STATE MOVES TO REFORM CPS

posted by Amer Taleb

Jacob Gibson arrived at the hospital with his rib cage protruding, fully seizing and marked with welts that appeared to be caused by a belt. The 6 year old eventually died, the victim of his own parents.

For at least three years, Child Protective Services knew about the alleged beatings Jacob was subjected to. CPS had received five reports alleging the child was abused and neglected under the "care” of his parents, according to the Department of Economic Security.

Less than two months later on Oct. 7, 2011, Gov. Jan Brewer formed the Arizona Child Safety Task Force to examine Arizona’s child-safety policies and issue recommendations by the end of 2011.

Its findings: Internal improvements to CPS aren’t enough to bring Arizona’s child-safety policies up to adequate standards.

Reforming Arizona’s protection policies requires progress all over the board - law enforcement, schools and foster families, the report says.

Suggestions included developing better definitions of child abuse, reviewing a CPS worker’s authority to verify a child’s safety against a parent’s will and making CPS employee disciplinary records and hearings public.

Abuse, neglect and abandonment forced more than 10,000 children into out-of-home care across Arizona as of March 2010, according to the Department of Economic Security. Nearly 50 percent of them are between 1-5.

“That is an issue (CPS reform) that I think is really important to the people in Arizona and certainly to the children,” Brewer said in a recent Arizona Week show. “(Children) are the unfortunate benefactors of that abuse.”

Friday's Arizona Week will focus on state efforts to reform CPS, including interviews with state officials and child-safety advocates.

HINTS AT EXTENDING 1-CENT SALES TAX?

posted by Michael Chihak

Listen closely and carefully to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer's comments lately on the 1-cent education sales tax could lead one to conclude that she isn't entirely opposed to it going away.

The governor vowed in her State of the State speech two weeks ago that as promised, she will see that the tax, passed by voters overwhelmingly in 2010, ends in 2013 as scheduled.

Brewer reiterated that promise in an interview with Arizona Week the same week that she gave her speech.

Yet, in that same interview -- and in the speech -- her comments may have hinted at the idea that she wouldn't oppose an extension of the 1-cent tax under certain circumstances.

In the interview, she said she would have to see what any extension proposal looked like. There are stirrings of a ballot initiative to extend the tax.

In her speech, as Democratic state Rep. Steve Farley pointed out at a legislative forum in Tucson this week, Brewer said she is adamant about letting "this" sales tax expire as scheduled. Farley said that could be an indication she would allow something else to take its place.

EDUCATION REFORM: ESCHEW CLICHES

posted by Michael Chihak

It’s time for a pop quiz.

Just one question: What do Arizona schools need to succeed?

A -- Better teachers.

B – Parental involvement.

C -- More money.

D -- All of the above.

The answer in a few moments.

But first, what shall we call our quiz? How about the aim test, because this list of answers has the potential to continue a dialogue that aims at blame and at the wrong-headed idea there’s one simple solution.

The correct answer, of course, is D – All of the above.

Yet there are those who say it’s A -- all up to teachers, and that they’re to blame for the system’s degradation.

There are others who say it’s B – because many parents are shirking responsibility.

And still others who say it’s C – schools are being starved.

There’s truth in all those statements, and thus we must be comprehensive in our approach, not taking aim at any one issue for blame or solution.

Yes, let’s support teachers and help make them better, including finding new teaching methods. And yes, let’s support parents, giving them greater access to their children’s educational processes. And, of course, let’s give the system more money, so teachers are rewarded and children have the tools they need to learn.

If these all sound like little more than bromides, it’s time to look at the real cliches in the educational dialogue: politicians who say let’s do more with less, for example. By that logic, we ought to consider doing everything with nothing.

Or those who say let’s give parents choices. First, we must give parents the ability to make choices, because many don’t possess it when it comes to education for their children.

The issues are complex, and the short answers won’t help us overcome them.

So let’s succeed in our test by aiming all we say and do at comprehensive improvement in the public educational system.

This is about our children, who deserve more than we’re giving them now.

EDUCATION IN ARIZONA MAKES BABY STEPS

posted by Caitlin Wilenchik

Arizona has endured lots of beatings as a result of our poor educational rankings year after year, and Gov. Jan Brewer has devised a plan to change that.

The state's public universities rank relatively low on several scales for achievement, and it falls far below average for math and science in state education.

It all started with Arizona’s competing for President Obama’s Race to the Top program, in which Arizona received a Phase Three grant from the U.S. Department of Education, $25 million of the total $200 million available.

This Race to the Top program is also part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and even though Arizona did not win the total available funds, Brewer decided to continue with the same process developed by the grant.

