Public School Education Coalition Asks Legislature to Work with Governor Hobbs to Overcome $4.5 Billion Deficit in K-12 Funding

A coalition of organizations that support increased funding for Arizona Public Schools has written a letter to Republican leaders in the State Legislature asking them to work with Governor Katie Hobbs and Democrats in a bipartisan fashion to erase the $4.5 billion deficit in K-12 education funding.

Coalition Letter AZ’s Classroom Crisis

The organizations comprising this coalition include the Children’s Action Alliance, the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, Save Our Schools Arizona, Stand for Children Arizona, Arizona PTA, Arizona Student’s Association, Civic Engagement Beyond Voting, the Arizona Alliance of Black School Educators, Arizona Business and Education Coalition, and National Council of Jewish Women Arizona.

The $4.5 billion deficit figure is derived from the letter author’s assertion that education funding in Arizona (ranked at or close to the bottom depending on which survey is cited) is approximately $4200 less than the national average.

In the letter, the coalition asks that:

“We must reimagine what a fully-funded education looks like so that our schools can innovate, offer individualized learning, adequately protect students, and teach 21st-century skills that children need to thrive after graduation.”

Among the areas the authors of the letter recommend investing education dollars in are:

• Full day kindergarten.
• Increased funding for special education.
• Smaller class sizes.
• Counselor, social worker, and safety programs.
• Investments in school facilities and transportation, including in rural area.
• Teacher salary raises.
• Additional extracurricular activities.

The writers implore the legislature to rethink its tax cutting at the expense of public education philosophy, stating:

“At present, Arizona gives away far more than we take in. For 2023, the state budget hovers at around $16.5 billion — but our tax giveaways total almost $24.5 billion. It is shortsighted for the legislature to consider any bill that would cut taxes or slash future revenues by billions of dollars. Should these proposals pass, it would make efforts to compete nationally in education funding or performance nearly impossible.”

The letter concludes with a call to action, stating:

“Serious solutions are required to address this severe funding crisis. Much of Governor Hobbs’ proposed budget is devoted to moving Arizona’s K-12 education system in the right direction, and we support the investments her office has laid out. We can transform Arizona into a state that prioritizes our most important citizens — our children. We can build an environment in which the next generation will not only survive but thrive.

We call upon legislative leadership to work in a bipartisan fashion with Governor Hobbs to develop a robust four-year plan to intentionally and strategically put Arizona on track to meet the national public education funding average. Arizona students deserve nothing less.”