Education
Investing
in public education, including K-12 schools and universities, is critical to
changing the trajectory of the state. Democrats have prioritized efforts to
reduce class sizes, correct the teacher shortage problem and develop long-term
solutions that will provide our schools the resources they need.
This
session, Democrats introduced a package of bills to properly invest in our
educators, students, and schools. Taken together or individually, we strongly
recommended that the Legislature consider these items in order to move our K-12
education system forward:
Teacher
Salary
·
The
first step in achieving these goals is providing our classroom teachers an
immediate 4% salary increase starting in FY 2018.
·
Arizona
ranks 50th in teacher pay, with teachers earning just $45,477
compared to the national median teacher salary of $54,120. (NEA
2015-2016)
·
We
recognize the Executive's FY 2018 budget provides a raise for teachers, but the
immediate impact is negligible – a mere .4% increase in the first year does
little to address inadequate pay and alarming turnover rates.
Building
Renewal & Soft Capital
·
The
building renewal funding formula to repair and maintain school buildings was
repealed in 2013 and replaced with a grants program that is less than one-tenth
of what the formula funded. Last September two Glendale elementary schools were
forced to close due to emergency repairs.
·
The
Joint Legislative Budget Committee estimates that the now-repealed formula would
have generated $289 million for the current fiscal year. The FY 17 budget
appropriated just $31.7 million to the building renewal grant
program.
·
Governor
Ducey's budget proposal continues hundreds of millions of dollars in annual
direct cuts to schools for school maintenance and soft capital like technology,
textbooks and classroom supplies.
·
Democrats
propose reinstating the building renewal formula in statute and increasing
funding 10% per year until the formula is fully restored.
·
Addressing
soft capital needs is critical to supporting our schools and requires an
intentional effort to reverse these devastating cuts to education. Suspensions
of these district and charter additional assistance formulas have totaled more
than $2 billion since 2009.
·
Democrats
propose increasing funding to District Additional Assistance by 10% per year
until the formula amount is fully restored.
Prop
301 Renewal
·
Approved
by the voters on the 2000 general election ballot, Prop 301 monies provide a key
source of financial support for schools and are scheduled to expire in June
2021.
·
Democrats
propose referring Proposition 301 renewal to the 2018 General Election ballot
and increasing the amount from .6 to 1 cent, which would generate over $400
million additional dollars to support teacher pay increases, reduce classroom
sizes and begin to turn the corner on our statewide teacher recruitment and
retention crisis.
·
77%
of Arizonans want to renew Prop 301 and 65% agree with Democrats that we should
renew at a full penny. Now is the time to make that commitment to the children
of our state. (SFC).
Volkswagen
Emissions Settlement
·
30%
of our school buses fail safety inspections and schools are constantly forced to
prioritize building repairs over basic needs because of lack of funding.
·
Democrats
support using the $48 million in funding received from the Volkswagen Emissions
Settlement for the purpose of purchasing or updating school buses in the K-12
education system.
Resources
With
a population of nearly 7 million and growing, the need for vital state services
and infrastructure will not diminish. Nonetheless, our current tax structure is
stacked against the middle class and favors special interests. Reckless cuts
have left Arizona without the revenue needed to meet the long-term needs of our
state's population. We need tax reforms that more fairly impact taxpayers and
create a consistent source of revenue to fund the priorities that voters have
repeatedly said they value. Legislative Democrats are committed to starting a
statewide conversation about how to fund the education system our voters and the
business community strongly support. Our state's future economic development
prospects are directly tied to educating the workforce needed for our businesses
to grow and compete in a global marketplace.
Tax
Credit Sunset Process
·
Establish
a sunset review of all income tax credits to force the Legislature to
proactively assess, debate and act to continue each individual
credit
Tax
Expenditure Review
·
Require
the nonpartisan Joint Legislative Budget Committee to review the
return-on-investment for all tax expenditures to determine if they create new
economic activity, generate revenue and lead to quantifiable job creation.
STO
Cap
·
Cap
the School Tuition Organization (STO) corporate tax credit expansion and
allocate the savings to teacher recruitment, retention and training. This will
save $12 million in revenue in just the first year.
Rehire
Department of Revenue Compliance Staff
·
According
to a recent study by the non-partisan Grand Canyon Institute, Arizona could
increase annual revenue by $70-100 million dollars by hiring 100 additional
collectors and auditors plus needed support staff.
Finance
Review Task Force
·
Create
a state finance review task force comprised of legislators, agency
representatives, economists, business and community leaders and stakeholders to
review the expenditure and revenue sides of the state budget and recommend a
reform package that provides for adequate and sustainable funding. The
Legislature should ensure that the revenues of the state are sufficient to
address the essential functions of government. Fund sweeps and other gimmicks
are not an acceptable way to build a sustainable and structurally balanced
budget.
Legislative
Democrats
K-12 Funding Proposal- FY'18
K-12 Funding Proposal- FY'18
Proposed
Investments
|
||||||||
Teacher
Raises
|
$136 M
|
|||||||
Reinstate the Building
Renewal Formula*
|
$29 M
|
|||||||
District Additional
Assistance Formula increase*
|
$38 M
|
|||||||
K-12 school
buses
|
$48 M
|
|||||||
TOTAL
|
|
|
|
|
$251
M
|
| ||
* First year of a
10-year, 10% per year funding restoration plan
|
||||||||
Funding
Sources
|
||||||||
General
Fund
|
$55.6
M
|
|||||||
Shift funding from the
Governor's "credit enhancement" funds
|
$24 M
|
|||||||
Freeze growth in
corporate STO tax credits for private school tuition
|
$12 M (20% growth per
year)
|
|||||||
General Fund lottery
revenue
|
$50 M
|
|||||||
Revenue from adding
additional DOR tax collection staff
|
$61.4
M
|
|||||||
VW settlement for K-12
school buses
|
$48 M
|
|||||||
TOTAL
|