/ Modified feb 2, 2017 11:47 a.m.

Arizona Regents Take Stance on Education Bills

Legislation being considered would directly affect the state's public universities

Arizona Board of Regents at ASU Arizona Board of Regents meeting in Tempe.

Members of the Arizona Board of Regents have taken positions this week on a number of bills introduced in the state Legislature that would have a direct impact on Arizona’s three public universities.

One bill would require that the regents give tuition waivers for online courses to people employed in rural school districts in Arizona.

At a meeting yesterday, many Board of Regents members said they appreciated the bill's intent.

"But the fact is, it isn’t about the idea," said regent Ron Shoopman, "It’s about the fact that we don’t have the revenue to pay for it."

"We’d be happy to execute these ideas if there’s revenue stream attached to it."

The regents voted to oppose that bill, as well as a different one that would charge members of the Arizona National Guard the same rate to study as university employees pay.

Earlier this week, the board convened a special meeting to discuss a bill that would delegate the regents' authority to three separate university boards. They voted unanimously at that time to oppose that bill.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona