Goldwater Institute

Gov. Janet Napolitano recently vetoed the expansion of a technology program for kindergartners, objecting to a provision requiring the program to report pupil scores on the AIMS test. Napolitano said, "I do not believe that kindergartners should be subject to standardized ... testing." The veto follows her yearlong effort to centralize kindergarten in state hands at a cost of more than $250 million because "the seeds of academic failure are sown very early in life." Yet her veto indicates a refusal to document or track student learning. Setting aside the merits (or demerits) of the programs, the least citizens deserve is a transparent accounting of the impact of their tax dollars. If seeds are to be sown, let the sun shine in.

Gas prices are climbing, and Arizonans want to know why.

America's education system needs a Bill James, and a Billy Beane. Together, James and Beane - the focus of Michael Lewis's recent bestseller Moneyball - revolutionized Major League Baseball by demonstrating how maximizing efficiency can leverage limited resources to create a successful outcome.

Over the past few years, business lobbyists and some legislators, among others, have contended that Arizona could make its public schools more efficient by forcing small school districts to merge. The Legislature even appointed a commission to study the issue.

Last year, the United States House of Representatives passed legislation that would have limited contingency fees collected by attorneys and set caps on non-economic damages at $250,000. But the bills never made it out of the Senate. In response, President Bush has indicated he will make tort reform a priority during the presidential campaign. He also remarked that, "The senators must understand that nobody in America has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit."[i]