Salmon backing wrong horse for state schools chief

Matt Salmon joined with Jaime Molera in writing a column that gives the impression they would work together to improve education, should Salmon be elected governor and Molera re-elected as superintendent of public instruction. (Arizona Republic, July 29) This makes no sense. Matt Salmon has established himself as a conservative legislator and fearless education reformer, one not afraid to go up against the bilingual education establishment in Arizona and in Washington. On the other hand, Molera is a status quo, education establishment kind of guy, totally supportive of bilingual education. His actions this year have proved it.

At the Arizona Education Association convention, Molera won on the first ballot. He expected to earn the teachers union Republican endorsement after decimating the AIMS test, pushing the bureaucratic, costly House Bill 2010 through the Legislature and thwarting the proposition that was supposed to get rid of bilingual education. These actions were very union-friendly and anti-reform.

However, Molera lost on the second ballot to candidate Keith Bee, who won the AEA endorsement with more than 6,000 votes. Molera ran second with nearly 5,000 votes. The true conservative, Tom Horne, received only 70 votes.

Molera’s policy to allow alternatives to the AIMS test as a high school requirement defeats the purpose of the test. The math portion of the AIMS test has been a problem due to questions concerning concepts not yet covered in many students’ course work. However, Molera’s plan to allow schools to substitute student portfolios or projects for any segment of the AIMS test would undermine school accountability. It would be just too easy for parents and/or teachers to do the work themselves. Wouldn’t it make better sense to align the test with the course work so that the students are tested on algebra after passing the algebra course and then on geometry after passing the geometry course, as Horne wants to do? After all, students are allowed to take each segment of the AIMS test five times.

HB 2010, meant to improve the education of English learners, passed in the Legislature due to the urging of Molera. The warning of Rep. John Huppenthal and the Arizona Tax Reform Association that this bill would lead to overidentification of English learners has since proved to be on target. According to Arizona Department of Education data, already this spring the English learner rolls increased by 51 percent at Pendergast Elementary, 89 percent at Casa Grande Elementary, 108 percent at Glendale Union High School, etc., due to the provisions of this bill and not to an increase in enrollment. Consequently, many schools will receive extra money for students who do fine in regular classes but must now be classified as “English learners.” Also, HB 2010 provides ample funding for bilingual education, a methodology that 63 percent of Arizonans chose to abolish in 2000 by voting for Proposition 203.

Molera has refused to even talk to the officers of English for the Children, the group that spearheaded the proposition, concerning the many abuses of this law. I have written him myself several times, with no response. However, like Salmon, Horne has made no secret of his intent to comply with the voters’ wishes and enforce the law.

Someone should tell Matt Salmon that Tom Horne is the candidate most in agreement with Salmon’s stands on education, not Jaime Molera.

Johanna Haver is an education writer and retired Arizona teacher who also taught in the German and Japanese school systems. She can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed are those of the author.



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