PHOENIX — Arizona schools will be able to use assessments other than the one linked to Common Core to determine how well their students are doing.
Without comment, Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Friday to let the state Board of Education offer alternatives to the AzMERIT test, the one now mandated by board policy. It will also allow schools to propose their own ideas for options.
Other measures signed by the governor Friday will:
- Allow prosecutors to pursue people who post naked photos of others on the Internet with the intent to harm them.
- Expand the definition of “child prostitution” to include anyone who knowingly provides a means for a minor to engage in prostitution.
- Retroactively make it more difficult for formation of “municipal improvement districts” where local property owners are taxed for services beyond what the city provides.
- Permit crime victims to present evidence in court hearings to determine whether and how much compensation should be provided by those who broke the law.
The measure on “revenge porn” takes effect immediately; the others become law 90 days after the Legislature finally adjourns.
School testing
Current law requires all public schools to annually assess students to determine how well they are doing, both individually and overall.
Those scores become the basis for grading schools on an A-F system, and that grade eventually can result in the state taking control of a low-performing school.
The current test, formally known as Arizona’s Measurement of Educational Readiness to Inform Teaching, is linked to the Common Core academic standards the Board of Education adopted in 2010.
There has been stiff opposition to those standards from some who contend it amounts to the federal government dictating what is taught to children. The Board of Education has formally unlinked the state standards from Common Core, though the basic standards remain in place. And there are separate objections from some parents who do not want their children subjected to these kinds of assessments.
The Senate earlier this week killed legislation to allow parents to opt their children out of these tests. But they did agree to adopt the proposal by Rep. Paul Boyer, R-Phoenix, to provide alternatives to AzMERIT.
Under the terms of the law, the State Board of Education would adopt a “menu” of assessment tests. Beginning in the 2018 school year, high schools could choose from anything on the list. The following year, options would be available for lower grades. The education board will have to annually evaluate whether other tests should be added to the list.
Boyer acknowledged that one reason the state has settled on a single test is that it makes it easier for all involved, including parents, to see how students are doing at individual schools. But he said his legislation requires the board to ensure that results among different tests can be equated to allow such comparisons.
Not every school will qualify: Schools rated D or F are stuck with AzMERIT or whatever test the education board decides should replace it.
revenge porn
The measure on Internet posting is designed to address “revenge porn.”
Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, said it’s not unusual for couples to take naked pictures of each other or for one person to send such a photo to a boyfriend or girlfriend. The problem, he said, is when the relationship ends, often badly, and the jilted partner decides to get even by posting those photos on the Web.
Legislation adopted in 2014 to make that a crime ran into legal problems, forcing Mesnard to recraft the measure to build in some limits on who would be liable, including a requirement that prosecutors show the image was disclosed “with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten or coerce the depicted person.”
pimp laws
The measure on child prostitution is designed to make it easier for prosecutors to go after pimps.
Existing law already makes it a crime to profit from the earnings of a child prostitute. But Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, said that requires proof that some of the child’s earnings made their way to the adult.
The new law says an adult violates the law the moment he or she furnishes a child with a hotel, cellphone or anything else designed to allow that minor to commit a sex act for money.
improvement districts
The issue with municipal-improvement districts relates to the fact that Arizona law allows property owners to decide if they want more than a city provides, like landscaping and street improvements. These are sometimes used by businesses in a particular neighborhood in hopes of enhancing the area.
What’s at issue is that improvement costs become part of the property taxes. The new law adds a burden of requiring the consent of half the number of area property owners, who must also own more than half of the assessed valuation for property tax purposes.
The measure is retroactive to Jan. 1, which appears to be designed to kill a district being formed near the area of downtown Phoenix.
