Senate President Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, has been named the 2011 Golden Apple Winner by Arizona Parents for Education, a grassroots group promoting the state's public school online instruction programs.
More than 20,000 students participate in online instruction statewide, according to a news release put out by the group.
Pearce is facing a recall election this fall to hold onto his west Mesa seat, and he has been criticized for cuts the state Legislature made to public education.
But in the news release, Ann Robinett, president of Arizona Parents for Education, said the state is fortunate to have Pearce "fighting for our children."
"Russell has been a tireless advocate for education in our great state," she said. "His steadfast support for distance learning and educational choice has improved education for our children at every level, and we can't thank him enough for his efforts."
Previous winners of the group's Golden Apple Award have included Gov. Jan Brewer, former Senate President Tim Bee, former state Rep. David Lujan, and Sen. Linda Lopez.
Information: www.azparents.org.
ParentX posted at 4:26 am on Tue, Aug 2, 2011.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I saw this headline.
Russell Pearce has spent his legislative career voting AGAINST our neighborhood schools. He has especially been in favor of removing resources from public schools and shifting them to for-profit deals like Ms. Robinett's organization.
davidflucier posted at 8:40 am on Sun, Jul 31, 2011.
So...an "education" organization with a specific agenda that reflects Mr. Pearce's particular perspective for unfunding public education. Hmmm? Why does that seem so self serving?
Masterrogue666 posted at 11:53 am on Fri, Jul 29, 2011.
Wow, imagine that! He does do things other than "attacking" the poor misunderstood INVADING FOREIGN NATIONALS....
AmericanPatriot posted at 11:07 pm on Wed, Jul 27, 2011.
Hey MissArizona, The top earners among public-school presidents include Arizona State University President Michael Crow, who the Chronicle said has a compensation package of $728,750, including salary, car and housing allowances, and retirement contributions. However, the amount conflicts with an earlier report by the Arizona Board of Regents that lists his salary as $695,500 for 2007-08. The lower number would still put him in the top 20. ASU officials said the Chronicle amount miscalculated retirement pay.
University of Arizona President Robert Shelton had a $549,400 package and ranked No. 47 among public university presidents. Northern Arizona University President John Haeger made $421,918 and ranked No. 96. NAU officials said Haeger's salary was $424,408, slightly higher than reported by the Chronicle.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/11/17/20081117universitysalaries1117.html#ixzz1TNF41YR4
As the governor of Texas, Bush earned $115,345 annually.
As president, Bush made $400,000 annually.
Senator Pearce makes around $24,000 per year as a state senator.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 11:43 am on Wed, Jul 27, 2011.
"Russell has been a tireless advocate for education in our great state," she said. "His steadfast support for distance learning and educational choice has improved education for our children at every level, and we can't thank him enough for his efforts."
MissArizona, are you saying we should pay public school teachers more money or just get rid of public schools altogether? They do seem useless when it comes to teaching children.
Pearce is the best thing that has happened to Arizona since statehood.
Butters posted at 4:34 pm on Tue, Jul 26, 2011.
Missy Arizona, are you trying to us there is no waste or excessive top heavy management in any of the public schools? You do know that the state superintendent of schools does annual audits, right? Can you tell us why there are not one, but THREE school districts in Tempe? Yeah, that's not wasting taxpayer funds on redundant management, right? lol
shrinkingviolet posted at 12:23 pm on Tue, Jul 26, 2011.
"Why does a public school need investors?"
Because the system was set up to allow private companies to run these public charter schools.
ivotetoo posted at 12:21 pm on Tue, Jul 26, 2011.
Any group that endorses Pearce best be looked at closely, especially those in relationship to education. This man is uneducated himself and will be the piper that continues to take this State over the edge, just like Mecham did.
MissArizona posted at 11:07 am on Tue, Jul 26, 2011.
Arizona Parents for Education is an organization promoting online education. The president is on the Board of K-12.com a "public" online charter school. Why does a public school need investors? There's money to be made here. Administrative costs are $500 higher per student at virtual schools than the state school average: $1200 as opposed to $700 per student according to the State Auditor General.
One reason for the high administrative costs is -- surprise! -- high administrative salaries. Three of the schools reported that their top administrators had salaries between $71,000 and $187,000. Similarly sized brick-and-mortar schools gave their top administrators between $65,000 and $81,000. (from blogforarizona.com)
No wonder this group wants to reward Pearce, the foe of public education.
Here's a question: when kids wash out of these virtual schools, where do they go? If you succeed in destroying public schools, there will be no place for them. So guess what, the virtual schools and the charters will end up being forced to accept the "undesirable" students they now counsel out. That's when the investors will throw in the towel because if they can't cherry pick their students, the profits go down.