Janet Napolitano on Education Democratic AZ Governor; Designee for Secretary of Homeland Security

Added voluntary full-day kindergarten as a new grade level

Yet, as always, there is more to do. We must build on what we have begun. Expanded resources must translate into ever-increasing levels of student achievement. The proportion of our education funds spent in the classroom must increase. The professional status--and the pay--of our classroom teachers must continue to improve.

Implement school choice via public charter schools

Today's short-term budget decisions must not harm the long-term future of Arizona's children. If this Legislature cuts classroom spending, the people of Arizona will recognize such a cut for what it is--not a budget necessity, but a willful and unwise choice.

We must look at higher education in the same way. In the past six years, we have institutionalized the P-20 model in Arizona, which recognizes the reality that education is not neatly segmented, but is instead a continuum of learning that begins at birth and lasts well into a chosen career path.

For establishing anti-bullying procedures for schools

Opposition in Phoenix New Times, May 31, 2012: The law setting the standard for anti-bullying policies in Arizona, passed by the Legislature in 2005, calls for districts to set their own policies and definitions. Arizona Senate Minority Leader David Schapira sees gaps in the current law that he's been trying to fill, as districts' own definitions of bullying can cause under-reporting, and educators and other school district employees aren't trained to recognize that bullying is taking place.

Legislative Outcome:Passed Senate 24-5-1 on Apr/11/05; Passed House 43-12-5 on Apr/14/05; Signed by Governor Janet Napolitano on Apr/20/05

Recommend funding for voluntary full-day kindergarten

Emphasize the importance of reading literacy

Scholarship program for early childhood education teachers

Help teachers undergo the necessary training

No cut in higher education funding

Supports school choice without expense of vouchers

A: I support school choice. Arizona has one of the nation’s largest populations of charter schools, and parents have a wide variety of choices available to them for their children’s education. I believe that this system is sufficient to provide for adequate school choice without utilizing additional public resources for a state-sponsored voucher system.

Offer every parent Charter Schools and public school choice.

Create World-Class Public Schools
Now more than ever, quality public education is the key to equal opportunity and upward mobility in America. Yet our neediest children often attend the worst schools. While lifting the performance of all schools, we must place special emphasis on strengthening those institutions serving, and too often failing, low-income students.

To close this achievement and opportunity gap, underperforming public schools need more resources, and above all, real accountability for results. Accountability means ending social promotion, measuring student performance with standards-based assessments, and testing teachers for subject-matter competency.

As we demand accountability, we should ensure that every school has the resources needed to achieve higher standards, including safe and modern physical facilities, well-paid teachers and staff, and opportunities for remedial help after school and during summers. Parents, too, must accept greater responsibility for supporting their children’s education.

We need greater choice, competition, and accountability within the public school system, not a diversion of public funds to private schools that are unaccountable to taxpayers. With research increasingly showing the critical nature of learning in the early years, we should move toward universal access to pre-kindergarten education.

Goals for 2010
• Turn around every failing public school.
• Make charter schools an option in every state and community.
• Offer every parent a choice of public schools to which to send his or her child.
• Make sure every classroom has well-qualified teachers who know the subjects they teach, and pay teachers more for performance.
• Create a safe, clean, healthy, disciplined learning environment for every student.
• Make pre-kindergarten education universally available.