More than one in 10 Arizona public high school students have disabilities. One-third of these youth remain unengaged in work or education following graduation, creating a significant public policy challenge for the state. Why is this so? This report shares findings from 2014 surveys and focus groups conducted with youth and families as well as interviews with education leaders across the state. These responses highlight how Arizona schools and families are preparing these youth, and what the state still needs to do to ensure youth with disabilities have a role to play in Arizona’s job market.

Bullying and violence in K-12 schools have been in the policy spotlight in Arizona for almost a decade. However, current indicators and recent traumatic events show that a range of anti-social behaviors on school campuses remain a major threat to student well-being and learning. This briefing was distributed at panel discussion on bullying and safe school environments, focusing on such issues.

A movement of the magnitude required for Arizona to become truly competitive in science, engineering and medical research needs a compass. The vision statement presented in the 2002 Flinn-Battelle "Roadmap" report was just that. Given Arizona’s progress in bioscience and scientific research since then, the challenges for 2006 and beyond are to achieve that original vision and also to expand the state’s aspirations. The pathway provided in this document presents ten fundamental, collaborative steps for navigating toward this goal.

While many potential voters care deeply about local and state issues, 45 percent of Arizona citizens of voting-age population did not vote in the last election, according to a report by Morrison Institute for Public Policy. To address this voter crisis, Arizona Clean Elections commissioned this report, the first in a series, to identify the reasons why only a little more than half of eligible voters actually are casting ballots in Arizona, as well as a first-of-its-kind knowledge bank of information on Arizona government to ensure that voters can vote in an informed manner.

The 2015 State of Our State Conference focused on criminal justice reform and included several white papers from various authors, researchers and legal officials from different perspectives. Here is the latest contribution in the series published by Morrison Institute for Public Policy as part of its ongoing effort to encourage public dialogue on criminal justice issues. America is witnessing a growing national consensus that we should not be incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders, even those with prior drug convictions, who have not committed property crimes. Many other less-serious offenders could receive reduced sentences without threatening public safety. Even when offenders deserve incarceration, they may not have deserved the amount of time imposed – the punishment did not fit the crime. These are among the evidence-based arguments presented by three veteran attorneys in “Fixing Arizona’s Mass Incarceration Dilemma.” The paper’s authors are former Maricopa County Superior Court Judge R.L. Gottsfield, Phoenix attorney Larry A. Hammond, founder and president of the Arizona Justice Project, and former Maricopa County public defender Donna Elm. Touching on all aspects of the justice system, the authors assert that Arizona is behind the curve in addressing its mass incarceration problem. The importance of ignoring the direction the country is going cannot be understated for Arizona, which has one of the highest incarceration rates. It is even more unjustified in light of research indicating that shorter sentences do not jeopardize public safety – with safety being the mainstay basis for Arizona’s heavy sentencing regime.

Mobility is crucial to everyday life in rural and urban settings, and for individuals with disabilities and low-income populations public transportation can be a major obstacle to keeping them socially engaged. For some individuals, public transportation is their sole way to see a doctor, get groceries and maintain employment. A 2015 survey of individuals with developmental disabilities in 28 states found that Arizona is the worst when it comes to reliable transportation. What can Arizona do to increase funding and continually improve its transportation services? This report examines some avenues to mobility.

A recent American Civil Liberties Union report found that Maricopa County elementary and middle school students with disabilities are twice as likely to be suspended compared to kids without disabilities. Another key factor in this discussion is the use of restraints and seclusion on students with disabilities as disciplinary action in schools. In 2016, state lawmakers revised Arizona Revised Statute Title 15-105 on the use of restraints and seclusion, requiring that schools document and report any restraint or seclusion used on students to the parent or guardian within 24 hours. This briefing paper looks at the definition of restraints and seclusion, as well as whether they are overused forms of punishment on students with disabilities.