Dear Friends,

One of my top priorities is ensuring our children receive a quality education to be successful in our 21^st century economy. In my State of the State address in January, I called on our educational leaders to take steps to ensure that Arizona schools prepare our students for the future. Last week, the State Board of Education stepped up, granting initial approval to new high school curriculum standards that require four years of math and three years of science.

Under this new plan, Arizona freshmen starting in 2009 will take this new curriculum and benefit from its increased rigor. Employers have long told us that in an innovation-driven economy, students need a math education equivalent to Algebra II to succeed in the workplace. But on an even deeper level, math and science are like mental push-ups - they teach students how to work hard, think logically and problem-solve. Those are skills that our children will need no matter what they study in college or what field of work they enter.

While we work to increase rigor, we must follow the dual goals of raising both our expectations of our students and our graduation rate. We can do both, and the State Board's actions are a crucial step to achieving this vision. In the coming months, my office will continue to work closely with the State Board of Education and schools across the state to make sure that Arizona students have everything they need to adjust to higher expectations.

Whether they enter college or go straight to the workforce, our students will face high expectations every day - and it's up to us to give them a diploma that prepares them for that next step in their lives. Thanks to the work of the State Board, we are making great strides in preparing our children for futures full of success.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact my office at 1-800-253-0883 and ask to speak to Constituent Services.