Emily Gersema / The Arizona Republic


Several windows in the administration and gym buildings at Power Ranch Elementary have cracks in the corners of the stucco and concrete that frames them. Higley Unified School District officials say this has allowed rain water to seep in.

Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic


The old Ramada Inn in downtown Phoenix has been a hotel and a dorm and is now vacant.


The same week that Phoenix leaders imposed a 2 percent food tax to prevent layoffs and painful cuts to city services, City Council members agreed to spend $6 million to buy a vacant motel so Arizona State University can expand its downtown campus.

A state lawmaker is proposing a new diploma that would allow high school students to attend community colleges or technical schools as early as sophomore year.


Rep. Rich Crandall, a Mesa Republican and chairman of the House Education Committee, said the Grand Canyon Diploma would address the problem of high school students who meet the AIMS test standards early and simply coast toward graduation.

Voters have one week left to decide how they will vote in Dysart's override election.


The Dysart Unified School District is asking voters to approve a 15 percent maintenance-and-operations budget override.


If approved, it would replace the district's current 10 percent M&O override and 5 percent K-3 override and would continue funding programs supported by those overrides.


Justin Olson, senior research analyst at the Arizona Tax Research Association, said school districts like Dysart will have real challenges going to the ballot this month.

PHOENIX - There is a new pledge to save education, as the governor plans to cut millions of dollars, but it’s not from lawmakers. Arizona ranks 49th in the nation for K-12 investment and has one of the highest dropout rates. An organization called “Arizona Education Commitment” is urging lawmakers to find other ways to balance the budget, saying the State Constitution explicitly prioritized education.

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - Arizona's new budget is hitting a lot more high school students in Pima County.


The state is making, what is being called a devastating budget cut, to JTED, the Joint Technical Education District.

That is the voter-approved high school career and technical education program that serves some 24,000 high school students in Pima County.

Career and technical education in Pima County isn't the old shop class you might be used to.

There are traditional vocational programs, all the way to engineering and bio-technology classes and labs.

SIGNAL PEAK — The Central Arizona College Governing Board has approved a budget of roughly $136.1 million for the 2011-12 school year, which begins July 1. The tax rate is rising but the total tax levy is falling because of lower property values.


The budget includes $39.5 million for the general fund, $88.8 million for the unexpended plant fund and $7.8 million to retire debt.

The Maricopa County Community College District governing board will decide Tuesday whether to raise the property tax to help offset a steep decline in state aid.


The 10-college system is proposing a $1.4 billion budget for 2011-12, which includes a 3 percent increase in the property-tax levy. The board's vote will follow a public hearing.

If approved, the annual tax increase for a home assessed at $100,000 in Maricopa County would be about $24, effective July 1. The property owner would pay $121.60 per year, up from $97.34 in 2010-11.

Several Southwest Valley school districts are asking voters to pitch in with extra money to sustain programs or increase funding to help maintain schools.


Voters in the Fowler, Liberty and Littleton elementary and Buckeye Union High school districts will decide Nov. 8 whether to approve maintenance and operations override proposals that range from $1.8 million to $3.4 million depending on district size.

Community college officials came in full force to the state Capitol earlier this year to outline the potential ramifications for the proposed steep cuts to their budgets.

They drove home one point: The cuts would likely compel them to increase tuition, and maybe even raise property tax rates. And it might also put other programs in jeopardy.

Yet at the time they made their case, most college districts were sitting atop millions of dollars in cash reserves.