Arizona has legacy not worth emulating

I spent four months in Arizona this winter (as a snow bird). It is a strange place for a thinking person to winter.

The state has urban areas with 24 percent unemployment, one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, poor health care, even by U.S. standards, high taxes, low wages. And according to the NEA and other education groups a school system that has earned the top score of a D-.

The only reason it didn't get an F was because some districts tax themselves in order to have good schools. All of these good things brought to you by decades of conservative Republican administrations.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Arizona has legacy not worth emulating."