There’s a lot of talk these days about school reform. President Obama has addressed it in his Race to the Top initiative, challenging states to find creative ways to turn around failing schools and advance top-notch teachers. Hollywood has addressed it in the highly acclaimed documentary, Waiting for Superman, by portraying the struggles of ordinary …
Read MoreFor as long as I’ve lived in Arizona, Republicans have dominated state politics, and though I haven’t always agreed with their policy positions, I’ve never felt threatened by their governance. Until now. From Russell Pearce to Joe Arpaio, Arizona’s Republican party is now dominated by extremist ideologues. These individuals have muscled their way onto center …
Read MoreThe enforcement-only camp has gathered momentum around the idea that a fence will keep us safe from the illegal intruders that threaten to ‘”destroy our way of life.” Because this sounds like a logical solution, this country has spent billions (yes, billions) on an enforcement policy that focuses on fence building and technologies while failing …
Read MoreOn 12 News’ Sunday Square Off, I joined the roundtable to discuss Senator Russell Pearce’s recall and the third candidate, Olivia Cortes, as well as Scott Bundgaard’s ethics investigation and Arizona’s upcoming presidential primary.
Read MoreThe state with a Governor famous for saying “we have did” now wants to clamp down on a serious English problem in our schools: accents, as in Spanish accents. In order to avoid a probable federal lawsuit for civil rights violations, the state agreed to end its articulation monitoring of teachers in English language immersion …
Read MoreRobert Robb, an AZ Republic editorial writer, recently wrote an op-ed piece in favor of ending the privatization of city transportation services. That’s not exactly a shocking premise except when one considers the source, Robert Robb, a strict conservative who extols the role of smaller government. More astounding still was the fact that Mr. Robb …
Read MoreFrom editorials to television appearances, Arizona’s Republican legislators keep touting the “tough choices” they made, the ones that balanced the budget and got our state on the “right track.” So what were some of those “tough choices?” One included increasing the budget for prisons. Yes, prisons. Apparently, locking people up is preferable to educating them. …
Read MoreAccording to Arizona’s former U.S. Democratic Senator Dennis DeConcini, private prisons like Corrections Corp of America are the gold standard in inmate care. His words, in a recent editorial for the Arizona Republic, paint a rosy picture of private prisons, describing CCA as offering a cost-effective means to provide “humane treatment” without sacrificing “safety, quality …
Read MoreArizona’s Congressional delegation scored a point in the debt-ceiling debate. That point was in favor of partisan politics and gridlock and against compromise and solutions. The result of this partisanship? A downgrade in our credit rating, tumbling stock prices, decimated 401K’s, and a probable double-dip recession. And while the average citizen understands how the constant …
Read MoreArizona Republic City Hall reporter Lynh Bui, political consultant Brian Murray and I debate the issues that matter in Phoenix’s mayoral race as well as the increasing partisanship in elections and the influence of council member Sal DiCiccio and the Tea Party.
Read MoreAmericans are pissed off. What’s the matter with our so-called political leaders? As we sit on the sidelines and wait for Washington to find a compromise to skirt default, we see more and more evidence that voters are fed up with the two-party system, and Republicans and Democrats are out of touch with constituents. Here …
Read MorePay raises during a recession. Union bosses in control. What’s going on at City Hall? According to Phoenix mayoral candidates Peggy Neely, Wes Gullett and Jennifer Wright, the unions are in control, and our city is under siege. Our cops are overpaid and underworked. We have fat to trim, but we can’t because the council …
Read MoreIf I decide to purchase an armload of handguns tomorrow, I can. If I decide to purchase an arsenal of AK-47’s, I can do that, too. But there’s a big difference between those two purchases, and the difference isn’t just firepower. The first sale is reported to law enforcement, while the second one is not. …
Read More“Why didn’t those DREAM Act kids or their parents just apply for legal citizenship when they first got here?” This was a question posed in a recent Letter to the Editor and one that speaks to the many myths surrounding immigration, both legal and illegal. The reader felt sorry for those brought over as kids …
Read MoreIn Arizona we pride ourselves on being tough on crime. That’s Sheriff Joe’s motto, after all, and people in this state eat it up. From the infamous pink underwear to jailhouse tent cities, Sheriff Arpaio has made a name for himself as someone shameless about shaming criminals. But recent headlines about major security lapses at …
Read MoreForgive me, but today I cannot write about politics or politicians. I cannot speak about Senators blaming forest fires on illegal immigrants or a state legislature that refuses to extend unemployment benefits because of ideological beliefs that the unemployed are lazy and benefits encourage more laziness. No, today I speak instead of the beautiful but …
Read MoreMy last blog post, “Heroes or Leeches,” stirred up a lot of emotion and lively responses from many individuals. I posted several comments, but there was one comment I did not post until today because I felt I must address the inaccuracies of the remarks first. I’m referring to the response by Wesley Harris, a …
Read MoreOver the last year, I’ve listened as certain council members and other Phoenix residents have claimed wages for our public safety workers are too high. I’ve read the letters to the editor lambasting pension benefits as well as the op-ed pieces claiming payroll is outrageously excessive. I find it all less than amusing and highly …
Read MoreThat’s the question many are asking and some groups are proposing in order to force the state of Arizona to meet the needs of its students. We now have possible lawsuits against the state to try and force repairs for crumbling school facilities in poor neighborhoods as well as a lawsuit aimed at equalizing the …
Read MoreThree years ago my children and I headed to Washington, D.C. to partake in National Police Week, an annual remembrance of our nation’s fallen peace officers. That was the year my husband’s name was etched onto the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall. That was the year we gathered with other first-year survivors to honor …
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