Goldwater Institute

As a fragment of the former Bell system and the incumbent provider of local telephone service, Qwest is specifically prohibited by federal law from providing long distance telecommunications service in areas where it has traditionally offered local service. This means that it cannot provide voice and data service between Arizona and New Mexico, for example, nor between Phoenix and Tucson for that matter. To enter these markets, Qwest must obtain permission from state and federal regulators.

Thomas Jefferson said there is "no safer depository of the ultimate power of society but the people themselves." Initiative and referendum is the means by which ultimate political power is retained by the citizens. It is a reminder that in our republican form of government nothing is more sacred than the right and freedom to govern ourselves. In its purest form is a powerful tool for defending liberty and restraining tyranny.

Since the first two charter schools opened in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992, a reliable study of the effects of charter school attendance on student achievement has been called for. The question in evaluating the effects of charter school attendance is whether charter school students perform better or worse, on average, than similar students in traditional public schools (TPS).

Arizona Works is a four-year, pilot welfare reform program currently operating in the eastern part of Maricopa County, and soon starting in Mohave County. It has several important features that distinguish it from the state's regular welfare program EMPOWER Redesign, and make it one of the most innovative welfare reform programs in the nation.

The Goldwater Institute's Center for Market-Based Education (CMBE) started this second component of a larger charter school impact project in December 1999. It provides an in-depth look at Arizona's most mature charter schools and how they have evolved during their first five years of operation. Since charter schools are a creation of public policy and exist through a contract with a public sponsor, we believe it is important to examine the evolution of charter schools within the context of the Arizona charter school law and the charter contracting process. For this reason we have included an evolution of the first five years of both the charter law and the charter contracting process.