Democrats have been, and will continue be, the champions of
public education and Arizona’s teachers and students. This legislative session,
Democrats proposed that the state invest $219 million more in K-12 and higher
education. Among the investments that Legislative Democrats would make is $35
million dedicated to keeping experienced and successful teachers in Arizona, so
our kids have great teachers. Arizona
badly needs this, and Gov. Ducey neglected to include it in his budget
proposal.
On May 17, Arizona voters will weigh in on Proposition 123,
the proposed settlement in the public school inflation funding lawsuit that
began in 2010. Gov. Ducey and Legislative Republicans have spent months
congratulating themselves over Prop. 123. Their
self-congratulatory attitude is misplaced. Arizona’s schools initiated the
lawsuit in the first place because the state’s Republican leaders refused to
fulfill their responsibilities in funding education. Plus, Prop. 123 would only
restore 72 percent of the funding our schools are owed. Prop. 123 is an
important first step in restoring education funding, but it is only a
first step because it does not solve all of the serious problems facing
Arizona’s schools.
Actions speak louder than words and, unfortunately, the
actions of many Republicans in the Legislature suggest they are not interested
in funding public education. Take, for instance, HB
2401, a bill signed by eight Republican representatives that would
eliminate the desegregation funding that sustains 19 public school districts
and their nearly quarter of a million students. Prop. 123 funding will do even
less for Arizona’s students and teachers, especially those in poor districts, if
those very same districts lose
more than $211 million in annual desegregation funding.
Apparently wanting to leave no public school student
untouched by funding cuts, 16 Republican legislators introduced HB
2482, which would make Empowerment Scholarship Accounts—vouchers—available
to any and all students in Arizona. The loss of funding that this policy would
permit could be catastrophic to public education. It also directly undermines
the idea behind Prop. 123: that public students deserve more from the
leaders here. Dick Foreman, president and CEO of the Arizona Business and
Education Coalition, recently explained why the Republican actions are
contradictory in an Arizona Republic article. “Here we are trying to
create some positive energy, and we’ve got current-year funding slashing, we’ve
got unlimited ESAs, devastating the public schools, and we’ve got
(desegregation) phase-out, which is closing public schools that are doing the
most good for the low-income students,” he said. As usual, the actions of many
Republican leaders in state government demonstrate that, whatever they say,
public education is not one of their top priorities.
As long as the Republicans leaders in this state continue
to prioritize
special interest tax cuts over schools, we can expect our classroom sizes to
continue to grow, our teachers
to continue to leave the state and business executives will continue to see
schools as a “key
weakness” for our state. Arizona Legislative Democrats have provided a
different option. To see how Democrats want to invest in schools and our future,
click here.
