Since the days of
Governor Fife Symington Arizona has been on the path to do away with public
education. Now Ducey and the gang wants to pillage the Land Trust Funds.1. Arizona Republicans have cut over 1 billion dollars in public education
funding since 2009.
Arizona has been trying to rid the state of public education and with the help
of Governor Ducey, the Koch Brothers and the Goldwater Institute it just may
happen. be
Ducey
(read: the Kochs) scores monster wins in Arizona by Laurie Roberts
Before we bid a
final farewell to the 52nd Arizona Legislature, let us pause and
consider the session’s biggest winner.
I, for one, am in
amazed at the things Gov. Doug Ducey has been able to accomplish – not so much
for the good of Arizona but for the good of his political future.
No doubt, Charles
and David Koch and their conservative/libertarian network of mega-millionaires
will be over the moon next time our fair governor dashes over to
California to court them.
The Kochs, as you
know, are all about pushing free-market principles. Among other things, they
want to privatize prisons, dismantle public education and, of course, cut
taxes. They operate from the comfy cover of dark money, spending zillions to
ensure that their guys get elected.
Consider
Ducey’s accomplishments during this year’s session:
$5 MILLION FOR THINKING THE 'RIGHT' WAY. The
Legislature sunk $5 million in annual ongoing funding into three “economic
freedom schools” at Arizona State University and University of Arizona. That’s
huge, when you consider the three universities got only $8 million in ongoing
funding. The economic freedom think tanks were started in recent years with
seed money from the Charles Koch Foundation. The head of one of those schools –
William Boyes, founding director of ASU’s Center for the Study of Economic
Liberty -- has called for dismantling public education.
PROP 123 RAID ON THE KIDS' TRUST FUND. He
got the Legislature to put Proposition 123 on the ballot and in a shrewd move,
has marketed it as more money for schools without raising taxes. Never mind
that the state already is obligated by law to provide that funding to the
schools. Or that Prop. 123 simply transfers much of that obligation to the
state land trust – money that already belongs to our kids. Or that he’s doing
this even as he continues to cut taxes every year. Once Prop. 123 passes – with
help from a stunning $4 million campaign -- Ducey will be able to say that’s he
added billions in funding to schools while cutting taxes and nobody will even
notice that most of those billions will come from the kids’ trust fund.
Masterful stuff.
PUBLIC LOAN GUARANTEES FOR CHARTER SCHOOL OPERATORS. He won the
right to set aside a whopping $100 million in public funds to use as loan
guarantees for private businesses that operate charter schools. The idea is to
help the successful ones build additional charter schools more
cheaply, given the lower interest rate that loan guarantees will deliver.
But charter school operators also will be able to use them to refinance
existing debt, putting the added profit into their pockets thanks to the public
stepping up to guarantee that their debts will be paid.
MORE TAX CUTS, OF COURSE. He won $26 million more in tax
cuts, including $8 million in business cuts he proposed. That’s a feat, given
legislative budget analysts’ recent estimates of the mounting losses to the
state’s general fund due to the massive 2011 corporate tax cuts that were
supposed to – but didn’t – stimulate the economy.
MORE PRIVATE PRISONS, OF COURSE. He won $17
million in funding for another 1,000 private prison beds. This, to go with
1,000-bed prison he won last year. Naturally, the state of Arizona has
guaranteed that we will fill those beds, regardless of whether they are
actually needed.
A STACKED SUPREME COURT. He won the golden opportunity to
expand the Arizona Supreme Court from five justices to seven – solving a
problem as yet unidentified by, well, anyone. Ducey received national
accolades in January after appointing the Goldwater Institute’s Clint Bolick to
the Supreme Court. Goldwater is supported by the Kochs and Bolick, not
surprisingly, has skillfully advocated for many of their ideas. Read Full
Article: HERE
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