Fred DuVal v. Doug Ducey on public education and the budget

education_appleArizona faces a looming budget shortfall due to a weak economy and excessive corporate welfare tax cuts enacted by our Tea-Publican legislature and governor that have failed to produce the jobs promised from blind faith in supply-side “trickle down” GOP economics.

On top of this looming budget shortfall, the courts have ordered our lawless legislature to pay restitution for stealing from public education over the past several years as a way to “balance” the state budget, or it’s more accurate to say as a way to cover the cost of tax expenditures, i.e., corporate welfare tax cuts.

The single most important issue confronting candidates for governor and the Arizona legislature in this election was posed by the Arizona Daily Star on Sunday: “Should the state appeal the court ruling giving an additional $317 million to K-12 education this fiscal year? Assuming the ruling stands, what is your plan to find the money and deal with the consequences?” Gubernatorial candidates answer question on education funding:

Fred DuVal

For five years, Governor Brewer and the state Legislature in Phoenix have illegally shortchanged our children’s education. They illegally denied our schools — your children — new books, computers, access to the Internet, the ability to keep and hire quality teachers, the chance of a brighter future.
It took a group of concerned parents, teachers, school officials, and the Arizona State Supreme Court to put a stop to these illegal cuts.

We don’t have time for any more delays, any more appeals; our children’s schools need reinvestment and they need reinvestment now.

Education will be the most important issue in this election, and Arizonans will have a clear choice. Doug Ducey has said he “wouldn’t comply” with a court order requiring investment in our children’s schools, and that he would spend more of our tax dollars fighting teachers and schools officials in court.

For too long we’ve balanced our budget on the backs of our children. As governor, I’ll veto any budget that cuts education, not another dollar; not another dime from our children’s schools.

If we want our children to compete for the jobs of the 21st century, we must give them the opportunity to succeed — the time is now.

We’ll afford the reinvestment in our children’s schools by using the “Rainy Day” fund, finding efficiencies in state government by streamlining agencies and procurement processes to make them more cost-effective. As the economy grows, we will have serious discussions about what to do with new revenues. My priority will always be improving our children’s schools — not tax giveaways to the richest Arizonans.

Arizona’s children need a governor who will work for better schools, better jobs, and more opportunity. Arizona’s schools need a governor who will always fight for them — not against them in court.

As Arizona’s next governor, here’s my promise to you: I’ll stop the cuts to our children’s schools and by the end of my first term we will have the fastest improving education system in the United States.

It won’t be easy, but nothing is more important — our children’s futures depends on it.

Wait for it . . .

Doug Ducey

My opportunity agenda highlights my vision for Arizona — a state that leads the nation in job creation, economic growth, and results in K-12 education. A high-quality education system is imperative to a thriving economy; a state cannot have one without the other.

People are quick to say that the dollars spent per pupil on K-12 education are an indicator of success. However, if that were the case, school districts in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Detroit would be among the nation’s best — they’re not. In fact, they’re among the worst.

The conversation for education reform, and specifically school finance reform, cannot simply be about the amount of money we’re spending, but rather what we are getting for the money we spend. Currently, $9 billion washes through our education system to educate about 1 million schoolchildren. Are we getting the most bang for our buck?

Unfortunately, my opponent buys into the argument that more spending equals success, and is therefore suggesting that we deplete the state’s savings account in order to pay for it this year. What about next year? And the years after that? Unless he plans to cut public safety or other budgetary items, his only other option is to raise taxes — something I will not do.

I support an appeal of the recent court ruling calling for an additional $317 million to the base level funding, but mostly because I view it as an opportunity to look at the bigger picture and pinpoint where we can actually reform and restructure our failed K-12 finance formula. Appeal or not, this discussion must be had.

Over the last 10 years, we have seen a steady decline in the percentage of dollars going into the classroom, where it’s needed most. Most of us would agree that one of the most important factors in whether our children have a good school year is their teacher. Our education funding policy should reflect that by focusing more on schools and high-quality principals and teachers.

We have some of the nation’s best schools in Arizona, including University High School right in Tucson. There are many other public and district schools throughout Arizona that perform at high levels. We must capitalize on their knowledge and skills, and determine what they need to help them be more successful, while encouraging others to follow their lead.

In other words, “I will continue the lawlessness of the Arizona legislature and Governor Brewer — it’s business as usual.”

Of course, the alternative that Dicey Ducey will not even consider is rescinding some of the excessive corporate welfare tax cuts or raising taxes, as the Arizona Constitution requires the legislature to do to pay for public education. Article 11, Section 6, and Article 11, Section 10.

