Some of the reasons we find for REJECTING the upcoming referendum to consolidate the Phoenix Union High School District (PUHSD) and its 13 feeder elementary school districts.
1. The final School District Redistricting Commission (SDRC) proposal was hastily pieced together. The original proposal was designed to dissolve PUHSD by carving it into 5 smaller districts, placing PUHSD schools within newly created and combined districts. A letter was written by the PUHSD Governing Board questioning if the Commission ever considered other ideas. In turn, various Governing Boards of the 13 affected elementary districts voiced their serious concerns; the Redistricting Commission changed directions and created a new "Mega-District" instead!
2. This proposal does NOT appropriate financial resources to support the consolidation of what would be the state's largest district.
Among our questions:
How much will it cost to align curricula and buy new student textbooks for such a large district?
How will transportation and maintenance operations be economically and equitably shared? Where would a super facility or multiple facilities for these services be located?
Where's the money to coordinate computer systems and which platfom would be used?
3. Students and special programs could be negatively impacted. Current student programs like those held after-school, extra-curricular sports, various elective offerings (such as gifted programs or music), magnet schools, and special needs classes could be harmed. No one has been able to answer questions about the viability of these programs under unification.
Questions we've asked:
Will students be bused out of their neighborhoods to attend a special program far across the new district?
Is this really the best way to improve student attendance, drop out rates, and overall academic achievement?
Will good programs, staff, and students be wrongfully impacted?
4. The proposed unification would all be done too quickly. If voters approve this proposal, the "Mega-District" would be rushed into existence by the 2010-11 school year. There is no reasonable timetable for coordinating teacher training, district policies, procedures, and employee professional agreements. Instead, a huge and clumsy bureaucracy would scramble to compensate.
5. State and federal laws will be impacted. Some districts and/or schools may be "failing" according to requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act or AzLearns.
We wonder:
Will the whole "Mega-District" be labeled failing upon absorption of schools currently labeled as such?
How would this impact student enrollment and achievement?
6. Staff, governance structures, and morale will be disrupted.
We ask:
How will the district resolve issues related to administration?
Will there be one "Super-Superintendent?"
How will the district reconcile 14 very dissimilar employee salary schedules?
Where would monies for this undertaking come from in view of current fiscal situations?
Will there be school closures?
7. Duly elected governing boards will be ousted. For over a century, Phoenix has effectively served its constituents with responsive and smaller local K-8 districts, and a separate high school district.
Our concerns:
Whole communities could lose local input into decisions that affect their neighborhood schools.
Who would govern this mega district and how will they be selected?
8. Schools will be negatively impacted by changes in tax policy. Property values vary widely across the current 14 districts. Override and bond elections exist with a multitude of timelines and levee’s. Some districts have voted to tax themselves more to provide advantages for their students.
Some of our financial questions:
What happens to property taxes if all 14 merge?
Is there a hidden agenda to reduce taxes for corporations at the expense of our schools?
Each Maricopa County voter will pay a fee for this referendum, even if they do not have children in school. Are voters aware that they will be paying an additional fee to vote on this issue?
9. Teacher Associations within these 14 school districts oppose this mega-district referendum, regardless of whether redistricting would result in an increase in their salaries.
Why:
Teachers are concerned about local control, students programs, and student achievement, not just salaries as some might insist.
10. Research upon research indicates that very large school district DO NOT necessarily enjoy economies of scale. Search for articles yourself. We have provided 2 recent reports for you that indicate this may not be the best route to address problems in public education. The redistricting commission knows this, and yet approved putting this referendum on the ballot. Districts are considered HUGE with over 50,000 students. HUGE districts are not supported by virtually any studies as being economically advantaged or best for students. This mega district would turn all 14 separate districts into a district of approximately 120,000 students!!! This would be almost double the size of the largest district in the state. We have provided some districts responses as a start.
This list was generated by members of the Phoenix Union High School District Classroom Teachers Association (CTA)