By Eileen Sigmund
Early voting is underway for the 2018 primary elections. With that in mind, the Association asked all legislative candidates running for elected office in 2018 to participate in a survey that sought their perspectives on education in Arizona.
As Arizona’s largest charter support organization, we believe education should and must be the top priority for lawmakers this session. Survey results show that legislative candidates largely agree. According to the survey, more than 80 percent of candidates rank education as their first or second priority. An overwhelming majority also support parent choice and charter schools, and more equitable funding between district and charter schools.
Among key survey findings regarding the opinions of legislative candidates:
- 93 percent support state intervention in academically failing charter and district schools.
- 92 percent would allow charters to receive the same amount of funding as districts for adopting teacher evaluation plans.
- 89 percent support making charters eligible for teacher experience index funding.
- 98 percent either “strongly support” or “support” parent choice.
- 94 percent either “strongly support” or “support” charter schools. 98 percent support equitable funding for all public school students.
This is promising, but it’s now up to our Association to marshal this sentiment into action. Arizona’s broken school finance system fails to reflect the robust school choice exercised by almost 20 percent of the charter students throughout Arizona and by almost one out of two families in Maricopa County who choose public charter schools or are open-enrolled in district schools.
We need leaders committed to supporting families who choose the best school for their unique child, who will implement financial reforms and invest the funds critical to ensuring student achievement.
