Calling money from Proposition 123 a nice start, education advocates are now demanding lawmakers restore the other $1.2 billion they say has been cut from K-12 funding since 2009.
Dick Foreman, president of the Arizona Business and Education Coalition, said during a press conference Monday at the state Capitol that the money exists and it's time for lawmakers to revisit the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits that have been granted, largely to businesses. These include a batch of credits enacted in 2011 that Dana Naimark of the Children's Action Alliance said will cut revenues by $700 million by 2019.
"That's money we should be investing in our schools,'' Naimark said. But getting that done could prove difficult, if not impossible.
It takes a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate-- and concurrence of the governor-- to end existing credits. And Gov. Doug Ducey was elected on a promise to reduce taxes every year of his tenure.
Gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato reiterated after Monday's event that his boss will oppose any tax hike. But he opened the door a bit for what he called "tax reform.'' "Certainly, part of that discussion would be how do you do it in a way that results in more dollars for education,'' Scarpinato said. But he quickly added that while Ducey wants to "improve the tax code,'' that doesn't mean people will have to pay more in taxes.
That still leaves the question of how to find the cash that even Ducey said is needed beyond the approximately $300 million a year that Prop 123 will raise over the next decade.
The Children's Action Alliance figures schools lost the following since 2009:
- $371 million a year in funding for textbooks and technology
- $260 million to maintain buildings
- $218 million in state-funded full-day kindergarten
- An assortment of other funding cuts to programs like teacher development and early childhood education
"We do have money now,'' said Joe Thomas, president-elect of the Arizona Education Association. "We're coming out of the recession,'' he continued. "We have unspent revenues, we have unspent rainy day funds.''
But that contention has been disputed by Republican legislative leaders who said the fragile state of the economy means the state cannot rely on the current revenue stream. So instead they have used some of those extra dollars to undo the bookkeeping gimmicks that were used to balance the budget in prior years.
Governor spokesperson Scarpinato said there may be a middle path of sorts since the state now has a "structurally balanced'' budget, with revenues exceeding expenses without the need for the gimmicks.
Scarpinato also noted Prop 123 finally settles the lawsuit filed in 2010 by schools after lawmakers ignored a voter-mandated requirement to boost aid to schools every year to match inflation. A trial judge already had ordered the state to immediately boost aid by more than $330 million; the settlement was reached before she could address the more than $1 billion the state had failed to pay in prior years.
And that settlement, Scarpinato said, is coming largely out of state land trust proceeds rather than the general fund. All that, he said, puts the state on good financial footing heading forward. "Which means that we actually are in a position where we can have these discussions because we've got money in the bank,'' Scarpinato said.
However, patience-- and trust-- may be in short supply.
Beth Simek, president-elect of the Arizona PTA, said the closeness of the vote shows a large number of people are concerned that lawmakers will not follow through with the promise that Proposition 123 was billed as only a first step.
"Based on track records, to be honest with you, I can't blame them,'' she said. What that means, Simek said, is keeping pressure on lawmakers and getting involved and electing representatives and senators who are committed to improving K-12 funding.
Simek said that's going to take more than the 32 percent turnout in last week's elections. "The legislators have been counting on our apathy,'' she said.
"Well, the August primaries are right around the corner, and November isn't that far behind,'' Simek continued, saying voters need to ask candidates more than the generic question of will they support public education but instead pressure them to spell out exactly what they will do to boost education in Arizona.