Below is a letter authored by the Chamber President and CEO Glenn Hamer and Tucson Hispanic Chamber President and CEO Lea Márquez-Peterson. This letter was distributed to state legislators in support of Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed K-12 education budget and results-based funding.
Dear Legislators,
As leaders of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, we know that a high-quality classroom for every student is possible. Exemplars of excellence in education exist in every corner of our great state. Our chambers’ shared initiative, A for Arizona, has sought to identify and learn from these amazing neighborhood public schools, to do everything we can to sustain their impact, and to seek their rapid growth and expansion.
Governor Ducey’s budget proposal this year features a critically important innovation that was originally endorsed as part of his Classrooms First Initiative Council: Results-Based Funding. His emphasis on expanding access to the best schools we have – with an emphasis on low-income communities – mirrors the aspirations of A for Arizona.
We wanted to share the voices of some of Arizona’s best schools and our partners in A for Arizona – including the principals, students and parents who are working together to expand access to high quality classrooms.
Great will grow if we let it, and these principals and superintendents and their school communities have proven they are committed not only to growing their own schools, but to working with their colleagues to rapidly grow the number of students in ‘A’ rated schools every year, through mentoring and collaboration.
We are indebted to their service, and hope you will take a few moments to understand their impact as expressed in this brief video.
