Show Me The Money, Senator Bee!

by David Safier

(TASL) I agree with almost everything Tim Bee said in his op ed, Goal: Affordable, accessible universities. But there’s a serious problem here. The most powerful man in the Arizona Senate has floated all kind of feel-good educational proposals without a penny of new funding to back them up.

The op ed is nothing more than an empty piece of campaign rhetoric to show how “serious” he is about education.

Bee wants better education to attract high paying jobs. He wants to lower the K-12 dropout rate. He wants more access to a college education in rural areas, and lower tuition so more high school graduates can afford college.

I agree, Tim. And, powerless as I am to change things, I can get away with saying, “Our education system should be better,” and leave it at that. I don’t have the power of the purse. But the state budget is your baby, Tim. If you think better K-12 schools and more affordable college education are essential, you have to stand up and say, “The only way we can accomplish this is to generate more revenue, and that means raising taxes.”

Much like Ronald Reagan, you need to stand up on your hind legs and say, “Russell Pearce, tear down this tax wall!”

I’ll be watching how the budget battles go, to see if Bee figures out any innovative ways to accomplish the lofty, unfunded goals he put forth in this op ed. If he does, I will doff my hat to him. If he doesn’t, he will show himself to be just another shameless politician.