Literacy coaches, facilities maintenance top pressing issues in Arizona education budget

As the end of the year approaches, we’re taking some time here on the show to talk about some of the biggest issues facing our state — and how the debates about them are shaping up for 2026. Today’s topic: education.

For a look ahead on the most pressing questions facing parents, students, educators and legislators, The Show sat down with two policy advocates who are both veterans of state government: Rebecca Beebe, director of government relations for the Arizona School Administrators; and Karla Phillips-Krivickas, co-founder of Champions for Kids.

Sativa Peterson

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KJZZ

Karla Phillips Krivickas

Full conversation

SAM DINGMAN: I wanted to start by asking you each to share an anecdote, a moment you've had, whether it's talking to a parent or a student or a conversation with somebody with whom you regularly converse about education issues, but an anecdote that has stuck with you and is driving your thinking these days.

Rebecca, let's start with you.

REBECCA BEEBE: Sure. So what came to mind immediately are two recent conversations I've had with two people in my life that I'm very close to who are both moms of children in elementary school. These were separate conversations, but both of them kind of told me that their children were struggling with reading, and one's in third grade and one's in fourth grade.

And I kind of freaked out a little bit. And I said, are you just now finding out, like, you should know this, there's interventions at the school?

And for whatever reason, neither of those people had told me about this until their children were older, but they said, oh, yeah, yeah, of course, you know, I was getting the school in kindergarten, identified my daughter as having issues with reading.

And so we were talking about the interventions that the school was doing and how the school had reached out. And frankly, I thought of all the kids who now in Arizona are outside the public school system whose parents may not know that literacy issues with the child's literacy show up in kindergarten, right, as young as 5 and even younger.

And what are those children's literacy skills and how are they potentially not having their needs met? And so I've just been thinking about that, thinking about that a lot.

DINGMAN: Yeah, I'm sure we'll come back to literacy later in the conversation. Karla, how about you? Same question.

KARLA PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: Yeah. Good morning. Thank you for having me.

I can affirm that story nine times over of the stories I hear, but the one that came to my mind immediately, because it's been just burning in my heart.

I got a call from an attorney who had some questions about dual enrollment and what the law says. And we were talking about this particular case that she had just gotten and what bothered me was the child has a disability.

They were in the IEP meeting or the meeting with the school and everything, but I had to determine how she might be able to get into a specific program. And I don't know who it was at school, but in front of the family, they said, we don't think this child will ever be employable.

DINGMAN: My goodness.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: And that just. I get emotional now. Those are the stories that push me every single day.

DINGMAN: Thank you both for sharing that. I really appreciate it. I think it's always nice, especially when we're about to talk about policy issues, large philosophical issues, to be reminded that these are kind of the immediate conversations that are driving all of this.

That said, let's talk about money and the state of education funding in Arizona. This seems likely to be a huge issue in the next legislative session. And I want to start by asking you both to put aside questions of political feasibility for a moment and let you both daydream a little bit. Where do you both see money being well spent in the state at the moment?

And where would you like to see more money allocated? Karla, let's start with you for this one.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: I'm assuming we're talking about K-12 education specifically.

DINGMAN: Yes.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: Probably the area that I think that is going well from what we can hear anecdotally and pretty early data are the literacy coaches. And we have not funded at the level that I believe we immediately promised and that other states are doing. And if I could dream, that would be where I would, where I would want to increase funding.

DINGMAN: Some additional funding to that program, to that program. And just to share the numbers, the numbers I saw on this most recently were that 30-some percent of third grade students were at a level of reading proficiency. 36%, 36%.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: 36%. It's a 3% decline, I might add, though, from last year.

DINGMAN: Right, right, right, right. Rebecca, what about you, pie in the sky?

BEEBE: Well, I definitely agree with Karla that we need to invest in these literacy coaches. And we know from other states that have implemented literacy coaching.

You know, Mississippi immediately put 95 literacy coaches in their lowest performing schools. To match that, Arizona would need to put 125 in our lowest performing schools. And currently we have 36.

So a big priority for school superintendents next year is to secure at least another $2.1 million for 16 additional coaches to bring that to 50. But that's nowhere near the need of the state.

You know, the state of Arizona has expanded school choice options and we have full universal vouchers, a robust charter school system as well as district schools, and it's becoming very expensive for the state general fund. We're essentially funding three different school systems.

