The budget did drop late in the day, but there is still work to be done. Most critically, hundreds of millions of dollars are being proposed in tax cuts and transfers to the rainy day fund. While it is a good idea to build up our rainy day fund, anyone involved in education knows that is has been raining (pouring!) in our public schools for years, and we are nowhere near making things whole.
The budget should be finalized over the next few days, and we need to remind our legislators that the public is not asking for tax cuts, they are overwhelmingly asking for increased education funding, and they’re even willing to pay higher taxes to do so. We need as many people as possible to:
- head down to the capitol after work this week to show our legislators we’re paying attention, and talk to them about your budget priorities
- e-mail Governor Ducey and your legislators to urge them to restore education funding to pre-recession levels before considering tax cuts
Check on AEA’s Facebook page for up-to-the-minute updates on the budget process this week!