Last week I interviewed Nancy Montoya, executive producer/reporter for Media Source America, on the show I cohost on Access Tucson, Education: The Rest of the Story. We talked about Arizona’s education cuts at the K-12 and college levels and the efforts of a newly created group, Arizona Stands Up, to inform Arizonans about the importance of education and put pressure on the legislature to increase funding for education in future budgets.
This is the second part of the interview. In Part One, Nancy talks about her extensive broadcasting experience, her production company and her work with others to promote education in the state.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2015.
Great interviews David ( I watched 1 and 2). People need information regarding what is happening on a very regular basis. I see the awareness of what is happening to education, not only locally but nationally, spreading. A few who I really didn’t think would move towards public education are doing so. In fact, one asked me today if there is another march, would I please tell her for she wants to come. Thank you for what you are doing.
Cold Stone Creamery products in every school cafeteria! Public and Charter Schools both!
In blue states that support public education, there is adequate oversight at the state level to ensure that all public districts are functioning properly and observing the protocols that public institutions need to observe to guarantee transparency and accountability to constituents. That is not the case in this state.
I and many others I know, though we support public education and want to see it better funded, have a hard time actively working for funding increases that would benefit all Arizona districts equally while we see certain districts refusing to observe the protocols appropriate to public institutions. Some of the people most at fault for excusing and enabling local mismanagement are among those most active in the effort to focus the public’s attention on the legislature and divert it from the local problems. To those of us who know the local scene well, this seems manipulative and dishonest.
TUSD should be improving its governance and administrative operations sufficiently so that its constituents’ active support can be secured and bonds and overrides can be passed. Maybe once it has done that, it will have earned the right to work together with the representatives of other, more responsible public districts and to participate in a statewide effort. Right now there is a feeling that certain TUSD-enablers’ engagement in “Arizona Stands Up” doesn’t make TUSD look good — it just makes “Arizona Stands Up” look bad.