Blog

June 21, 2023

• Mike Allen

🏖️ Happy Wednesday, and welcome to summer! It's the summer solstice — the longest day of the year. Use it wisely! It's also the 9th International Day of Yoga.

• Smart Brevity™ count: 1,486 words ... 5½ mins. Edited by Noah Bressner.
  
  
  

🕶️ 1 big thing: Phoenix rising

Major investments in computer-chip manufacturing, and electric and autonomous vehicles, have made Phoenix the overnight darling of America's innovation elite.

State of play: Arizona has attracted more semiconductor investment since 2020 than any other U.S. state — driven mainly by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's $40 billion facilities in north Phoenix.

• Semiconductors are used in just about every electronic device, including electric and autonomous cars — fields in which Phoenix is also thriving.

Waymo has been testing self-driving vehicles in metro Phoenix since 2017.

• It recently doubled its local ride-hailing service area to cover 180 square miles — the largest fully autonomous service area in the world.
• Five EV manufacturers have set up shop in Arizona since 2016.

How it happened: Government and business leaders pledged to diversify Phoenix's construction-based economy after it collapsed during the 2008 housing crash.

• They formed the Arizona Commerce Authority, offered incentives and relaxed regulations to lure new companies.

Flashback: Metro Phoenix was home to several U.S. Air Force and Navy training bases during World War II, which made it a natural fit for post-war military manufacturing.

• Motorola arrived in 1949, becoming the area's first semiconductor facility.
• Intel followed, opening its first fabrication plant in the area in 1980.

For decades, the area has invited auto companies to test products.

• GM, Goodyear, Ford, Chrysler and others established proving grounds on the outskirts of town in the 1940s and 1950s.
• Many still exist and are now used to test electric and autonomous vehicles.

🥊 Reality check: Phoenix now faces big-city problems, including housing affordability and homelessness — plus the increasingly dire challenge of water security.

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2. 🎒 Middle-school score plummet

The decline in U.S. 13-year-olds' math scores last year was the biggest in 50 years, Axios' April Rubin writes from<a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/"> federal data out today.</a>

• Why it matters: Declines in middle-school math and reading scores — echoing elementary-school results out earlier — continue a decadelong freefall, and show far-reaching effects of school changes during COVID.

🧮 By the numbers: The average math score for 13-year-olds on "The Nation's Report Card" fell 9 points between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years.

• The average reading score for 13-year-olds dropped 4 points.

Scores declined among all racial and ethnic groups ... among male and female students ... and across urban, suburban and rural areas.

• The lowest-performing students scored at levels last recorded in the 1970s, when testing began.
• Math and reading scores began declining in 2012.

What's happening: Enrollment in algebra dropped from 34% of 13-year-olds in 2012 to 24% in 2023.

• Fewer students said they frequently read for fun, which is associated with higher achievement.

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