BIG FAIL [again] in Arizona Education

Lot of talk and promises about being Mesa being "a leading center in innovation" and "The New American University" [ASU is ranked #31 in pubic institutions-see previous post] and going after "high-pay and high-tech jobs" but the data, facts and report studies strongly point to a basic failure to achieve educational goals time and time again.
Sorry, dear readers for another "downer" dear readers, but on the education front some things are definitely down.
An article from Cronkite News appearing yesterday and the day before was quoting a spokesperson saying "We want Arizona to be at the top of these lists . . ."  and that the State is already working on these high-stake challenges". Huh?

Let's get real: wanting does not equate with wish-fulfillment - clearly the rhetoric does not fit the facts and statistics from many sources.
Likewise, unsupported defense and denial for student failure by public education in Arizona does not solve a very serious problem, brought to attention again by yet a national report card released on Tuesday by the Network for Public Education that included the infographic to the right.
Does it soothe any discomfort or pain or hard recognition of the facts for Cronkite News reporter Danika Washington to say that Arizona is one of six states failing?



While this is the most recent report that so-called education advocates have been hit with naming it "a call to action", apparently nobody or few are listening to calls - or facts - time and time again here in Arizona.
The infographic to the left is taken from a piece called
Leaders and Laggards:
A State-by-State Report Card
on Public Postsecondary Education

Why This Report?

#1 It's from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Projections of labor market demand show that two-thirds of all jobs will require some postsecondary education by 2018; however, given today’s disappointing levels of higher education productivity, labor economists estimate that the United States will fall 7 million degrees short. While American employers increasingly struggle to find the talent they need to grow our economy, our youngest workers rank a disappointing 15th out of 34 industrialized countries in the percentage with a college diploma.
https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/reportcard/
In measuring academic achievements these categories are used for evaluation:
Academic Achievement of Low-Income and Minority Students
Return on Investment ROI
Truth in Advertising About Student Proficiency
Rigor of Standards
Post-Secondary and Workforce-Readiness
21st Century Teaching Force
Flexibility in Management & Policy
Data Quality
Arizona is 10th from the bottom of the list