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Expect More Arizona
The Town Councils of Kearny, Hayden and Superior have all passed resolutions in support of Expect More Arizona. The overall goal of Expect More Arizona and the Center for the Future of Arizona is to improve educational attainment by 2030 throughout the State of Arizona. Expect More Arizona has taken a great amount of care to ensure that every community in the state is aware of their progress meter and the need for non-partisan collaboration to attain educational goals for Arizona.
“For the first time, Arizona has a vision for education and a consensus among our education community. The Education Progress Meter enables diverse groups from across the state to work together to address critical issues within our education system while making problem-solving relevant to local communities,” said Lattie Coor, chairman and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona. “The Progress Meter is an asset to Arizona and will be instrumental in informing education policy, strategic decision-making and investments to help Arizona prepare our talented young people for success while driving the prosperity and opportunity for all who live here.”
The communities of the Copper Corridor often struggle with youth retention: young people leave due to lack or jobs and educational resources. One tradition the Town of Superior utilizes to celebrate academic achievement is the annual invitation of the Senior Class to the May Council meeting. The Council congratulates each graduate and presents them with a custom key chain and blank key with a letter. The letter congratulates them and encourages them to follow their dreams but to consider coming home when they have reached their education al goals. The towns of Kearny and Hayden are working on ideas that encourage this collaboration as well. The Town of Mammoth is planning on having Expect More Arizona to a future council meeting as well.
Today the statistics around educational attainment are grim, low teacher pay, low math and reading scores. The goals by 2030 are to have education attainment at 60% from todays 40%. To increase post high school education enrollment from 53% to 70% to increase high school graduation from 78% to 90%, improve the percentages of skill students passing the 8th grade math and third grade reading scores and to improve quality early learning.
In the adoption of the resolutions the Town Councils agreed that education must be a top priority to ensure a strong economic future and higher quality of life. In the communities of the Copper Corridor, there is usually positive collaboration amongst the schools and the municipalities; however the disconnect often happens at the state level, where funding is based on enrollment, making it harder for small schools to compete for teachers and are often left stretching resources.
The jobs of tomorrow will require all young people to attain higher education and skills. Expect More Arizona has online resources and ideas to help everyone understand the importance of working on education attainment. You can learn more about the Progress Meter online at www.ExpectMoreArizona.com.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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