Michael Blaire
What is your education and relevant experience for this office?
BS Pharmacy BS Microbiology BA English Literature
If you have children, do you/did you send them to public school? If so, did they graduate from a public school?
Yes. SUSD and U of A
Do you feel you are an advocate for public education in Arizona? Use specific examples of what you will do or have done to demonstrate your level of support for public education in Arizona.
I have worked on the campaigns of several school board candidates who I felt reflected the values and educational philosphies that I believe are best for our children.
Will you work to protect public education from any further budget cuts?
Budget cuts are inevitable. I will work to make sure that money is spent efficiently and effectively. I will promote expenditures for teacher salaries and classroom resources. I will work against excessive administration and unnecessary capital expenditures.
The system for funding public education in Arizona is a maze of laws, rules, regulations, funding sources, etc. Please share specifics on how you would simplify how we fund our public schools here in Arizona to make that funding source more efficient, effective and reliable?
I would look for stable revenue sources that would allow for K-12 funding to move out of the general fund.
Should the education formula be based on seat time and average daily membership or on student academic progress and successful achievement of academic standards?
Progress and achievement.
Knowing that money does not cure all, how do you feel that Arizona ranks dead last in per pupil funding? Are you happy with the status quo or how will you work to change that? Can you share your plan on how Arizona can improve it's school funding to at least a competitive level? Be specific.
The simple math shows that Arizona spends approximately $10000 per student. This ranks Arizona at 22 -25 in the country, far from dead last. To be competitve, Arizona must decentralize the school districts to eliminate redundant administration, return administrative decision making to the principals, and establish a merit based pay system so that we can attract and retain the best teachers.
Do you think that class-size affects academic performance? How and at what size?
Studies have shown that student performance depends more upon the quality of the teacher then on class size.
How do you feel about the unfunded mandate of the AIMS test (or a similar test) when teachers spend a large portion of their school year "teaching to the test"? Be specific.
Some type of measurement instrument is needed, whether it is the AIMS test or some other national standardized test. The concept of "teaching to the test" is reprehensible and points to the failure of our current public school structure.
Do you believe that the voters approving Prop 301 intended the 2% inflation factor to be applied to the entire M&O budget or just legislatively selected portions of the operating budget?
I will need to further research the particulars of that Proposition.
How do you plan to support districts with textbook adoptions with the decrease/limits on soft capital funding? Do you understand that many districts such as CCUSD operate with textbooks that are ten years old?
New text books are not necessarily better text books. Nevertheless, worn out text books that are falling apart must be replaced. As I've said before, we must eliminate redundant and unnecessary administration and put that money directly into the classroom.
The budget cuts have eliminated the funding for the Gifted Students Educational Program. With the passing of Prop 100 what legislative measures will you take to restore this funding to meet the many critical needs for our brightest minds and high acheivers in AZ?
Unfortunately, Prop 100 gives the legislature absolutely no authority or oversight of how that tax revenue is spent. As a legislator, I will call on my constituents to hold the school boards and district administrators accountable for funding those programs.
Where and what grade level classrooms have you observed in the last 12 months? What specifics can you share about class size and per pupil expenditure in those classrooms?
I have attended an 11th grade history class of approximately 35 students where the teacher spent the majority of the class figuring out how to work the "smart board" while the students read their text books or talked among themselves. I also attended a private 3rd grade clas of about 22 students, where the only technology was a blackboard. The teacher had all of the students participating and actively engaged. We need to spend money on teachers, not technology.
Due to our district's low poverty, or "free and reduced lunch" level, do you understand the disparity that places CCUSD at a disadvantage for federal and grant application-based funding, and would you be willing to support legislation that would allow districts such as CCUSD in low-poverty areas to secure supplemental funding to reach curriculum or achievement standards that may be desired by the governing board? If so, what might those funding sources be? (please cite examples such as local prop tax, program fees, etc.)
I have not thought about this problem, but I am willing to research it and listen to suggestions.
Do you support performance pay programs like Career Ladders and Prop 301 for teachers?
Yes.
In constructing new schools, do you believe that bonding or direct general fund support is the most efficient and cost effective?
Bonding. The entire community benefits from a new school in the value it brings to a neighborhood. Funding of that school should be the responsibility of the neighborhood that benefits from it.
Would you support a requirement that all new education policy initiatives proposed by the legislature contain a fiscal note and be required to include all necessary funding prior to adoption?
Yes.
Do you think the Constitutional requirement to fund a general and uniform public education system should take precedence over programs supporting private schools?
Yes.
Please describe your level of support for school vouchers and private school tax credits, how should they be used (if at all), to whom should they be given/used for, and how would you change the current system in place? Be specific.
I have never been a proponent of vouchers, but I do believe that some type of tax credit is fair for parents who choose to send their children to private schools.
Do you feel that the use of Vouchers and private school tax credits is appropriate considering the struggle that our public education system has recently faced and continues to face? Be specific.
See previous question.