Arizona’s Educational Reform Plan, developed by Brewer, will be carried out by the Arizona Ready Council, formerly the P-20 Council.

This council is led by Craig Barrett, who will be on Arizona Week, to discuss his plan as head of the council and unique outlook on what Arizona needs to improve education.

Barrett, former CEO/Chairman of Intel Corp., has been very invested in Arizona’s education. He is co-chair for Achieve Inc., which is a network of CEOs working to improve an understanding in science, technology, engineering and math.

He also is president and chairman of BASIS Schools Inc., a coalition of charter schools in Arizona.

The Arizona Ready Council hopes to increase the high school graduation rates, improve third-grade reading levels and double the number of baccalaureate degrees in Arizona, all by 2015.

Brewer appointed Barrett after he had harsh works for the state, saying he would never have allowed Intel Corp. to locate in Arizona at the beginning because of the state's low educational achievements.

Controversy may begin with the council’s plan to form a new test to replace the old AIMS tests. Barrett says he agrees with an aggressive approach and knows the failure rate this new test will give to students in 2015.

Arizona will be striving to reform education with much lower spending from the state.

Brewer signed off on a $150 million reduction in K-12 funding for the current fiscal year. She and Barrett said that money isn’t everything, and the cuts in educational funding may not prove to be detrimental. Barrett said his charter schools operate on less money than traditional public schools do.

Also on the show will be a parent and a teacher from the “Parents as Teachers” program in the Amphitheater School District in Tucson, to discuss the program.

Rounding out the program will be Arizona Education Association President Andrew Morrill, discussing the teacher viewpoint on reform. He is a former Marana schools teacher.

Watch Friday at 8:30 p.m. MST on PBS-HD6.

'FUTURE SCARCITY' FOR WATER IN AZ

posted by Michael Chihak

The University of Arizona's annual conference on state water issues will be held next week in Tucson.

The conference will focus on extending the water supply for another century.

Before we talk about a century from now, though, we should focus on the immediate future.

One research report that will be discussed at the conference next week says the "critical threshold" for water supply in Arizona will be around the year 2035, give or take a couple of years. That's just two decades from now, right around the corner.

No one questions that water is the No. 1 economic and societal issue in the state.

But as long as it flows readily from the tap and remains relatively inexpensive, are we willing to do anything about it? That's the point of the conference, to get us to do something.

Water experts say that means more than shorter showers, turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth and minimizing outdoor watering.

One report that will be discussed at the conference puts it this way: "The state is acing a future of potential water scarcity unless significant demand side reduction and supply augmentation strategies are implemented."

More simply put, it means we'll run low on water if we don't reduce what we use and find new sources.

And while shorter showers will help and are advised, a strategic approach, one driven by changes in state law, is what's really needed.

State policymakers are not currently working on a comprehensive approach to revamping and modernizing water management.

That may be because we're not in a water crisis -- yet.

Two decades will speed by, and then we will be in crisis.

The time for political leaders to act is now.

Conference participants say they hope to generate a better dialogue about water in the state and to make recommendations for legislative action.

Arizonans would do well to pay close attention to the outcomes.

YOUR WATER: THE NEXT 100 YEARS

posted by Amer Taleb

Vital to keeping the state’s citizens and economy alive, Arizona’s water resources are a bubbling hot topic in academia. Over the next 100 years, the Grand Canyon State will see more urbanization and population growth, but how water is used and conserved remains unclear.

Three water-related reports are the bedrock of next week’s “Urbanization, Uncertainty and Water: Planning for Arizona’s Second Hundred Years” conference hosted at the University of Arizona in collaboration with Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy.

A water-induced crisis is not expected to strike Arizona anytime soon and such a scenario is not inevitable, but inaction can change that quickly.

At least one projection shows the Southwest losing billions of dollars in economic impact annually because of increased water shortfall of surface and ground water, according to a Grand Canyon Institute report that will be discussed at the conference.

“To ensure Arizona maintains sustainable economic growth requires recognizing the contribution of water as an engine of economic stability,” wrote Karen L. Smith, report author and an institute fellow.

Water resource certainty drives Arizona’s economy and is essential to our $10.5 billion dollar recreation and tourism industries, according to Smith’s report.

A one-size-fits-all solution does not exist in a state filled with diverse landscapes and communities with unique concerns.

Through patience, persistence and public education, answers can be found, wrote Sharon B. Megdal, director of the UA’s Water Resources Research Center, in her contribution to a Morrison Institute report, which also will be discussed at the conference.

“The people of Pima County realize how critical water management is for their future,” she wrote. “… they must work together on shaping that future.”