Summer Education Activities; Legislative Wrap-up
 

Dear Friends of the Family,

School may be out, but there is a lot of education-related activity in Arizona this summer. Next month, a large home school conference will be held in Phoenix and we will be there (details below). Just recently, a judge handed down a big victory in support of school voucher programs.

Children with special needs and foster kids won a great victory in court June 13 when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bethany Hicks ruled that two voucher programs do not violate the state constitutional ban on appropriations for religious worship. Nor do they violate the constitutional requirement for a general and uniform school system.

The disabilities voucher program was created by the passage of the bill "Arizona Scholarships for Pupils with Disabilities" (Arizona Revised Statutes: Article 8. Section 15-891). This law established a limited scholarship fund for students with disabilities to attend an adjacent public school, charter school or qualified private school. A total of $2.5 million will be applied toward vouchers for foster children and for disabled children. The funding is renewable every year for both groups.

Teachers unions and other groups looking to limit parental choice and protect the status quo had challenged the constitutionality of the vouchers.

House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, said, "This is a great victory for school children. Children facing these hurdles should have the same ability to receive a quality education as everyone else."

Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa and chairman of the House Education Committee, said, "I am proud that this legislature took the step to give parents choice and give these children a better opportunity to succeed in school. We now need to look beyond these groups and expand the voucher program so more parents and children can benefit from school competition."

The special education voucher is for parents of children currently enrolled in an Arizona public school (for the last school year) and eligible for special ed services. The voucher may be used at any other public school or any private or parochial school in the state. The program was implemented last school year. The foster/adopt voucher program has not been implemented yet.

Goldwater Institute Files Lawsuit to Protect Charter School Autonomy

Five charter schools have filed suit to prevent being forced to change the curricula that has helped them rank among the top public schools in the country. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the schools, is the first filed by the new Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) has mandated that the schools align their curricula to an ADE-determined grade-by-grade curriculum sequence. Clint Bolick, the litigation center's director, said, "These rules would have the perverse effect of dumbing-down some of the most successful schools in the entire United States."

Of the schools filing suit -- BASIS Tucson, BASIS Scottsdale, Veritas Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Chandler Preparatory Academy and Mesa Preparatory Academy -- four are among the top 10 performing public schools in the state's AIMS test scores. Newsweek Magazine named BASIS Tucson one of the nation's 10 best high schools for two consecutive years. Veritas, Chandler Prep and Mesa Prep are part of the Great Hearts Academies network of schools. The other school, Mesa Preparatory Academy, will open this fall.

In 2003, ADE began requiring charter schools to align their curricula to state-prescribed curriculum, despite its lack of authority for such a mandate. Charter schools were able to comply with the alignment requirement until this year, when ADE further mandated that all schools teach U.S. history in the seventh and eighth grades. By contrast, the Great Hearts Academies teach ancient history in seventh grade and medieval history in eighth grade as foundations to U.S. history taught in ninth grade.

The Arizona Legislature created charter schools in 1994 to provide alternatives to traditional public schools. Charter schools are free to implement their own curricula, but their students must still pass the AIMS test. A study of 60,000 public and charter school students in Arizona showed that children in charter schools make faster academic gains on average than children in traditional public schools. About 10 percent of Arizona public school children attend charter schools.

The Goldwater Institute has asked the Maricopa County Superior Court to issue a preliminary injunction against the social studies curriculum alignment edict before school starts in August.

Warmly,

Marilyn Crittenden, President
United Families Arizona
 

 
Join UFA at Summer Home School Convention

United Families Arizona will be present July 20-21 at Arizona Families for Home Education's 24th annual Home School Convention & Curriculum Fair, at the Phoenix Convention Center. Stop by our booth to meet us and pick up our materials.

Themed "Learning, Loving and Growing Together," the convention will feature outstanding speakers and workshops for new home schoolers and veterans alike, workshops geared especially for teens, an exhibit hall with outstanding curricula resources, a "mentoring moms" booth and other attractions.

Volunteers Needed for Home School Convention

UFA is looking for volunteers to staff our booth from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. both days. The purpose of this booth is to distribute literature and solicit membership. All materials will be provided. Please contact Lina Hatch if you are able to volunteer for a 1-3 hour block on either day. Thank you.
 

 
Legislative Wrap-up

Mandatory HPV Vaccinations Thwarted

Arizona recently became the first state in the nation to prevent mandatory HPV vaccinations from going into effect. Without this agreement, the state could have made HPV vaccinations mandatory for girls without providing an adequate opt-out process.

Pro-Family Victories

• Abortion alternatives grants for Pregnancy Resource Centers
• Abstinence until marriage education funding
• Marriage skills programs
• School tax credits
• Voucher programs for foster children and special education students
• Hate crimes legislation defeated
• Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide defeated
• Morning after pills that can induce abortion defeated

Pro-Family Losses

• Parental Consent passed 34-31 in the House; Failed by 13-6 margin in Senate (16 votes required for passage)
• Lack of progress in school choice legislation
   

 
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United Families Arizona