The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce launched “A for Arizona,” a multi-pronged campaign with the goal of ensuring every K-12 student in Arizona has access to a grade “A”-level school. The initiative will be headed by former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction and nationally renowned education expert Lisa Graham Keegan. The initiative is a concerted effort by the state’s business community to make lasting reforms that will positively and profoundly change the education landscape in Arizona by implementing policies that recognize excellence. A for Arizona will work to expand the number of students educated in "A" quality public schools (district, charter, and magnet) by at least 10% per year, beginning in the 2016-17 school year. A for Arizona will focus efforts on expanding low-income "A" schools serving over 60% Free and Reduced Lunch student populations. A for Arizona will focus on these priorities:
• Creating a policy environment that supports and incentivizes the creation, expansion and transformation of all "A"-rated public schools and closure of all grade D or F schools
• Recognizing highly performing schools and offering them significant operational advantages via the "Arizona Public Schools Achievement District."
• Strengthen student funding (for both operations and capital) to a per-pupil formula with weights for specific need and directly available to the student's public school of choice.
• Make public school facilities readily accessible to low-income "A" schools prepared to expand or replicate.
• Emphasize recruitment, training and retention of very talented educators to work in new "A" grade schools, including those who will lead, create and transform schools.
• Support "A" public school leaders in their statewide efforts to expand their impact through expanding their existing sites, replicating their excellent model into a new school, or teaching others what they do. A for Arizona has very clear desired outcomes:
1) All students in Arizona will have their choice of excellent public school options that will prepare them to move on to further education, career training, or military service without need of remediation
2) Arizona becomes a state where "A"-level performance is an expectation, rather than a possibility, and where C-, D-, and F-grade schools are either actively engaged in improvement or are being shut down.