Dicey Ducey is telling you right up front that he will: (1) violate the Arizona Constitution, and (2) disregard a lawful court order of the Arizona Supreme Court. This should automatically disqualify Ducey from consideration as a candidate for governor — the chief executive is supposed to enforce the laws.

The DuVal campaign issued the following press release in response to Dicey Doug Ducey’s answer to the Star:

Doug Ducey Doesn’t Get Education

Phoenix, AZ — The campaign manager for Fred DuVal’s campaign for governor, Bill Scheel, today released the following statement criticizing Doug Ducey’s dishonest response in the Arizona Daily Star to the illegal underfunding of our children’s schools, which he continues to support.

“Doug Ducey continues to support the deliberate and illegal underfunding of our children’s schools,” said Scheel. “Rather than use the ruling in Cave Creek v. Ducey as an opportunity to begin reinvesting in our children’s education, Ducey has said he ‘wouldn’t comply’ with the court order and continues to support endless delays and appeals.”

“Doug Ducey may not care about Arizona’s schools, but right now; they’re hurting. Superintendents are using substitute teachers full-time, elementary school students in Scottsdale are only going to school for a half-day on Wednesdays, and students in Peoria will no longer have librarians, elementary-school counselors, and special-education programs will be scaled back.” [Addressing A Shortage Of High Quality Teachers: An Escalating Dilemma For Arizona Schools, 4/25/14; Scottsdale Schools Face Classroom Cuts Again, 6/14/14; Peoria Unified School District Trying To Ease Impact Of Deep Budget Cuts, 4/10/13]

“While Doug Ducey is pushing for more tax giveaways for his wealthy buddies and opposing desperately needed funding for our K-12 schools, our children’s future is at risk. Yet Doug Ducey still refuses to reverse his stance on underfunding our schools to give our children the education they deserve.”

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4 thoughts on “Fred DuVal v. Doug Ducey on public education and the budget”

  1. What’s with Doug Ducey’s ad where he states he will end the wait lists at the best schools? What is he talking about?

    • That is a very good question. What the heck does he mean? He can’t justify pouring money into the best schools to expend their curriculum without destroying what makes them good schools. And he can’t arbitrarily decide “no more waiting lists” because it isn’t within his power. So what the heck IS he talking about?!?

  2. Education is a tough nut to crack. The traditional “answer” (ala Fred Duval) is to increase funding. It sounds like the correct thing to do because if you put more money into the schools you would naturally expect better results. But experience has shown time and time again that is not necessarily the case. Some of the best schools in the nation are funded at among the lowest levels (North and South Dakota). Conversely, some of the worst schools in the nation are funded at among the highest levels (Washington, DC, Detroit, and Chicago). Within the same School District, there are “good” schools and “bad” schools, all funded at the same levels. What makes the difference?

    Within School Districts, there seems to be an excessive amount of Administrative Staff that has nothing to do with delivering education services. Why is that? That money appears to be wasted on simply giving teachers someplace into which they can be promoted. The more money that a School District gets, the larger these staffs grow. To me, that is money not being used for education.

    And what about teachers where the rubber meets the road and the actual service of teaching takes place. It is a simple fact that fact that Colleges of Education draw their students from the bottom third of all graduating classes. There is nothing wrong with that provided the newly graduated teacher really wants to teach and is not just looking for employment. The distinction is important because one will actually teach and the other will just go through the motions. That alone can make the difference between and good and a bad school.

    And what about the students? There is a rather stupid belief that you can teach all children. but the reality is that some children will not learn. They are usually also the most disruptive students in class and they prevent others from learning. But what happens to them? Nothing. Fear of parents, fear of lawsuits, school boards and the law itself requiring such students be accomodated all make these students permaneant disruptive figures in the classroom. No learning takes place and everyone wonders why.

    In high school, why is it that every student is bound for college? We all know that isn’t going to happen. When did vocational studies disappear from the curriculum? When I was in high school, you and a guidance counselor sat down and determined which route you wanted to take. Many of my friends went into agriculture, automotive, carpentry and a dozen other fields where they prepared to become journeymen. They didn’t want to go to college. I did want to go, so I took different courses. What happened to that common sensical approach to education. Not everyone is – or wants to be – college material and it is unfair to force them to do.

    By the way, Ducey is an idiot for wanting to fight the additional funding ordered by the Court. The money is due the schools, and it makes no sense to waste more money and time fighting it any further. Just figure out how to pay it and get it done.

    And then watch the school districts squander a significant portion of it…

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