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Teachers in Pima Unified School District in eastern Arizona clean their own classrooms at day's end because there aren't enough janitors, according to a March 20 story in the Arizona Republic. The alternative? Teacher layoffs and bigger classes.
Look for similar steps across the state in the coming school year as public schools strive to absorb a third straight year of significant funding cuts from the Arizona Legislature and the governor.
Gov. Jan Brewer in January proposed K-12 funding cuts of $80 million for next school year and said she would hold fast to that. The state Senate increased the cuts to $235 million. The state House reduced them to $183 million; the Senate went along. Brewer said the cuts really were only $148 million because of other available money. She called that "successful."
All sides are using numbers to defend their points of view. One Republican legislator said the cuts amount to a mere $300 a year per student. House Speaker Kirk Adams said the total cut to public school funding is 3.6 percent, which isn't much. Educational support organizations say it's the third straight year of such cuts, and the cumulative effect could knock some school systems over the edge.
Arizona Week on Friday will explore the numbers to try making some sense of them, including taking a look at how they will affect the average student in the classroom.
We will talk with sources knowledgeable about the numbers, knowledgeable about the politics behind school funding and those who know what's going on in the classroom.
April 4th 2011 at 11:46 —
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posted to Inside TV by Susie Hernandez
Look for a diverse schedule of GREAT PERFORMANCES on PBS HD Ch. 6 starting on April 9th.
Launching our new lineup on Saturday afternoons @ 3 PM is La Boheme: The Movie.
The schedule will feature a diverse group of performances: classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries. GREAT PERF, as we call it in-house, has garnered 64 Emmy Awards and four George Foster Peabody Awards. Many times, the series is offered in the evenings, but with 3+ hours to watch, not all of us can stay up to watch the end.
I really feel that this series is important to our community. This is no big aha moment, I realize, as the series has received every major television honor. Many people think GREAT PERF is essential! What I think is truly cool, is that regardless of geographic or economic limitations, GREAT PERFORMANCES insures its audiences the best seats in the house and now we can watch it without worrying we'd miss some of the show!
Here's April's lineup:
Saturday, April 9 La Boheme - The Movie
Saturday, April 16 @ 3 PM Dance In America: New York Export: Opus Jazz, followed by In The Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams @ 4 PM
Saturday, April 23 Great Performances at The Met: The Audition
Saturday, April 30 Great Performances: Celebracion! Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic with Juan Diego Florez
All programswill start at 3 PM unless noted otherwise!
La Boheme - The Movie: Giacomo Puccinis enduring 1896 blockbuster now makes its way to the big screen in a lushly atmospheric movie adaptation directed by Robert Dornhelm. The operatic "dream couple" -- sensational Russian soprano Anna Netrebko and dashing Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon -- reunite as the doomed lovers Mimi and Rodolfo, joined by George von Bergen (vocals by Boaz Daniel) as Marcello, Adrian Erod as Schaunard, Vitalij Kowaljow as Colline, Tiziano Bracci as Benoit and Nicole Cabell as Musetta.
Dance In America: New York Export: Opus Jazz: A "ballet in sneakers" choreographed by the legendary Jerome Robbins in 1958, NY Export: Opus Jazz was a breakout success in its day, complete with a world tour and a broadcast on The Ed Sullivan Show. Set to a jazz score by Robert Prince, the five movements blend ballet, jazz and ballroom with Latin, African and American rhythms to create a style that remains expressive, sensual and contemporary. Co-conceived by New York City Ballet principal dancers Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi, this film production takes the overlooked Robbins' masterpiece off of the stage and places it back into the landscapes that inspired it, filmed on locations all over the five boroughs of New York. The 16 emblematic characters are city kids drawn together by their youth, their energy and their hunger for life, but this "Opus Jazz" takes them out of the 50s and into today. Fashions and skylines change, but the experience of being young in New York belongs to every generation.
In The Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams: In a journey reminiscent of the unexpected zeitgeist success of Hair, A Chorus Line, and Rent, the story behind the success of In the Heights is so organic to New York City that no one expected it to happen. Beginning at a small, off-Broadway theater, a group of talented young artists led by composer-lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda produced an original musical that some have called a modern day West Side Story-a Latin and Hip-Hop-infused musical odyssey telling the story of a neighborhood and the first-generation Americans who call it home. And yet, many in the show's audiences have nothing to compare it to as it represents the first musical that they've journeyed below 125th Street to see. Opening on Broadway in spring 2008 and going on to win five Tony Awards-including Best New Musical-In the Heights on Broadway follows the cast and creative team as they embark on the greatest adventure of their young careers.
Great Performances at The Met: The Audition: The Audition looks at the intense pressures young opera singers face as they struggle to succeed in one of the most difficult professions in the performing arts. The feature-length documentary goes behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the Met stage -- and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. The film covers the dramatic week leading up to the finals of the 2007 auditions, focusing on three very different tenor contestants: Michael Fabiano, a fiery 22-year-old grappling with his inner demons; Alek Shrader, a 25-year-old with movie-star looks who attempts to sing nine high Cs in the fiendishly difficult aria that made Pavarotti a star; and Ryan Smith, who at the age of 30, and with little formal training, is pursuing his dream of operatic career.
Great Performances: Celebracion! Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic with Juan Diego Florez: Flórez and Dudamel, close friends off the concert stage, developed the special lineup of bel canto arias and popular Latin American canciones by Rossini, Granda, Lara, Moncayo, Grever, Gutiérrez and Márquez for this special. Great Performances returns to the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall for another concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and music director Gustavo Dudamel. Joined by superstar tenor Juan Diego Florez.
