Video screenshot of Arizona Wildlife Views host Jim Paxon.

The new season of Arizona Wildlife Views begins on KAET-TV, the PBS station, at 4:30 p.m. this Sunday. The Emmy award-winning series highlights Arizona outdoor recreation and wildlife conservation, and offers learning opportunities for homeschoolers and other families on the lookout for educational enrichment.

The first of 13 episodes is about biologists saving bald eagles after their nest becomes infested with ticks as well as a family of Harris hawks living in a suburban neighborhood.

Arizona Wildlife Views is produced by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and airs on city cable and local channels across Arizona. Past episodes can be viewed on the Arizona Wildlife Views website.

ARIZONA RANKS LOWEST ON PER-PUPIL SPENDING

Children’s Action Alliance sent out a press release concerning education as it relates to the Arizona state budget. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report says, “Arizona cut state K-12 per-pupil funding more than any other state in the last five years.” The press release goes on to explain that people assume too much is spent on administration and not enough on students. CAA says Arizona actually spends far less on administration than most states.

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau report, Public Education Finances: 2010, Arizona ranks as the state with lowest amount of per-pupil spending on school administrative costs and near the bottom (46th) in school district administrative costs,” according to the release. CAA says Arizona schools spend less than seven percent of their budgets on administrative expenses.

PROPOSITION 204

On Monday, Sept. 24, Ann-Eve Pederson, chairwoman of the Proposition 204 campaign, will be at the Arizona Business and Education Coalition (ABEC) forum to talk about why Proposition 204, the Quality Education and Jobs initiative, is important to the children of Arizona. Kevin McCarthy of the Arizona Tax Research Association also will be there, representing the opposition.

The ABEC forum will be hosted by Wells Fargo Bank and is open to the public with a $10 fee. Register for the event, which starts at 7:30a.m. at the Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Phoenix, by calling Karen Kehlenbach at 602-261-6702 or emailing her at karen@azbec.org. You can also register online.

BUILDING MORE POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS AT SCHOOL

Teachers and administrators at Don Mensendick School in the Glendale Elementary School District are implementing the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program after behavior referrals for “defiance, disrespect and non-compliance toward authority” increased at the school.

Principal Jeff Vilardi and Assistant Principal Seu Hee Kim, Ph.D., chose Capturing Kids’ Hearts to change the atmosphere at school. Teachers, administrators and support staff underwent a three-day training session “to build more positive, productive and trusting relationships with each other, and then to use what they learned to improve their relationships with students. In addition, staff learned how to create safer and more effective environments for students and techniques for dealing with behavioral and disrespect issues.”

“We have seen a tremendous difference in just the first two weeks of school.” Vilardi said in a press release from the district. The school’s staff has been using effective de-escalation strategies, shaking every students’ hand and abiding by social contracts in every Mensendick classroom, he added.

A NEW SCHOOL FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN

Children First Academy  is breaking ground Sept. 25 for a new school at 1648 S. 16th St. in Phoenix. The school will  that serve 320 underprivileged children and will have on-site medical and dental services, laundry and showers, and a flexible bus system to accommodate the frequent moving of children’s families.

MOVE ON WHEN READY

The Center for the Future of Arizona reports that 30 Arizona high schools are implementing Move On When Ready, a performance-based education model, during the 2012-13 school year.

Move on When Ready advances students based on mastery of curriculum rather than what the Center calls “seat time.” The intent is to make sure students are ready for postsecondary eduation and can avoid remediation classes in college for which they must pay despite receiving no credit. According to the press release, that half of college students must take remediation classes when they get to college.

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