Tom O`Halleran on Education

We're falling behind others; make education a priority

While in the legislature, Tom led a bipartisan group that passed all-day kindergarten and made substantial investments in all levels of our schools, including research facilities at our three state universities that have been an economic driver and created good-paying jobs.

Among other education initiatives, Tom fought for funding teacher salaries and to retain soft capital (money that goes toward books and computers). He worked to maintain funding for new schools and school maintenance, which helped local property tax payers not pay as high a rate as they otherwise would to maintain their schools.

Improving public education should always be a top priority

We need to make sure school funding for rural and tribal schools takes into account the differences those schools face (e.g., greater distance to school) and provides educational opportunities that help our students excel. Our children need to be able to compete in the job market well beyond their home town. Our rural and tribal communities also need to have schools that will attract and retain parents and companies for economic development. We need to do more to ensure that all children have access to a quality, competitive school regardless of their zip code.

Invest in our community colleges, including job training

Arizona currently has a program for transferring credits from community colleges to our state universities. We should make this a nationwide program so students from all states can move or select colleges and universities outside their state and continue their education.

We should also be providing expanded job training for current workers so they can take advantage of the increasing number of opportunities in this field. This type of work especially lends itself to being able to work from anywhere, which can stabilize and improve our rural economy in Congressional District 1.

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; State Sen. Tom O`Halleran voted YES; Passed House 43-12-5 on Apr/14/05; Signed by Governor Janet Napolitano on Apr/20/05