Make some time this evening to tell Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas what concerns you about the state’s K-12 education system (I’m sure you won’t have to dig to find complaints). 

Douglas is in Tucson as part of her “We Are Listening” tour, which made its debut in Kingman and will wrap up in Springerville. 

Head down to Pima Community College West’s Center for the Arts, 2202 W. Anklam Road and share your thoughts between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Here’s what Douglas had to say last month about the tour:

“I am dedicated to continually improving the state of education in Arizona through conversations with the people it most directly affects—parents, students, teachers and administrators. It is paramount that Arizona not only has the highest standards possible, but that its standards belong to Arizona and are continually improved to best represent both student and local community needs. This process allows us to hear every voice and set high expectations for every child.”

People’s comments on state’s Common Core Standards, or College and Career Ready Standards, have been gathered throughout and will be presented to the State Board of Education, where they can vote on possible changes. This goes hand-in-hand with Gov. Doug Ducey’s request for a “thorough review” of the state’s standards for English and math.

This article appears in May 21-27, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

6 replies on “Diane Douglas at Pima West This Evening for ‘We Are Listening’ Tour”

  3. Teachers get paid very little and you don’t even want them to have a pension? They invest their own money too. And then when they retire they are suppose to live on what? I watched it this morning and I like Diane Douglas because she is trying to listen to what is really going on here. I will be looking forward to what she comes out of this tour with because from what I can tell, she is getting the same thing everywhere. Common Core is more popular than not. Help get education refunded. Get more pay for teachers. She is trying understand how to proceed before she acts and that is a good thing. It certainly doesn’t appear that she’s in Ducey’ s pocket.

  5. Let’s take a look at Chicago. (because I can’t find AZ info):

    Teachers and others with teaching certificates (such as principals) who work at CPS participate in the CTPF. Teachers in school districts outside of Chicago participate in a state-funded pension system, the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). Both systems have similar demographics.

    Table I: CTPF v. TRS

    CTPF

    TRS

    Number of Retirees

    21,977

    90,967

    Average Monthly Benefit

    $3,788

    $3,871

    Average Age

    72

    70

    Average Years of Service

    28

    28

    Source: CTPF: Actuarial Valuation as of 6/30/11 and
    CPS; TRS: Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ending 6/30/11

    Retirees receive a defined benefit annuity. Teachers in both systems are eligible to retire at age 55 with 35 years of service, age 60 with 20 years of service, or age 62 and five years of service. An employee who has reached age 55 and has 20 years of service may retire, but will receive a smaller annuity. Retirees receive a 3 percent annual compounded cost of living adjustment (COLA) starting at age 61 for CTPF and for TRS starting immediately.

    3% COLA and SSI benefit makes more than $5,000 per month your starting retirement pay at 66. That is way above private sector scale.

  6. https://www.azasrs.gov/content/estimate-yo… (This is available to all)
    Gives the formula and then go to TUSD’s website and use it. If you don’t find the pay published (which is there) , you can call HR and they will help you. It is a percentage of what they made.

    As for SS… My ex works for Raetheon, is an engineer and has been there for 30 years. Right now at age 63 he would collect 1900 from SS. I know because I could choose half of his or mine whichever was better. He makes more than teachers by quite a bit. I guess it’s all in what you think is valuable.

    You can figure out what people make if you use the SS calculator. I thought there was a cap of 2500. for all but not sure… never checked.

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