A group of parents and public education advocates in support of education funding measure Proposition 123 say the push to improve Arizona schools needs to continue beyond next month’s election. To do that, they’ve launched a new sister initiative called "Prop 123 Go."
Leaders of the initiative say they support the proposition but add it shouldn’t be considered an end-all solution to the state’s school funding issues, but rather a first step.
Joe Thomas is the vice president of the Arizona Education Association. He says after the May 17 election he hopes to use the initiative’s momentum to fund more public school programs.
"An example would be district additional assistants, an example would be returning to state funded full-day kindergarten," Thomas explained. "Those might be things that we see on the menu. We know parents want top level tech in the class rooms."
Opponents of Prop 123 say it’s not a sustainable plan, arguing it takes too much money out of the state land trust rather than using funding from state budget surpluses.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story misidentified the Arizona Education Association official who spoke in support of the intiative.