And when we talk about academic outcomes, public schools, we are accountable for every dollar we spend and for the academic outcomes of our students. So while these proficiency rates are really low, I think it's important for us to remember that we only have this information and we only truly understand where we should dedicate resources, because public schools are accountable for the academic outcomes of their students.

Additionally, a judge recently ruled against the state in a school facility lawsuit and essentially said that the way that the state is funding the maintenance and repairs of school buildings is unconstitutional because it guarantees failure. So what that means for your child's school, has your child ever come home from school and complain that the classroom's hot?

I mean, there's a good chance in Arizona that in August they're sitting in a classroom that's 84 degrees, because before the state will pay to replace that HVAC system, it has to completely fail. The state spends about $200 million a year on maintenance, basic maintenance, roofs, HVACs, things like that. The real need yearly is at least around $600 million.

DINGMAN: Wow.

BEEBE: You know, we've built these schools and we need to maintain them. Anybody that owns a house, you understand, you know, you replace your flooring and the infrastructure of your house every 10, 15, 20 years. And so at pie in the sky, perfect world, I'd love to see investments in our lowest performing schools as well as investments in school facilities.

DINGMAN: Can I come back to the literacy coaches for just a moment? Because you both brought that up, and for folks who might be listening to this and maybe have heard of the literacy coaching program, but don't necessarily know what that looks like in a concrete way. Who are these coaches? How do they work with students, at least the way the program is currently implemented? Karla, if you want to take that one.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: Yeah, I'm sure Rebecca has a lot more details on how it's happening, but I want to clarify one important thing. The coaches aren't necessarily for the kids per se. They're not tutors. If I understand it, they're literacy coaches for the teachers. They're to help supplement, help support, make sure that they're using evidence-based practices. So I think that's a really important distinction.

DINGMAN: Absolutely. Yeah.

BEEBE: Yeah. So stakeholders in the state, like Arizona, school administrators and others who want to see increases in academic performance are rallying around this Arizona Literacy Plan 2030. So it has a lot of stuff in it. In addition to the coaches it has training requirements for teachers to retrain teachers in the science of reading.

It requires districts adopt high quality evidence-based instructional materials. But really the most important part is these literacy coaches. And because of the limited number that we have in Arizona, only, only 36 right now, if you're in the bottom 10% of the test scores on the ELA, you qualify for a literacy coach.

And as Karla said, they are there to support the students and the staff. And their role in the school is purely training and intervention in literacy, both with the students and the teachers. They're not allowed to be substitutes or do other duties at the school. They're solely focused on improving the literacy skills of the youngest learners in the school.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: We heard at the state board meeting recently though, that I think the number was still about 25% of districts haven't still adopted evidence-based curriculums as well. So there's a lot of work that needs to be done. I think the literacy plan is amazing, but there's a lot of really basic, what I call the low hanging fruit that we still need to address.

DINGMAN: What else is on that list for you?

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: Curriculum is probably Number 1.

DINGMAN: Curriculum.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: The Department of Education has an approved list of curriculum, but they don't have the authority to force them to adopt it. So they'll work with them to encourage it. And there's still about 25% districts that have not adopted curriculums that are on that list. So it's basically the science of reading that they're aligned with those guidelines.

BEEBE: Yeah, I'd agree with Karla. The other area I think that there's really room for improvement is math. And particularly in the middle grades, in eighth grades, kids tend to fall behind and not learn the skills that they need to be prepared for algebra. And some of that is kind of cultural around this concept of eighth grade, eighth graders feel like I can kind of do whatever and they're going to move me on to high school.

But I think it's similar to literacy in that targeted resources and targeted investments in our lowest performers and helping them learn the basic skills they need to be successful. To continue moving forward in math is essential.

And I think if I were to, ou asked me before, what's pie in the sky? I would look at eighth grade math and making sure our kids are prepared for algebra.

DINGMAN: OK.

BEEBE: It's a really pivotal time in a kid's career.

DINGMAN: Yeah. You know, it's funny, when you brought that up, I was thinking about just my own mathematical journey, which was a harrowing one. And algebra was the point where it's like math became conceptual and philosophical rather than just raw like inputs and outputs.

That reminds me of the way we're talking about literacy, that it's not just about the basic skills, it's also about comprehension.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: May I add an anecdote?

DINGMAN: Sure.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: We were at a basketball game, my son's basketball game. I was with my daughter, who has Down syndrome, and, and it was halftime. She wanted a Sprite and it was time to go back in the gym. And so we're walking and she stops, she goes, wait, mom. And she looked, she goes, look, no food or drink in the gym.

