This would be an ideal time for the Mariopa Community Colleges to move aggressively into offering four-year degrees, but legislative restrictions sharply, and wrongheadedly, limit that option.
Category Archives: State and local
Algebra 2 and rethinking high school
Allowing practical alternatives to Algebra 2 as a high school graduation requirement is a step in the right direction. But the whole sequential edifice of education, from high school on, needs rethinking.
Ducey’s water authority proposal isn’t even half-baked
Arizona should see what conservation and expanded water markets can do before committing to big-dollar augmentation projects, such as desalination.
Why Maricopa County is exactly the right size
There are substantial advantages and benefits to having a county government that spans virtually the entire metro area. Which makes breaking it up and creating four new, smaller counties a monumentally bad idea.
Time for a simple, straightforward universal voucher proposal
The state has enough money to both substantially increase funding for public schools and provide a larger measure of social equity for parents who want to send their kids to private schools.
Congress’ budget irresponsibility and inflation
Our fiscal Keystone Kops can’t pass a budget for a fiscal year nearly half over, much less have a proper debate about the extent to which their excessive fiscal stimulus has contributed to high inflation.
Mark Kelly’s political flinch on gas prices
Suspending the gas tax while unnecessarily subsidizing EV charging stations reflects muddled thinking about both inflation and climate change.
Legislators, not judges, should clarify the role of the AG
The murky outcome of the bar complaints against AG Mark Brnovich raises issues the high court can’t resolve by fiddling with ethics rules.
Overriding city obstacles to affordable housing
City zoning and design standards deter lower-cost housing products for which there is a demand from coming to market. Although HB 2674 is probably dead for the session, it has some concepts worth considering to free up the market.
Don’t junk the school spending limit entirely
The principle that all government spending should be subject to a flexible cap isn’t outdated.