Gilbert might allow negative campaign signs

With two school-district budget overrides on the ballot in Gilbert next month, a new campaign sign popping up on street corners is sparking conversation, confusion and dismay among voters.

“Destroy public education,” the sign urges. “Vote no! Parents should pay for their own kid’s education.”

A phone number written on the sign is linked to a Google Voice account, and

calls requesting comment were not returned.

The signs are the latest volley in a series of roadside battles among Gilbert activists that began two years ago during a heated Town Council election, which resulted in the ouster of three longtime incumbents.

While some voters say they are turned off by such negative messages, the signs may become a more permanent fixture in Gilbert with adoption of a new ordinance that broadens the definition of “political sign.”

The Gilbert Town Council this week is set to consider — and will likely approve — new code language that gives greater legal protection to negative campaign signs on public property along roadways and at in- tersections.

A few other Valley municipalities, including Phoenix and Glendale, define political signs as those that support a candidate, but officials in both cities said they do not regulate their content.

State law protects political signs that support or oppose candidates or other matters on the ballot, as long as they con-

this month, which allowed it to increase the capacity of the nursing program by about 20 percent, according to Nick DeFalco, director of nursing at SCC. The new building includes a large lecture hall and several labs with simulated patients: $50,000 mannequins that can breathe, eat, urinate and give birth.

GateWay Community College just finished its nursingbuilding renovation, and work at Phoenix College is scheduled to be completed next spring.

The projects are part of the $951 million construction bond approved by voters in 2004 to update and enlarge Maricopa Community Colleges facilities.

Meeting a growing need

Training more nurses is important because the population is aging and the Affordable Care Act will make millions more Americans eligible for health-care coverage. Currently, there are not enough nurses to accommodate them.

Arizona is predicted to have one of the most severe nursing shortages by 2030, according to an analysis published in the

in 2012. Toward that end, the community colleges started a program two years ago to speed up degree completion.

Students who are accepted into the nursing program now have the option of enrolling concurrently with a university, which allows them to earn their Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at the end of four or five semesters, Schultz said.

The program started with about 40 students, but this year, about 500 of the community colleges’ 2,000 nursing students are enrolled with either Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University or the University of Phoenix. The program provides a path to a bachelor’s degree that’s faster and cheaper than a traditional, four-year university course of study.

“The program is really gaining momentum now, and we’re also talking to other universities to provide more opportunities to our students,” Schultz said. “We are doing more outreach to high schools and trying to reach students early so we can prepare them for this pathway.”

In the program, nursing students take the four semesters at the community college while simultaneously taking online courses from a university. They must have a 3.0 grade-point average to qualify.

Intense workload

Schultz said that the programs, while difficult, are aligned so that the workload is humane, with some university work done during communitycollege breaks. She added that the ASU program requires a fifth semester.

The first participants graduated in May, with degrees from the community colleges and NAU.

Next spring will see the first graduates with concurrent associate degrees from the community colleges and bachelor’s degrees from ASU or the University of Phoenix. The program is intense. Erin Cava, 31, of Chandler, will graduate in May with degrees from Scottsdale Community College and NAU after two years of study, including summers.

“It’s a lot of work. I have a big calendar that has all my due dates on it,” she said. “And my husband helps me a lot with the kids, and I just do it.”

Support from instructors is key.

“I can text or call and say, ‘I’m having a hard time,’ and they’re available to help us. It makes all the difference in the world,” said Cava, a former 911 dispatcher who would like to be an emergency-room nurse.

Schultz said students who choose not to enroll concurrently will graduate with an associate degree in applied science in nursing and can sit for the national exam to become a registered nurse. They can pursue a bachelor’s degree later, she said.

State Rep. Katie Hobbs, DPhoenix, has tried for the last several years to pass the Arizona Safe Schools Act, which