Tucson Choices

Ethnic studies case: District’s funds ordered cut

45 comments by Emily Gersema – Jan. 6, 2012 11:21 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

The Arizona Department of Education imposed severe financial penalties on Tucson Unified School District on Friday for violating a new state law by refusing to revamp or end its controversial Mexican-American studies curriculum.

In a move aimed at forcing one of the state’s largest school districts to comply with the law banning racially divisive ethnic-studies classes, Arizona schools chief John Huppenthal said he is cutting state funding by 10 percent and making it retroactive to August, leaving the district facing an immediate funding loss of $4.9million.

The Tucson district and the state have been at odds for years over the ethnic-studies courses. The district says that they Read More

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10. Tucson, Ariz.

The Daily Beast

Have We Got a Convention Center to Sell You!

From Boston to Austin, politicians spend money on fancy white elephants..

By STEVEN MALANGA – WSJ

For two decades, America’s convention center business has been declining, resulting in a nationwide surplus of empty meeting facilities, struggling convention halls and vacant hotel rooms. How have governments responded to this glut? By building more convention centers, of Read More

Glendale city manager to end tenure defined by sports

Glendale exec pushed entertainment-hub plan

by Cecilia Chan – Dec. 28, 2011 09:33 PM
The Arizona Republic
Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley’s rise came hand-in-hand with the city’s transformation from a bedroom community to a professional sports hub that will host its second Super Bowl.

Glendale rode high on its newly honed image until the recession called into question whether the city bankrolled an overly ambitious Read More

Online-commerce firm expanding, plans to hire 125
Russ Wiles – Dec. 27, 2011 03:13 PM
The Arizona Republic

A northern California company that provides highly targeted online marketing and supports reward/loyalty programs for large financial firms plans a major burst of hiring in its Scottsdale office.

Rearden Commerce, a privately held firm based in Foster City, Calif., intends to hire roughly 250 people in 2012, with half of those positions in Scottsdale, said Mathew Caldwell, the company’s director of talent acquisition.

The Scottsdale positions, primarily in sales, include benefits such as medical and dental insurance and a 401(k) retirement plan. Total compensation likely would range from more than $50,000 a year to upwards of $115,000, depending on commissions, Caldwell said. Most are inside-sales jobs that Read More

Az Republic: The judge, who found grounds to withhold 10 percent of the district’s monthly state aid until it comes into compliance, said the law permits the objective instruction about the oppression of people that may result in racial resentment or ethnic solidarity.

“However, teaching oppression objectively is quite different than actively presenting material in a biased, political and emotionally charged manner, which is what occurred in (Mexican-American Studies) classes,” Kowal wrote.

The judge said such teaching Read More

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Tucson is fairing much worse than it’s western neighboring cities because of the lack of leadership, lack of economic diversification and no growth mentality.  What we’ve succeeded to do is fight growth at ever stage yet continue to grow.  The transportation infrastructure, the economic infrastructure and the leadership infrastructure has been ignored for a generation.  It may be too late for the Old Pueblo. Over the next decade the suburbs will flourish and the city core will continue to decay.  It takes leadership folks. Something sorely missing from the political and business rulers in Read More

Must be a change in the water at the Star. Brodesky explains the ‘RULES’ of the game. Could Chicago learn a thing or two from Tucson? You decide. In the Dec 15, 2011 edition of the Star he tells a little story about how you get things done in Tucson.

Josh Brodesky: We do things differently around here (wink, wink) – AZ Star
Couldn’t have said it better myself, Jerry Dixon. Threatened with default on his west-side project, his partner accusing him of improperly tapping an escrow account and missing a key construction deadline, Dixon squirmed his way to an explanation.
You see, his business partners at Senior Housing Group are “very strict Chicago attorneys who are very legalistic about everything,” he explained.
“Here, we do things a little bit differently, and that Read More