And that moment just hit me that reading is for everyone. She may never get to grade level. Reading comprehension will always be a struggle, but she can get a job. She can go to a restaurant by herself. There are a myriad of things that she can do, even safety wise, because she can read those signs.

So as much as I am obviously a huge supporter, we get kids to grade level and all that thing. I want to say that it's still, even if they can't, reading is crucial. And it also occurred to me at that moment that it is safety. She can read women and men. She can read all of these signs that she needs to be safe in the community.

DINGMAN: Let's end the utopian portion of our conversation now and talk just briefly about the nuts and bolts of what you both imagine the next legislative session might, might look like from an education standpoint.

You both have lots of experience working in gubernatorial administrations at the Legislature. Gov. Hobbs and her administration are in office at least through the end of next year.

So do you think we are likely, based on where things stand, to see significant movement on any of the issues that we've talked about so far today, next year? Rebecca, I'll start with you for this one.

BEEBE: Should I make a joke about a crystal ball? I feel like that's what people always say when they're asked that question. I think the biggest issue that's going to be facing policymakers and advocates like, you know, myself, professional advocates or non-professional advocates, parents, whatever that are watching the Legislature, is going to be the budget.

We don't have a lot of money and a lot of the items that we rely on for, as I mentioned, facilities, but also for day to day maintenance and operation of a district, are one-time dollars that the state has been spending one time because of budget constraints. They've been kind of kicking the can down the road.

Now we're at the end of the road, we can't kick the can any farther and we don't have the money for these one time things. And you know, what the state legislative budget office has said is that we have $67 million to spend. As I mentioned before ... schools have become reliant on at least $200 million being appropriated for school maintenance.

So for basic things, for basic school maintenance, it'll be a battle to get that money. You know, that's not as interesting to talk about, but teachers and students need good solid classrooms and school buildings to work and learn in. So I don't know what we'll see movement on, but I certainly hope, you know, my message will be every single year we have to continue investing in our students. Every single year.

Literacy coaches, they're not that expensive. You know, to put another 16 in our classrooms, it would only cost the state $2.1 million. And that's a drop in the bucket.

DINGMAN: Karla, how about you, crystal ball?

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: I just want to come back to one thing you said because I had a flashback of a former school facilities board director many years ago. His joke at the Capitol used to be that roofs didn't have lobbyists. And he's right.

So when you think about those competing priorities of a reading interventionist and a roof, the rough doesn't have a lobbyist. So I just had to kind of share that little story. But it's true and it's got a lot of policy implications.

DINGMAN: Before we move on to the sort of like high level philosophical part of this conversation, I wanted to ask you both. Karla, I saw something in one of the pieces I was looking at that you wrote that I was not aware of about how the education system works in Arizona.

You were pointing out that, if I'm not mistaken, unlike a lot of other states, a lot of the folks who major stakeholders in education policy don't report directly to the governor.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: It's true.

DINGMAN: And that that is in contrast to the way education and the executive office interact in other states. Since you have both worked in gubernatorial administrations, I'm just curious if either of you have any stories about that that you could just kind of help illustrate for people what it's like to try to get policy done.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: We could spend an hour on this. I have lots of anecdotal stories on this. I remember when Gov. Bush was visiting Arizona early on when we were in discussions to adopt the Move on When Reading and letter grades and some other issues.

And we all know Florida's a lot bigger than us people wise and we would be in these meetings and he was like, yeah, well, I brought all the superintendents up to Tallahassee and we were looking each other like, we can't even fathom that because we have so many districts and charter schools and stuff.

So even that one thing used to just blow our mind. They only have 67 districts. He could bring them all up to Tallahassee and have a conversation. And we can't do that in other states. That the superintendent is like, in the governor's cabinet.

DINGMAN: I appreciate the concreteness of that example you just gave. Just the simple act of calling a meeting. That's very illustrative.

Rebecca, what about you? Any stories come to mind?

BEEBE: I don't know that any stories come to mind, but I certainly don't envy Gov. Hobbs or her staff right now. It's got to be incredibly hard to look at this budget. Obviously, she has been public about her concerns with vouchers. It's where a lot of the budget's going. We have a majority Republican Legislature and a Democratic governor with two completely different education priorities.

And it is interesting, too, that because we have a independently elected superintendent of public instruction, that individual is always operating on their own, too. Right. Not as part of the governor's cabinet, not as part of the legislative body. So I always tell people, you know, we have three people really, that we're lobbying education advocates.

