Arizona House of Representatives; eight years on Arizona Senate (served on Senate Education Committee)
Web site: None
Top issue: Fiscal accountability to get education dollars to the classrooms for students and teachers
Endorsements: Arizona Education Association, Tucson Education Association
Tom Horne
Born: March 28, 1945
Party: Republican
Profession: Attorney at Horne, Ducar, Lorona and Slaton, LLP
Education: Bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University in Massachusetts; law degree with honors from Harvard Law School
Political experience: 24 years on Paradise Valley Unified School District school board (in 10th year as president); four years as legislator (vice chairman of House Education Committee and chairman of the Academic Accountability Committee)
Web site: www.tomhorne.com
Top issue: Ensuring academic excellence with a required high school test to receive a diploma; enforcing the ban on bilingual education to promote English proficiency.
Endorsements: English for the Children of Arizona state Reps. Mark Anderson, Linda Binder, Dean Cooley and Lowell “Mike” Gleason
Jaime Molera
Born: March 31, 1968
Party: Republican
Profession: Superintendent of public instruction (appointed May 2001)
Education: Bachelor’s degree in communications from Arizona State University
Political experience: Education adviser and chief of policy for Gov. Jane Hull; director of policy for ex-Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan; and state director of community services and the school-to-work initiative for Gov. Fife Symington
Web site: www.molera2002.org, not currently active
Top issue: High academic standards for all children
Endorsements: U.S. Reps. Jeff Flake, J.D. Hayworth, John Shadegg and Bob Stump; U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl; Professional Fire Fighters Association of Arizona, Charter Schools Association and Arizona Charter Schools Association