Arizona Governor Unveils $75M TBED Initiatives in 2008 Budget

Earlier this month, Gov. Janet Napolitano presented Arizonans with a three-part plan to prepare for the 21st century economy in her annual State of the State Address. The One Arizona Plan would support state economic growth by investing in education, physical infrastructure and innovation. During her address, Gov. Napolitano emphasized the need to increase Arizona’s innovation capacity and to build a technologically-savvy workforce. The One Arizona Plan would approach these goals by increasing curriculum requirements for K-12 students, creating incentives to attract and retain high-quality educators, build new academic research facilities, and offer financial support for high-tech researchers and entrepreneurs.

 

The governor’s Executive Budget Proposal for fiscal year 2008 provides more details about the plan and its implications for state TBED. Under the governor’s plan, the state would dedicate over $75 million in new funding to science and technology initiatives, according to the Arizona Republic.

 

Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz), a nonprofit public-private partnership established last year by three Arizona CEO groups, would receive $35 million to invest in science-based research and innovation. SFAz administers several grant programs that support university research, new high-tech businesses and K-12 STEM education. The group released its strategic investment plan for fiscal year 2006-07 late last year, as described in the Nov. 27, 2006 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest (http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2006/112706.htm#Arizona).

 

The One Arizona Plan would enable Arizona to increase its investment in K-12 education by $383 million and contribute $115 million to postsecondary institutions. The proposal would allocate $15.5 million of these funds to improve math and science education. Specific initiatives include:

• $10 million to increase the base pay for highly qualified math and science teachers currently working in Arizona schools;
• $3 million in incentives to encourage university students to become math and science educators; and,
• $2.5 million in award grants for school districts that establish innovation math and science programs and academies.

An additional $50 million would be used to raise the minimum base salary for K-12 teachers to $33,000. Arizona’s three state universities would receive $30 million to attract and retain faculty.

 

The governor’s budget proposal also includes $25 million to expand the biomedical education and research programs of the Arizona university system. The funding would help establish the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, a cooperative effort between the universities. The campus would allow the state to produce more skilled medical professionals and facilitate cross-disciplinary biomedical research.

 

Read Gov. Napolitano’s 2008 Executive Budget Proposal at:

http://www.governor.state.az.us/dms/upload/2008-2009-Detail-Book.pdf