Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/60893
AT THE CAPITOL local association leaders, principals, and school boards to craft policies that implement the new evaluation system fairly and base those policies on research about quality teaching, teacher evaluation, and performance-based pay." (For more information on House Bill 2823, please visit the AEA website at www.arizonaea.org.) The AEA held a legislative panel with five legislators: Senator Rich Crandall (R-Mesa and Chair of the Senate Education Committee), Senator Linda Gray (R-Glendale), Senator David Schapira (D-Tempe and Senate Democratic Leader), Representative Heather Carter (R-Cave Creek ), and Representative Anna Tovar (D-Tolleson and House Democratic Whip). AEA Vice-President Joe Thomas moderated the discussion and asked questions presented by AEA members in the audience. One question related to the support of due process rights for education support professionals. The Republican legislators on the panel said this should be a local decision and that the state should not get involved. The two Democratic legislators expressed their support, and Senator Schapira said that he has run this legislation numerous times in the past. After listening to the panel discussion and meeting with various legislators during the day, Phoenix Union Classified Education Association President Tom Oviatt said, "As an ESP member of the AEA, it was nice to see that there are people concerned with the other 50,000 education workers in the state and that they were willing to help support a bill in the future that will recognize these employees with equal rights to due process." Following the panel discussion, AEA members attended a luncheon held on the House lawn. Legislators sat with AEA members according to their legislative district. At the beginning of the lunch program, AEA President Andrew Morrill thanked everyone for attending and encouraged dialogue at the table discussions so that legislators left feeling connected with what is happening in the school districts they represent. State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal was also in attendance and addressed the crowd about various topics like the state's request for a flexibility waiver from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known as "No Child Left Behind") as well as the goal he has for the Arizona Department of Education to offer excellent customer service. Superintendent Huppenthal told the group about his work with the AEA on House Bill 2823 (teacher and principal evaluations), and stated that he too is concerned about what happens if a system is created that makes teachers compete against one another based on students' test scores. Superintendent Huppenthal realizes the lack of meaningful data available to make education policy decisions including employment and performance-pay decisions, and he is committed to getting the state's education data system running to a level that is useful for teachers in assessments of student growth. Throughout the lunch, AEA members held quality conversations with their legislators. In Continued on next page a view on education day at the capitol froM a MeMBer's perspective… This Education Day at the Capitol is the best I have ever experienced. The initial information session and the panel discussion were great springboards for the rest of the day, and the handouts we received were wonderful. I felt informed and confident. Because my legislative district is in transition due to redistricting, I can claim two senators: David Schapira and John McComish. When the legislative panel members addressed inequities in school tax credits, Senator David Schapira (D- Tempe) nailed it: "Let's get rid of all tax credits and fully fund public schools. Fully fund our schools. We've never tried it!" The panel members all agreed that there was no single silver bullet in education reform. Senator Schapira said, "Education IS the silver bullet. For every issue today, education plays a big part of the solution." He urged educators to be active and to run for the state legislature because, as a lifetime educator, he was able to hit the ground running and advocate for his profession and for his colleagues with knowledge and passion. During the lunch time with Legislative District 20, Senator John McComish (R- Ahwatukee) sat with a table full of educators from his area. He was thanked for his position on several bills and was invited specifically by Dawn Koberstein (Chandler EA) and Laurie Jake (Kyrene EA) to spend real time in classrooms and experience firsthand the egregious effects of decisions made at the capitol. He expressed a genuine interest in doing that and in return asked educators to read the bills and to understand the politics driving legislative decisions. Later, on the floor, Senator McComish called the Senate's attention to his lunchtime companions in the gallery. —Janie Hydrick, NEA State Director AEA Advocate ❘ Summer 2012 7