GOP's Words Don't Match its Deeds on Education: Rep. Nancy Young-Wright's Arizona Daily Star Guest Opinion

By Rep. Nancy Young Wright
SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.05.2009

Fewer than 40 days remain in the 2009 legislative session to decide the future of education for Arizona's children. The clock is ticking for lawmakers to pass a budget that will either further damage our public-education system through deep cuts or protect it from further harm. On April 28, Republican lawmakers released a budget document that shows a massive cut of $800 million to our K-12 public schools and universities.

They and Gov. Jan Brewer already passed and signed one budget in January that cut $275 million from K-12 and universities, the largest single cut to education in state history.
The new proposed cut is three times that amount. Such a large cut to education would put the future of our students and our economy in jeopardy. These deep cuts send a negative message to the business world and to young, educated professionals and families who may be considering a move to Arizona.

Education is key to Arizona's economic recovery and stability so that our children can be competitive in the global economy. It's simple: education brings businesses, jobs and revenue to Arizona. It brings intellectual capital that will move our state forward. Education gives Arizona a stronger future.

Unfortunately, as evidenced in their most recent intentions to cut education, Republican lawmakers have clearly shown they are not prioritizing education — contrary to what they say.

Because the process has not been open and transparent, we don't know if Republicans plan to use federal stimulus dollars to help our schools. But according to their latest document, their intention is to make deep education cuts to the 2010 budget. If these cuts pass, Arizona students will experience larger class sizes, fewer electives and a loss of valuable programs such as art and music.

A debate about our per-pupil expenditures has risen to new levels during this session, with some claiming that we spend far more per pupil in Arizona than we do. For a comprehensive examination of this issue, please visit www.AZCARE.info and click on "Senate Majority Arizona K-12 Rankings, Examination of the Facts" for an excellent analysis. The bottom line is that even the conservative American Legislative Reform Council ranks Arizona 50th in per-pupil spending. Distortions of this reality serve no good purpose for our state.

One only has to look at the contrast between our spending on prisons, where we rank fourth in the nation per capita, and our schools, where we rank nearly last by any rational measures, to see a serious error in our priorities.

Fortunately, there's an alternative to solving the state budget crisis.
House Democrats have offered the only detailed, responsible budget solution that doesn't harm education. It's a comprehensive budget proposal that utilizes every federal stimulus dollar available, makes strategic cuts, gets rid of government waste by closing corporate tax loopholes and restores funding necessary for middle-class families. See it at www.strongerarizona.com online.

Let's hope that the future brings the changes we need to Arizona. Our children can ill afford another legislative session like this one.

Write to Nancy Young Wright at nyoungwright@azleg.gov