EXPLORING CONGRESS

posted to Political Buzz by Christopher Conover

Earlier this year, state Senator Frank Antenori (R-30) said he would not take on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a race for Congress. However, Antenori has now filed the paperwork to form an exploratory committee for a Congressional campaign.

In a news release Antenori says the work of Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission is not yet finished and that means the boundaries of all of the state’s congressional districts are in flux. And he says a number of people have contacted him about running for Congress. So for those two reasons he is testing the waters. On his legislative campaign website, Antenori is also asking constituents for their thoughts on a possible run for Congress.

So far Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has not announced whether or not she’ll run for reelection. In the meantime, her campaign continues to raise money.

NEW SCHOOL YEAR: NEW AND OLD CHALLENGES

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Nearly 1.1 million young people, literally, started school in K-12 in Arizona in the last two weeks. Arizona Week on Friday will look at the opportunities and challenges that the new academic year brings from the perspective of administrators and principals.

We will look at academic standards and how they are changing, how students and teachers are rising to the challenge of meeting the standards and how state budget cuts may be hampering those efforts.

We also will explore the impact of charter schools on state education, how schools are faring with the AIMS test and specifically how math proficiency can be improved. Four in 10 Arizona students didn't pass the AIMS math test last school year.

On the interview list so far:

• Gabriel Trujillo, principal of Trevor Browne High School, and Kate McDonald, principal of Metro Tech High School, both in Phoenix.

• Nicholas I. Clement, superintendent of the Flowing ells School District, in Tucson.

• Paul Felix, principal of Nosotros Academy charter school in Tucson.

GENERAL SENATOR?

posted to Political Buzz by Christopher Conover

Richard Carmona is a medical doctor, former member of Army Special Forces, deputy sheriff, and now maybe a candidate for US Senate. Carmona told the Capitol Times that he is thinking about running for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Jon Kyl.

Politically, Carmona has registered for years as an independent but would run for the Senate as a Democrat. He served as US Surgeon General for four years under President George W. Bush.

REDISTRICTING BATTLES ABOUT TO BEGIN

posted to Political Buzz by Michael Chihak

Population equality and congruity are two of the six requirements to be met for Arizona to redraw its congressional and legislative district boundaries. And they are the two least likely to be in conflict with one another.

The other four criteria are where the contentiousness will come in. And there will be contention, starting Wednesday, when the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission begins the public discussion about the mapping process.

Still to be injected into the map-making process are the requirements of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, communities of interest, geographic and municipal boundary considerations and competitiveness.

Satisfying any one of those requirements almost automatically leads to conflict with one or more of the others. Add to that the political tug-of-war that has already begun in earnest, and the commission will find itself in a no-win situation before long.

That was the same the first time around for the previous commission, when it redrew boundaries after the 2000 census. It took three years to get a map that passed all court challenges and another four years before final appeals were exhausted.

Nearly in time to start the whole process again.

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR 2011-12 SCHOOL YEAR?

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

It's still summer, but school is under way throughout Arizona, and for this week's program, we will explore the issues around efforts to improve public education.

We plan to interview state officials and those at the local level to get a gauge on expectations for the new school year, in which the state's public schools will be operating with the lowest state funding level in 11 years.

We will look at AIMS testing, which showed in the 2010-11 school year that students are generally improving in reading and math but getting worse in writing. The state Department of Education attributes the writing scores changes to introduction of tougher standards last year.

We will ask what efforts are being made to reduce the dropout rates, especially among minorities and low-income students and what results are being recorded.

We will look at teachers to see how their efforts are being supported and if they are meeting stricter standards.

All coming for Friday. Watch this space for more details.

FIRST REDISTRICTING MAPS MADE PUBLIC

posted to Political Buzz by Michael Chihak

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The real work begins now.

The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has produced maps of congressional and legislative districts as starting points for the reshaping of the state into nine congressional districts, up from the current eight, and 30 legislative districts, the same as now.

The Arizona Capitol Times reported over the weekend that the commission will meet Wednesday through Friday of this week to adopt one congressional map and one legislative map to begin making alterations to them.

The Capitol Times reported that the consulting firm hired by the commission to do the mapping produced two congressional and two legislative maps, both meeting two of the six criteria for redistricting -- equal populations and contiguity.

The other criteria are compliance with the U.S. Voting Rights Act, respecting geographical and municipal boundaries, respecting communities of interest and promoting competitiveness.