February Legislative Alert! HB2288
January 2009 Legislative Alert
The State of Arizona is Facing a $1.2 Billion Deficit This Year.
Education Spending is 44% of the State Budget.
Do the Math...
It's no news that State of Arizona is facing a $1.2 billion deficit this fiscal year. This will likely translate to mid-year cuts to the budget- these cuts will be decided in the next legislative session beginning in January. That could mean cutting money that has already been committed through hiring, purchasing, etc. And the news for the 2010 fiscal year is no better.
We all know that tough decisions are coming, but we must not let short-term circumstances over-shadow our commitment to educating our children. Whatever cuts are made now must not negatively impact our ability to recover to sufficient funding levels later nor limit the opportunities for our children once the economy turns around. So, our message to the Legislature this year must be to keep as many cuts as possible out of the classroom and not create additional inequities in funding by shifting more burden to the local homeowner.
Parents and business leaders have worked jointly over the last decade to increase the financial support and academic rigor for Arizona’s schools. This has included improving teacher pay to slow the brain drain of talent to other states and to attract young professionals, who have better-paying options in many fields, to teach. Recently, we have seen a 20-year effort to fund full-day kindergarten substantially advance and the P20 Council – a joint effort of the Governor’s Office, legislators, universities, the State Board of Education and the Department of Education – to increase math and science requirements so that high school graduation means what it once did – that our students are prepared to work or go on to college or substantive job training. Already we are hearing of short-sighted attempts to roll back these important educational and economic development initiatives. In the end, our legislators must understand that if we are to accept cuts to our schools that they must not endanger the long-term potential of these programs.
Public education in Arizona needs our support. Our children, and the hundreds of thousands of Arizona kids in public schools, are counting on us to get through this storm with as little damage as possible. Some will see this crisis as their chance to diminish public education. Please do your part to keep this from happening.
The first day of the 2009 Legislative Session is January 12.
We encourage you to use the links on our homepage to write your state representatives and let them know that education should be the LAST place to make budget cuts. You can view our sample letters by clicking HERE.
Together we can make a difference!