By Rep. Ted Vogt
Republican, Dist. 30

Arizona suffers from a critical shortage of physicians which is compounded by the downturn in the national and state economies and the subsequent loss of many jobs. Five years ago, the legislature took steps to address these issues by supporting the expansion of the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine in downtown Phoenix.

Despite our successes, the project stands at a crossroad. Having produced its first graduating class, the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine – Phoenix is poised to make an important developmental leap with the completion of the Health Sciences Education Building.

My colleagues in the state legislature endorsed the budget to construct the building in downtown Phoenix. This allows the university to expand its class sizes and bring other health science education programs to the campus. In addition to the College of Medicine expansion, plans have been made to add programs to the colleges of Pharmacy and Public Health. Northern Arizona University is also set to start a physician’s assistant program and will expand the physical therapy program at their campus.

The state must complete its commitment to training more health professionals to care for our citizens by funding the planned expansion as requested by the university. This $15 million request will pay innumerable dividends now and for years to come. It will do so not just by increasing the amount of health-care workers but also by increasing the amount of faculty, staff and research-based private spinoffs. According to a 2005 study by Tripp Umbach, those firms create a dramatic economic impact estimated to be at least $2.5 billion each year.

This appropriation will help the Phoenix campus realize part of its potential as the only medical school in the state’s largest city. Its effects will, however, be felt in every region of the state. To that point, many of the students enrolled are from rural Arizona and of those, many plan to return to establish practices in their hometowns.

The first 24 students of the program graduated in May. Sixteen chose to stay in Arizona and of those sixteen, all are pursuing careers as primary care physicians. There are currently 190 students studying medicine on the campus. The school is poised to increase that class size with the additional space of the new education building set for completion this summer.

These students are training with national leaders in academic medicine. They have already made their mark by excelling on national exams and providing free health services to the local community and beyond.

Their classes are instructed by professors and researchers from the college focusing on advancements in medical research on devastating diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and more. Through their collaborative efforts, they are tackling the challenging healthcare issues that face Arizona.

This appropriation will not only benefit the university system and the University of Arizona in particular, but all the citizens of Arizona. I recently introduced HB 2551, which the House Higher Education Committee heard and favorably passed. The legislation will restore funding for the expansion of health science education in downtown Phoenix. We want this funding included in the budget because it is vital to the future of healthcare services in our state.

This week, the Legislature took the first steps in the budget process. As a lawmaker, I know we have difficult fiscal decisions to make again this year. I, personally, want to make sure those decisions are made based on the long-term fiscal health of our state.

Arizona suffers from a significant lack of practicing physicians. At the same time, our economy and collective quality of life depends heavily on the research conducted in the Arizona’s medical facilities. This allocation signals the beginning of an age of improved healthcare for all Arizonans through stronger partnerships with hospitals, research centers and health organizations across the state.

By Pearl Chang Esau,
President/CEO, Expect More Arizona

Arizonans cannot afford to wait for better education. Although Arizona is one of the fastest improving states in education, at the current rate, it would take decades for our students to catch up with those in the number one state in the country, Massachusetts.

Arizona students continue to lag their national and international peers in academic performance, high school graduation rates and degree attainment. With 74 percent of Arizona fourth graders below proficient in reading and 69 percent of our eighth graders below proficient in math, the gap is only widening between the preparedness of our graduates and the skills and knowledge Arizona employers require.

Fortunately, Tucson has many examples of bright spots that show all of us the potential for Arizona education.  Tucson Unified School District’s University High School was recently named a 2011 Higher Performing School by the National Center for Education Achievement; Vail Unified School District is nationally recognized for its use of technology to engage students and raise student achievement; BASIS Charter School, which started in Tucson and has grown to other parts of the state, was named a top high school by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report; and the University of Arizona is ranked among the top public research universities in the nation.  All of them embrace a culture of high expectations and are working to ensure all students graduate ready to compete and succeed in the 21^st century global economy.

Arizona needs more of these bright spots, and the public has an important role in making that happen. In addition to its efforts to mobilize students, business leaders and voters, Expect More Arizona, a statewide movement dedicated to making Arizona education the best in the nation, recently launched a parental engagement initiative.  Its goal is to challenge more Arizona parents to create a high expectations culture in their home, ultimately increasing the academic success of our students.