And, you know, your question was specifically about the governor. But really, anyone that has to be in the room making the hard decisions on this budget, that's going to be impossible.

DINGMAN: Well, and we should also add it's also an election year, right. So that's going to complicate things differently.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: It's always hard, but to a certain extent, there's nothing new under the sun. I remember when I got there, it was 24 hours notice because Gov. Napolitano left to go to D.C. and Jan Brewer, Secretary of State Brewer, became governor overnight. I was there 24 hours later. We were in the eighth special session of the Great Recession, making cuts that we were literally crying over that I mean, we would cut a billion dollars out of that budget. So those are hard decisions. But I will tell you, politically I was on legislative staff when we had money to spend. And politically, I would argue that's harder.

DINGMAN: Sure, sure. Because it seems in that moment like everything's possible, right?

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: Yep.

DINGMAN: Yeah. There's less of a sense that choices need to be made.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: I think one of the things, and I would welcome Rebecca's thoughts on this, that makes this one particularly difficult is the still kind of uncertainty of how HR1 is going to affect our budget, the Medicaid cuts. And so I think that makes it even harder because it's like there's this big cloud out there and it's coming really slow.

We don't know when it's going to come. We don't know what it's going to look like, but we know it's going to be big.

BEEBE: Yeah, I don't envy those people either. You know, the agencies are part of the governor's cabinet. And so the Medicaid agency here is AHCCCS and the Department of Economic Security is, you know, to my understanding, getting ready to implement provisions of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" act that will be very costly to the state.

And I like that Karla mentions, you know, that when she was staffing the governor these are things that made staffers cry. You know, I want to say, I want to just these are these staffers, whether they're Republicans or Democrats or working for a Republican or a Democrat, I don't think anybody finds joy and trying to balance a budget.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: Yeah, it's worth mentioning just as a side note that the Medicaid debate, if you look at the pie chart, that is the state budget, that's the second biggest piece and that. But that pie keeps getting, so when people ask about why don't we support education, why don't we spend more money? Well, the question really is you have a pie and are you going to take the money from another slice or are you going to raise taxes and increase revenues? Those are really the two decisions.

And so they don't really have the luxury of one bill that says do you want to increase education? Say yes, it's a huge bill with hundreds of programs. It's a moving part. And Medicaid is the second biggest moving part.

BEEBE: Yeah, I think there's some impacts to Medicaid billing in public schools that we'll see. And so what I also say just with school districts is we serve every kid, including kids whose families benefit from SNAP and Medicaid. And so we are preparing to see changes maybe to those kids' lives as well.

DINGMAN: Last question for you both. This year in particular and in recent years, we've seen renewed conversation about the role of faith in the classroom. We've seen controversies around the Turning Point chapter at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale. That's just an example, not asking either of you to comment on that situation specifically.

There's also obviously been a lot of debate about what constitutes freedom of speech when it comes to protesting, when it comes to writing on social media.

How are you each making sense of where that conversation stands at the moment? Rebecca, we'll start with you for this one.

BEEBE: So I remind myself and others that in public schools, the law is that teachers provide a nonsectarian and nonpartisan education. So education free from them sharing their religious beliefs and their political beliefs. And right now, I think in America, everyone's tensions are just a little bit higher.

DINGMAN: I think that's fair to say.

BEEBE: And you know, there was a recent study out at ASU that teachers are nervous to even talk about civics, even though they're talking about them in nonpartisan way. And it's very important. You know, Gov. Ducey, along with retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O' Connor several years ago prioritized civics education in classrooms.

And now we're at a point where teachers are nervous to talk about civics, talk about the importance of voting. You know, in terms of the Turning Point USA chapters on campuses, what I would say is that a public school, and I've said this many times, but that's where everyone in a community comes together, regardless of politics.

And in a public high school, kids start student chapters of different clubs. That could be a Gay Straight Alliance, that could be Turning Point USA. And that is one of the beauties of a public school.

PHILLIPS-KRIVICKAS: I think I would echo pretty much everything she said. And I think it's also important to remember that this is also why we have locally elected governing boards, so that the clubs, the availability of supports, really are reflective of the community and the community's needs.

DINGMAN: Well, I don't know if we have cracked the future of education, but we've certainly talked about a lot of very fascinating things. I thank you both for your thoughts on this.

I have been speaking with Rebecca Beebe, the director of government relations for the Arizona School Administrators, and Karla Phillips-Krivickas, co-founder of Champions for Kids. Thank you both.