Phoenix Arizona-As the Fourth of July approaches, now is a great time to
reflect on the qualities that make our state and country great. Education is
certainly one of them. And in fact, education is enshrined as a core,
foundational principle in Arizona’s constitution.
The framers of our state constitution knew that education
would make Arizona strong, and so they required
that, from kindergarten to college, it would always be available. Yet
Arizona’s public schools have struggled with underfunding for decades. This
year, voters narrowly passed Prop. 123 as the best available option for
supporting our school districts. But they did so because Gov. Ducey promised
that it was only the first step in restoring public education funding and that
other steps would soon follow.
More than a month after that election, though, Gov.
Ducey has made no indication he plans to follow through. House
Democrats, on the other hand, are working tirelessly with the AZ Schools Now
Coalition to enact meaningful next steps. We know that Arizonans
overwhelmingly prioritize public education funding, and that is why Democrats
have always been the champions of this issue. Arizona’s constitution demands
that the legislature appropriately fund public education. Arizonans demand that
the legislature appropriately fund public education.
And sadly, public K-12 schools are not the only ones left
out in the cold by Legislative Republicans. Our constitution also says that
higher education should be “as nearly
free as possible.” But tuition costs at Arizona’s universities have been
rising for years and have been above
the national average for public universities for the last several years.
This year, House Democrats proposed a simple measure to give Arizona’s public
universities an extra $50
million to help lower tuition. Legislative Republicans rejected that plan in
favor of funding for Koch
Brother propaganda programs and chose not to ease the economic burden our
university students face. Their priorities do not respect our constitution’s
demand for low-cost higher education; they undermine it.
Gov. Ducey and Legislative Republicans have failed
Arizona’s schools at every level. This Fourth of July, while we celebrate our
freedom, our independence, and even our greatness, let’s remember how we got
here. It’s time to really put education first.
#DemsLead
