Last week, Gov. Ducey signed a $1 billion university-bonding package. He’d been pushing the idea that’ll provide around $30 million a year for the next 10 years to state universities for building repairs and other infrastructure needs.
By way of contrast, earlier this month four Arizona school districts sued the state over inadequate capital funding, which goes to pay for things like building repairs. Advocates for K-12 schools were also upset by the increase in teacher pay included in the new state budget – 1 percent this year, and 1 percent next year.
So how can the state prioritize both education systems? Here with us to talk about that is John Arnold, vice president for Business Management and Financial Affairs at the Arizona Board of Regents, and Jeff Gadd, the interim chief financial officer at the Roosevelt Elementary School District in Phoenix.
