Goldwater Institute

PHOENIX-In a study released today by the Goldwater Institute, Children First America vice president Matthew Ladner finds evidence of pervasive racial bias by public school districts in the labeling of children as "learning disabled." By mislabeling children as disabled, Ladner writes, "The erring districts may seriously damage children's self-images and confidence in their own capabilities-perhaps permanently."

Phoenix-On Monday, March 24, the Arizona State Senate delivered a victory for proponents of educational freedom. With a bipartisan majority of 16 votes, the Senate passed SB1263, a corporate scholarship tax credit program that could give thousands of low-income, public school students the opportunity to transfer to private schools next fall.

According to a March 7 guest editorial in the Tucson Citizen, "Arizona has steadily decreased its support for public schools over the past 15 or so years until it now ranks 49th in the nation."

The Arizona House version of the Budget Stabilization Act (HCR 2011) was defeated yesterday by a vote of 34 to 26. A total of 14 House Republicans voted against it, along with 20 Democrats. The bill, which was modeled on Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, would have submitted to voters a referendum limiting general fund budget growth to the rate of population growth plus inflation.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and Sen. Carolyn Allen (R-Scottsdale) recently distributed to the press a study released in the February issue of Governing Magazine. Titled "The Way We Tax," the study rates state tax systems for adequacy and fairness on a scale from one to four stars.