So, what was on from 3 to 5 PM? A cooking show, and two travel shows! One of the travel shows, Globetrekker, airs on Sundays @ 5 PM. The cooking show and travel show in the 3 PM block rotated around. Since so many folks watch our lifestyle channel, Create TV, I thought I'd take advantage of that time for some much needed performance shows!
As always, I look forward to your feedback and requests!
Stay tuned!
Susie the TV Priogrammer
Schedule
Changes,
April 4th 2011 at 11:44 —
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The Arizona Senate passed and sent to Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday a series of budget bills that put into place much bigger cuts in education than Brewer wanted. So far, there's been no comment from the governor, who had said in the last two weeks she was standing fast to preserve educational spending.
Her budget, introduced in January, called for $170 million in cuts for the three state universities, $71 million in cuts for K-12 and about $73 million, or half the state allocation, in cuts for community colleges.
Did she stand fast on those cuts and preserve educational spending? You be the judge.
The final budget heading for her desk Friday has $198 million in university cuts, $183 million in reductions for K-12 and $73 million less for community colleges.
Democrats were quick to criticize the governor.
"If (Brewer) was working to protect education, she failed," Senate Minority Leader David Schapira said.
"Gov. Brewer has failed. She has failed to stand up for education," Rep. Daniel Patterson said.
April 1st 2011 at 17:12 —
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The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is little understood by the average citizen, most especially how to have influence, two redistricting experts say.
They said the system, approved by Arizona voters in 2000 as n amendment to the state constitution, minimizes partisanship in drawing district boundaries and can be even better at that if citizens take part in the process.
Adolfo Echeveste, a Tempe resident who was first executive director of the commission serving from 2001 to 2008, said in an interview for Arizona Week that a key strength of the system is that it "minimizes partisanship." At the same time, he said, there needs to be more transparency in the entire process, including on the committee that screens nominees for the five-member commission.
The commission is made up of two Republicans, two Democrats and an independent voter, who serves as chair. Legislative party leaders name the four partisan commissioners, and those four in turn select the independent chair.
Echeveste and Jennifer Steen, a political scientist at Arizona State University, said in separate interviews for Arizona Week's Friday program that they think the average Arizonan needs a better understanding of the process.
Participation at public hearings and in other ways will help citizens to have an influence on the way voting districts are drawn.
Conflicting criteria, including making districts competitive while at the same time maintaining "communities of interest," make the task more difficult.
Additionally, Echeveste and Steen said, the rise of independent voters in Arizona makes the competitiveness, usually described as Republicans vs. Democrats, more complicated. Independents in Arizona now outnumber Democrats and are gaining on Republicans.
Their interviews and commentary from journalists may be viewed on Arizona Week Friday at 8:30 p.m. MST on KUAT-TV Channel 6 in Tucson, and at 10:30 p.m. MST on KAET-TV Channel 8 in Phoenix. The program also will be available at www.azweek.com Friday evening.
March 31st 2011 at 15:11 —
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Independent voters in Arizona now outnumber Democrats and are closing in on Republicans. In short, neither major party has anywhere near a majority of registered voters in the state.
The independent registration factor could well be a significant hangup for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission as it begins its work. The commission will meet Thursday, for the second time since its formation, to continue administratively organizing.
The hard work -- taking on the mathematics, the geographic considerations, local political boundaries, the communities of interest and the competitiveness -- will begin soon.
Adolfo Echeveste, a Tempe resident who was the commission's first executive director starting in 2001, said in an interview for Arizona Week for Friday's program that solving the conundrum of the growing independent voter bloc will be important.
He said it isn't all in the hands of the commission, which can help allocate independent registered voters throughout the political districts. But without an open primary that allows ay voter to vote for any candidate, independent voters will continue to have political influence that is far less than their expanding numbers.
Echeveste said he likes the newly adopted California System, in which open primaries will allow the top two vote getters, regardless of party affiliation, to face one another in a runoff election.
Unless and until that occurs, the competitiveness called for in the Arizona Constitution in the drawing of district boundaries will be very difficult to achieve. That's because one or another of the two major parties will continue to hold sway through the advantage that the current primary system affords them.
March 30th 2011 at 15:39 —
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What a simple, seemingly ingenious idea: Take redistricting out of the hands of those with conflict-filled vested interests -- the politicians -- and let it be done independently.
That's the notion behind Proposition 106, which Arizona voters passed in 2000, with the intention of depoliticizing the redrawing of congressional and legislative district boundaries. The state constitutional amendment creates a 5-member panel -- two Republicans, two Democrats and a voter registered with no party who serves as chair -- to draw the boundaries.
Did it work last time? And can it work this time? We'll ask those two key questions of this Friday's Arizona Week guests, including former redistricting commission executive director Adolfo Echeveste and Arizona State University political science Professor Jennifer Steen.
What are the pitfalls to success? Last time, it was a series of challenges to the boundaries by vested interests filing lawsuits. It took five years to get them all settled.
This time, expect more of the same, perhaps at an even higher volume and with more tenacity, given that the vested interests are liable to have a lot of resources at their disposals. Read that: money, lots of it.
AZ Public Media colleague Christopher Conover pointed out this story on politico.com that hints at what could become a much messier process than the originators of depoliticized redistricting intended.
This means money for lawsuits, for public campaigns, for politicians themselves to continue trying to butt in on the process.
Does it portend another protracted fight over redistricting, with the many and varying interests suing and counter-suing and jabbing and counter-punching their ways to dizziness?
If that's the case, we can't be certain that the outcome would be a "win" for anyone. And all who want a democratic process would be the losers.
And the commissioners, who meet Thursday in Phoenix for the second time, haven't even gotten down to the nuts and bolts of it yet.
March 29th 2011 at 12:57 —
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