Who Will Decide the Future of Public Education

The Future of Public Education in Arizona will be Decided in 11 Days.

In 11 days the 2010 primary elections will come to a close. The outcomes of the Republican legislative primary races in 7 districts will determine if Arizona can fix its structural problems while protecting the interests of students. The majority of legislatures will be Republican; the lopsided registration advantage among districts is stacked to ensure Republican control. The only question is whether the Republican legislative caucus will be a deliberative body or a rubber stamp of approval for the leadership.

During the 2009-2010 legislative session, that question was eventually settled in favor of leadership. In the end, public education had only two Republican friends in the Senate and none in the House. The legislative leadership was able to enact punitive policy changes regarding teacher employment, pass destructive legislation effecting students, and left the crucial question of education funding to the public.

If Arizona is to recover for the near collapse of state government, we must elect a legislature willing to have an honest discussion about priorities and that possesses the political will to reform our revenue structure to meet those priorities.

AEA Recommended Republican Candidates

Due to the shift in the Republican Party over the last decade, AEA has struggled to recommend Republican candidates. As the GOP in Arizona shifted its focus from a philosophy of limited government, local control and personal responsibility to an almost single minded fixation on tax cuts, it was harder and harder to find reasonable Republicans willing to engage in a conversation about the future of education. Perhaps AEA was not looking hard enough for a while, but that was the past. For the 2010 elections, AEA has recommended ten Republican legislative candidates.

Northern Arizona:
Karen Fann (LD1 House)
Central Arizona:
Dave Braswell (LD6 Senate)
Rick Robinson (LD6 House)
Heather Carter (LD7 House)
Venessa Whitener (LD21 House)
Paul Howell (LD22 House)
Steve Urie (LD22 House)
Southern Arizona:
Wade McLean (LD26 House)
Doug Sposito (LD30 House)
Marian McClure (LD30 Senate)

(links to the candidates web sites can be found on the nav. bar on the right)

Despite the claims of their opponents, the 2010 recommended candidates are solid Republicans with impressive political, professional and educational backgrounds. They are not “RINO’s” or democrat plants. Many of them have extensive histories of political involvement within the Republican Party. They are not liberals who happen to be Republican by circumstance. Most are social conservatives, and all are fiscal conservatives. As a group, they have simply stepped forward and said, “the key to economic recovery is quality public education.”

Five of them are or have been public school teachers, and not “taught for a year before doing something else” teachers, but career educators. A few of them are even members of their local associations. “I want my profession back!” a theme that echoed through this summer’s leadership meetings at both the state and national level, a possibility with these candidates if we take action.

The Decision Is Up to Us.

The turn out in Arizona primaries is usually less the 25%. When you do the math and consider the party registration within districts, it turns out many legislators are elected to office by less then 5% of the voters in their district. We already know who that five percent will choose. The question is; will we allow them to make the decision?

In each of the 7 legislative districts, the number of Republican educators and support professionals multiplied by their family and friends is enough to determine the outcome of the election. We can change the conversation. We can secure a future for Arizona’s students. We can take back our profession. But only if we act, and act now.