Overview

Founded in 2002, the Arizona Business & Education Coalition (ABEC) is the only 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, statewide membership organization that unites business and education leaders in an effort to advance education in Arizona. With that in mind, ABEC strives to:

• Build meaningful relationships with elected officials, opinion-leaders, school officials and the business community, and identify issues of common interest.
• Be an information resource for elected officials and the community on K-12 public education issues such as school finance, regulations, data collection, standards and more.
• Create a “safe place” for discussing issues related to K-12 public education and identify ways all parties to find common ground.
• Serve as a unified voice on policies that advance education.

ABEC Policy & Other Interests

   
Standards and Assessments – Continue to move forward and properly fund the implementation of “high standards and assessments” already in place for ALL students.
    
Relationships – Coalesce business, K-12 education, opinion-leaders, and elected officials to create solutions that are sustainable and long-term, based on common interests.
    
Economic Impact – Ensure the State’s economic growth by recognizing that K-12 public education is a key driver and contributes to a higher quality of life for ALL Arizonans.

Regulations – Eliminate onerous and costly regulations that reduce administrative efficiencies and impede teachers’ abilities to teach in the classroom.
    
Excellent Educators & Acountability – Adopt and implement fair and practical academic and fiscal accountability measures to ensure success for all of Arizona’s schools, teachers and students.
    
School Finance – Continue to engage a proactive dialogue with elected officials, business, K-12 education and opinion-leaders regarding Arizona’s school finance system, and work together to determine the best funding model that will yield top results.