Sat, Jul 04, 2009
 Marcos Altamirano, left, and Javier Martinez have no problem expressing themselves as they move through some emotional poses with their classmates during a session on movement at Hudlow Elementary School.
Photos By Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
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RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION Health Care Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator General A1 Communications Cable Techs Tucson RegionTUSD facing a tough sell on spending hikeARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.05.2008
Tucson Unified School District officials are hoping taxpayers will be willing to pony up an additional $28 million a year in tax revenues so the district can shrink class sizes, expand arts programs and entice more teachers to take hard-to-fill jobs.
But Proposition 403 has a lot of problems to overcome, chief among them questions about TUSD's ability to handle more money in the wake of accounting errors, asset losses and budget woes that forced major cuts and threatened to shut down schools. Questions also have arisen about whether the proposed programs would have the academic effect backers boast.
Voters balked the last time TUSD proposed a budget override in 2004 but did approve a bond package that year that has produced some concrete results — new buses, an upgraded computer network, and new facilities such as gyms, science labs and performing-arts spaces. The district has handled its debt well enough that over the summer it was granted a better rating from the investors' service that oversees the funds.
There also are some big local names in the proponents' corner, including former University of Arizona President Peter Likins and Mayor Bob Walkup. With the average business expected to pay roughly $75 a month, the business community also has jumped in, with big support by the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Backers have been knocking on doors and throwing house parties with this message: Investing in Wall Street right now might be scary, but you can't lose by investing in children.
"We can't wait to invest in our children and in our community," said Holly Hancock von Guilleaume, a former teacher whose 5-year-old daughter, Ella, attends Borton Primary Magnet School.
She had about 20 friends over recently to hear more about the effort. "What they're asking us to contribute is so small. It's the equivalent of a few dinners out per family," she said.
If Proposition 403 is approved, the average homeowner would pay about 72 cents more a year per $100 of assessed valuation. An owner of a home worth about $178,000, for example, would pay about $10 extra per month, or $128 a year.
About half of the new money would go to cutting class sizes to 18 in kindergarten through second grade. Middle-school math classes would be kept to 22. The other half would be roughly split between the remaining two programs, arts and hiring incentives.
Opponents, including the Pima Association of Taxpayers, maintain TUSD has plenty of money but isn't putting enough into the classroom. And the question of trust is ever-present.
"The fact is, it's a district with declining enrollment and some changes need to be made and some priorities have to be established. We're looking for some accountability and a stop to the periods of upheaval," said Mary Terry Schiltz, who sent her children to the district and opposed the 2004 override.
Lower class sizes
After voters turned down the 2004 override, TUSD launched an effort the following year to reduce class sizes anyway, capping kindergarten classes at 18 in its at-risk schools. The initiative expanded to other kindergarten classes and some first grades in subsequent years, until it was scaled back because of funding problems.
Voices for Education, a nonprofit group that advocates for small class size, relies on pre-literacy-test scores from incoming and outgoing kindergartners to show that class size had a direct effect on academic gains.
At-risk students who started the year showing greater deficits than their counterparts had all but closed the gap by the end of the year.
But the district's head of accountability and research, David Scott, said that over time, the gains hit a plateau.
"We really can't make any definitive statements yet about whether it's working or not. The long and short of it, though, is that what we've seen so far is consistent with national data that shows if you have small class sizes in the early grades, you do see some improvement in literacy — although after a certain number of years, we're seeing a ceiling effect."
Bridget Uzzelle, 30, doesn't need specific measurements to tell her that class sizes matter. A teacher at Blenman Elementary School, Uzzelle had a first-grade class of 17 three years ago. The following year, she had 29 students in her second-grade classroom.
"The change was just so drastic," she said. "I honestly felt like 80 to 90 percent of my time with the bigger class was being spent on classroom management, and it was really frustrating."
Arts emphasis
Proponents of the override say that it's a way to make sure arts aren't sacrificed to the current test-and-drill focus.
Opening Minds Through the Arts, in 44 schools, would expand to all TUSD elementary and middle schools if the funding comes through. The program employs 53 artists, from opera singers to dancers, to work with students for 30 minutes, twice a week. The program is supported by the district, the non-profit OMA Foundation, grants and tax-credit donations.
