Public schools are competing more than ever for students. With open enrollment, students can go to schools in another district. They also can chose a charter school or a private school.
A group of Arizona’s leading education organizations have banded together to change the statewide dialogue about public education in Arizona.
A press release about the campaign follows:
In March, they launched the Arizona Public Schools Making a Difference Every Day, a joint non-political and non-partisan campaign aimed at shining a light on what’s right with public education in the state.
“All the groups came together because we felt the discussion about public education in Arizona was out of balance,” said Panfilo H. Contreras, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, one of the organizations involved. “Certainly there are issues that demand and are getting our serious attention, but we felt we needed to stand up and level the playing field by honoring the good things that are happening in public schools throughout the state, too.”
Among them:
In Page, fifth-graders are using a video blog created by their teacher to keep up with challenging mathematics curriculum.
In Kingman, middle school students are learning arts standards while making gifts for children temporarily living in a shelter for victims of abuse.
In Phoenix, a science teacher is successfully engaging fourth-grade students in science with an unorthodox “gross is good” approach that incorporates all five of their senses into the learning process.
These and many other stories about the good things happening in Arizona’s public schools are waiting to be discovered on the campaign’s web site, www.azschoolsmakeadifference.org. There, visitors can view stories from schools around the state and sign-up to receive a weekly email newsletter highlighting the most recent good news from public schools statewide.
In addition, parents, teachers and others in the education community are encouraged to submit good news stories about public education to the campaign by email at info@azschoolsmakeadifference.org or by using the form on the campaign Web site at www.azschoolsmakeadifference.org/tellstory.asp
The campaign is based on a simple premise: Arizonans know and appreciate the good things happening at their child’s school or the school in their neighborhood, but many don’t realize that Arizona public schools throughout the state are making a difference every day, positively impacting the lives of the state’s 1.12 million public school children.
National research shows that Arizona is not unique in this split perception. A 2007 PDK/Gallup poll shows that the public generally assigns high marks to its public schools, but gives the highest marks to those schools nearest to them.
Participating organizations in the Arizona Public Schools Making a Difference Every Day campaign are the Arizona Education Association (AEA), Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA), Arizona PTA, Arizona Rural Schools Association (ARSA), Arizona School Administrators (ASA), Arizona Schools Boards Association (ASBA), Association of Arizona School Business Officials (AASBO) and the Greater Phoenix Education Management Council (GPEMC).
Lori Baker is mom to two daughters, 21 and 23 years old. She is
editor for the Valley and State section's Education and Environment pages in the Arizona Republic.
