Legislative Republicans griped this session that even when they increase funding for schools, education advocates and Democrats complain they havenโt done enough.
OK โ now they have another chance to show their commitment.
On Friday, Maricopa Superior Court Judge John Hannah ruled Proposition 208, a ballot issue that raised taxes on the wealthy to fund schools, is unconstitutional. He did so in part at the behest of legislative Republicans, who argued against the initiative in court. And he did it seemingly against his will, strong-armed by the state Supreme Court.
That means that hundreds of millions of dollars in anticipated revenue from Prop. 208โs surcharges on high incomes will not flow to Arizona schools next year.
This, of course, goes against the will of Arizonaโs voters, 52% of whom approved the initiative in 2020. And it means the staffing crisis in Arizona schools, along with our perpetual ranking among the lowest states in school spending, may well continue.
The good news is that Arizonaโs budget situation is strong enough that we can do what the initiative would have done anyway, said David Lujan, president and CEO of the Childrenโs Action Alliance and spearhead of the initiative.
โThey could fund everything Prop. 208 was going to fund this year, out of the general fund and not raise taxes,โ Lujan said. โIf they truly support the idea of raising funding for education, they have got that opportunity.โ
Even the people who led the fight against that initiative largely agree. The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry also would support increased spending on education, spokesman Garrick Taylor said.
โThe business community strongly supports increased investment in Arizonaโs K-12 system,โ he said, noting previous initiatives it has supported. โWe will continue to support policies that invest in K-12 while also assuring the stateโs continued economic competitiveness.โ
In other words, they really donโt want us to raise taxes but will support an increase in spending.
The question is whether legislative leaders have the same level of commitment to schools or are too sidetracked with culture-war battles against the education system and with cutting taxes.
Back in February, youโll recall, there was growing panic that the state Legislature had not routinely waived a limit on school spending. This waiver had to pass simply to spend the money the Legislature had already allocated. Without it, schools would have had to absorb $1 billion in cuts.
Sen. Vince Leach, of SaddleBrooke, was among the legislators who recapped various increases in spending supported by Republicans.
โWe would like to get some credit for that, but no we donโt. All we get is, โWe need more,โ Leach said.
Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita went much further than Leach, unconscionably saying that voting for the waiver is tantamount to โcapitulating to the educational terrorists who have held our kids hostage.โ
โThey shut our schools down,โ Ugenti-Rita went on. โThey disenfranchised parents.โ
Much more than a desire to raise funding for Arizona schools, this is the spirit that has been animating the GOP majority, which controls the agenda, this session. Itโs the anger over remote schooling, mask mandates, sex education and other culture-war touchstones that have helped Republicans win elections in states like Virginia.
I doubt itโs a coincidence that Ugenti-Rita used such extreme language against the schools: She is running for the GOP nomination for secretary of state and needs the support of Republican voters worked up about public schools.
So, far from working to raise funding for public schools again, Republican legislators have been passing bills to regulate them more strictly.
On Monday, they passed a bill to require teachers to post online all materials used and activities for student instruction within seven days of doing it. Other materials dealing with sensitive subjects like race, ethnicity, sex, gender discrimination and diversity would have to be posted 72 hours before being used.
This type of requirement would be funny if it werenโt so burdensome on already overburdened teachers. Just having one child in school, I have trouble keeping up with all the emails and other correspondence and requirements that come through from teachers, the school and the district.
I donโt believe that any significant percentage of the people calling for these measures will actually use the information teachers would be required to post. Itโs just an assertion of control.
Itโs also out of step with whatโs going on in schools. Across the state, districts are desperately trying to hang on to teachers as they flee out of frustration, low pay or other reasons. Short-staffing is chronic.
But again, solving those problems is not a top priority at the Capitol. Beyond asserting control over schools, the other high priority is cutting taxes. Now that Prop. 208 is out of the way, any number of tax cuts are possible, with a big possible impact on the surplus that could be used to solve schoolsโ problems.
If the GOP majority really wants to be credited for supporting schools, they should avoid spending the surplus on tax cuts. They should respect the will of the majority and put the amount we would have collected through Prop. 208 toward a permanent funding increase.