Creating a high expectations culture in the home is one of the most important commitments parents and families can make to their student’s future and it starts with making education a family priority—ahead of sports, entertainment and work. Second, parents need to set completing college or other postsecondary program as the ultimate academic goal for their student. And third, parents must commit to being actively engaged to ensure their child is on the path to succeed in college and career.

As part of its new initiative, Expect More Arizona is providing valuable information, tools and resources to help parents stay engaged in their child’s academic success every step of the way including at-home activities by age and benchmarks by grade at www.ExpectMoreArizona.org.

From a variety of studies and conversations with students we know students with actively engaged parents are more likely to do well academically and go on to college or other postsecondary program. Education starts at home and with your help we can create transformational change that ensures every Arizona student receives the highest quality education – from birth through career.

By Steve Kozachik

The voters elected Congresswoman Giffords to represent Congressional District 8. As everybody knows, through no fault of her own, she has been forced to step down. That istrict now needs a caretaker until November. Ideally, the Congresswoman would select somebody from within her inner circle to carry out her agenda through the end of her term. The logical names that come to mind are Ron Barber or Mark Kimble, both of whom have been loyal and reflect Gabby’s principles.

Both Democrats and Republicans should stand down on campaigning for the D8 seat. In November, it will dissolve and become  embedded within the new District 2. There will be plenty of candidates competing for the new District seat, but 8 belongs to Ms.Giffords. That was the will of the voters as expressed in 2010.

The Congresswoman’s staff has been doing the heavy lifting of constituent work, lobbying on behalf of causes that are important to the Congresswoman, and keeping the D8 office afloat during the course of her recovery. That work should be honored and if there exists within that staff one who is willing to step up and take on the duties of being her arms, legs, and voice on the House floor through the end of the term, that staff has earned the right. They are the staff she chose. They are the staff who knows the issues.

In fairness to the D2 candidates, I understand that there are built in advantages to running for office as an incumbent. For that reason, my use of the word ‘caretaker’ was intentional. Whoever steps into her shoes must do so with the open commitment that this is for the remainder of her term. At that time, the will of the voters will have been honored and the ‘caretaker’ Representative will step down. Afterwards, the District boundaries will change, the constituents will change and the campaign for that new seat should be conducted on a level playing field; no advantage of incumbency.

If D8 is filled through the Special Election in a competitive race, candidates will have to run 2 simultaneous campaigns (one for the Special Election, and one for the new D2 seat,) they will need to raise money for 2 campaigns, the winner of D8 will take office and have to continue to focus on the D2 campaign for the rest of the election cycle, and in the process money will be wasted, attention to the needs of the D8 constituents will go unaddressed, and the work of the current D8 staff will be dishonored.

In the event the current D8 staff members simply want to ride out the remainder of the term doing the fine work they have been doing, I would still propose that Gabby offer up her strong choice for a caretaker candidate. That person would be honor bound to retain her entire staff, pursue her Congressional agenda through the remainder of the term, and step aside in November for the newly formed D2 Representative. If she were to do that, I would hope both Republicans and Democrats would stand down on running for the D8 seat and simply allow her choice to run unopposed.

Gabrielle Giffords was elected to an office that will end in November, 2012. Her staff has been focused on the needs of her constituents, despite the tragic events that threw her plans off course. We don’t need people running simultaneous campaigns for her seat, with the unspoken, but real intent of gaining an advantage by virtue of being called an ‘incumbent’ in what is rightfully her seat. She should be
given the opportunity to select her successor – and that person must take on that role with the expressed intent of stepping aside at the end of her term.

There are those who will say that it is the electorate who is to choose the Representative for D8. In fact, they did. Gabrielle Giffords was the choice of the voters in 2010. Her staff has shown it can ride out the storm and finish the term. Candidates should not subvert the will of the voters by taking advantage of the tragic events of January 2011.

Republican Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik represents Ward Six. He’s the director of facilities for the University of Arizona Department of Athletics.