The AIMS test has been a cold shower on the body politic of Arizona. More than half the 65,000 students in the class of 2006 might not receive high school diplomas because they failed at least one component of the test. Now, an effort to fund a tutoring program for those students has raised some eyebrows at the Capitol.

PHOENIX - A Senate panel dealt a serious and potentially fatal blow Tuesday to efforts by community colleges to offer four-year degrees.


On a 6-5 margin the Appropriations Committee killed the House-passed proposal, which would have let half of the campuses provide junior- and senior-level courses leading to baccalaureate degrees.

Most of the lawmakers sided with the pleas of university lobbyists who said the issue needs further study.

PHOENIX - The Amphitheater and Tucson Unified school districts are just a signature away from having to change how they pay for desegregation programs - a significant area of money for some local schools.


Tucson parents and school leaders are watching for negative fallout, and business owners are looking for possible tax savings, as bills approved last week by the Legislature make their way to Gov. Janet Napolitano's desk.

PHOENIX -- Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed two related bills Friday designed to restrict the ability of some school districts to increase their taxes.


One measure says the primary property tax rate cannot exceed $4.26 in elementary or high school districts and double that for unified school districts. But HB 2143 is written in a way to apply largely to districts located in counties with low property valuations.

By all accounts, Arizona has one of the more confusing funding mechanisms for public education. Instituted in 1980, the system was designed to replace an unfair system based solely on property taxes with one that saw the state chipping in to ensure all school districts were provided funding to allow “general and uniform” education, as required by the state Constitution.


However, instead of being equitable, some legislators, policy-makers and watchdog organizations say there are loopholes that create inequities and allow some districts to have access to greater sums of money.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nov. 8 ballot has three education measures. The next issue will share efforts by political action committees. The West-MEC bond request will be covered Oct. 26, 2005.


How much money Deer Valley Unified School District coffers take in will be determined by voters in coming weeks.

Early voting began last week for the Nov. 8 election, which will present three ballot questions asking residents to pay for education with property taxes.

The Maricopa Community College District is racing to buy property for three future college sites in the West Valley as land prices continue to boom.


If the district can't buy by the end of the year, officials say they will have to re-strategize. That means buying smaller lots or campuses farther away from the people they aim to serve.

In the next five years, student enrollment is expected to climb 43 percent, to 400,000 students, much of that growth in the West Valley.

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Courses offered in Arizona's community college system may be taken to pursue a career, such as becoming a psychiatrist, or simply for lifelong learning.


"Courses offered for credit shall satisfy at least one of the following purposes and requirements: Provide continuing education and lifelong learning," Arizona Revised Statutes 15-1410 A. (f) states.

But some lifelong learning classes such as Single Again, Coping with Stress and Approaching Math Positively have been categorized by the Arizona Tax Research

Association as "recreational."

The Hayden-Winkelman School Board has once again sought relief from high property tax rates from the Arizona State Legislature and while help may come from that corner, it might not take the form the district originally sought.

Santa Cruz Valley Union High School Superintendent Gene Bichekas told the Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology Governing Board that the high school plans to sue CAVIT for this year's funding.


"We are prepared to go forward with a lawsuit and let the judge decide the outcome," Bichekas said during Wednesday's regular CAVIT meeting.

Santa Cruz believes it should receive CAVIT funding this year for enrollment in its career and technology programs last year.