Midtown's Hudlow Elementary is one of the flagship programs.
On Tuesday, Julie Patrick, the school's arts integration specialist, had fourth-graders sitting on the floor, making shadow puppets designed to complement a Chinese folk tale they recently read. While they worked, she offered to play Chinese music in the background. "Oooh. I loooove Chinese music," said one student, a rather uncommon phrase in fourth-grade classrooms.
Down the hall, first-graders were working with a trio of opera artists to strengthen their emotional language. Anemic words such as "happy" or "mad" were nickel words, students were warned, and they needed to use dollar words. That's how the first-graders learned the word "exuberant."
Meanwhile, fifth-graders were developing characterization through movement, striking poses to demonstrate "heroism" or "surprise" for dancer Thom Lewis. "Be bigger than life. Give me surprise with a capital S," he said.
The fifth-graders afterward named different things they like best about the program. For Israel Mendoza Castro, it's connecting art to history. Deliah Shellhouse likes learning about new countries. Marcos Altamirano feels lucky to go to a school that actually has art programs.
But Debbie Niwa, whose son went to University High School, thinks the district's priorities are misplaced by putting such a focus on feelings, values and behaviors to the detriment of academic skills.
"All this money is meant to continue the reforms that have been going on in TUSD, and if you look at how angry people are, you see it's not working."
Joan Ashcraft, the district's director of fine and performing arts, counters that students are excited and motivated, and that translates into stronger academic performance. An educational research firm, WestEd, found a roughly 10-point spread on Stanford 9 scores for students in the program over their counterparts at other schools.
"Education is not only about academic achievement," she said, "but creative problem-solving, teamwork, global perspectives and all of those 21st-century skills our students will need to be successful."
Quality teachers
First, though, students need teachers — and supporters say the additional revenue will help TUSD attract higher-quality teachers by paying more to work at faraway schools or to teach high-demand subjects.
Currently, those are math, science and special education.
Of the 73 instructors working with emergency certification, in which a school district places a non-certified professional in a class to fill an immediate need, 58 are in special education.
And pickings are generally just as slim in the other disciplines. About 83 percent of science jobs had fewer than five applicants — math was just slightly better, at 79 percent.
Alyson Nielson, TUSD's director of employment services, said one way to make the district more attractive is to pay more. At recruiting fairs, she said, "I'll look over and see another booth with a sign saying, '$5,000 bonus for math teachers.' Which line are you going to stand in?" she asked. "We have a lot to offer in term of benefits and mentor programs, but to be competitive in today's market, you have to offer more."
Across town, on the far Southwest Side, Valencia Middle School saw about 50 students walk out in protest last year after going months without a permanent math teacher. Students had long-term or daily substitutes and were frustrated by a lack of consistency.
Under the leadership of new Principal John Bellisario, the school is now fully staffed, without the help of incentives — but it wasn't easy. Formerly a principal at an East Side school, Bellisario said he got 30 applicants for an open position there, compared with two or three at Valencia. He finally resorted to cold-calling teachers he thought might be willing to come out, based on recommendations.
"Valencia has had a complete change in attitude and environment, but it would be a heck of a lot easier to get highly qualified staff with some extra money," he said.
Money confidence
TUSD officials point to their bond program to show they can appropriately handle finances.
Moody's Investors Service upgraded the district's bond rating over the summer to A1, making its bonds more attractive to investors.
Although they shot down the override, voters in 2004 were more generous with capital improvements, approving $235 million to renovate classrooms and upgrade computer networks, among other work.
With a remaining budget of about $135 million, few of the projects have been finished, but the deadline isn't until 2013.
"There's been a lot of confidence with this program, that what we're doing with the money is sound and in compliance with what we promised voters," said Marcus Jones, who heads the bond program.
He chalked up some of that success to TUSD's bond-oversight committee, a group of citizens who track spending. The district plans to use that oversight committee as a model for a new committee to oversee the override if it passes.
Governing Board member Judy Burns said that's one way to boost confidence in TUSD.
"If there are community members watching how we spend our money, with a tight focus on these programs, it should help reassure the public that we're doing a good job of managing our resources," she said.
● Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at 806-7754 or at rbodfield@azstarnet.com.
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