It is great to see Creighton Education Association‘s own Jeanne Simmons featured in a national artice: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/27/mip.wednesday/index.html?iref=allsearch (she’s the thrid story). We’ve heard rumors President Obama might mention a snippet of her story in his State of the Union speech tonight.
Go to the link and read the story, we have a national star among us in our membership! Way to go Jeanne!
The Senate Republican Caucus consists of 18 Senators. The 30 member Senate requires 16 votes to pass a bill. With Senator Barbara Leff out of the country and Senator Ron Gould publicly opposed to the budget deal, Senate President Bob Burns had to count on every other Republican Senator to attend today’s final vote on the budget and vote yes. It didn’t happen. Senator Thayer Verschoor (R – Gilbert) did not show up and could not be found. SB 1001 failed on a vote of 12 No, 14 Yes, and 4 Not Voting. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Gray changed his yes vote to no for the purpose of reconsideration on Monday, May 23.
The budget deal brokered by Governor Brewer, Senate President Bob Burns, and House Speaker Kirk Adams has stalled.
Without confirmation that the Senate would pass the budget, House Speaker Adams decided to adjourn the House until Monday at 1:30 p.m. after learning the Senate failed to pass SB 1001 and had adjourned until Monday at 10:00 a.m. The Senate did not even vote on SB 1002 which included specifics on the $144 million in cuts to K-12 education and $155 million in cuts to the Department of Economic Security.
Two of the four budget bills did pass the Senate by wide margins with bipartisan support. These bills helped resolve an issue related to home mortgages and state agency budgets and fees. Democrats refused to support the defeated bills because of the deep cuts to public schools and DES without any consideration of additional revenue.
It is unclear if there will be enough support on Monday to pass the budget. In the interim there are sure to be attempts to offer deals to Democrats and pressure Senator Verschoor to support this devastating budget deal.
Observers of the budget process have seen this scenario before, and it does not serve the interests our state’s citizens. With a budget deficit of over $2 billion dollars this year and nearly double that for the next year, it is time for a change of strategy. It is time for a bipartisan budget process the focuses on a comprehensive solution that includes a mix of new revenue streams, targeted and limited cuts, and borrowing.
The AEA, along with the broad coalition of parents, social service advocates, and others are ready to work with Republican and Democratic legislators willing to work together on a solution that moves Arizona forward.
DANGER: WHAT COULD HAPPEN TOMORROW AT THE ARIZONA LEGISLATURE FOR THE FY10 BUDGET
The Legislative Republican Leadership plans to vote on a budget tomorrow (Wed., July 29). Though we have not seen the actual budget bills, all the K-12 funding cuts and policy changes found below are said to be included.
K-12 funding cuts
No 2% inflation funding ($102 million cut)
The Republican Leadership wants to repeal the 2% inflation factor for the base funding level for this school year (the 2009-10 school year). This is the money the legislature gave to school districts on a bi-partisan vote during the special session on July 6. This is a loss of $102 million statewide, which is approximately $102 per student.
In addition, the legislature wants to refer to the voters the ability to reduce voter-approved expenditures for the next three fiscal years. This means that if approved, the 2% inflation factor will not be funded for the near future.
Soft Capital Reduction ($175 million cut)
The Republican Leadership wants to reduce $175 million in soft capital funding. Soft capital is the money districts receive to provide classroom support—things like textbooks, technology, library resources, instructional aids, etc. The soft capital dollar amount per student has not increased since 1998, and this budget proposal intends to sweep nearly all the remaining funds for soft capital expenditures. This will leave teachers paying nearly all classroom expenditures out of their own pockets.
No Funding for Actual Utility Costs ($80 million cut)
There will be no funding provided to pay for the new utility formula that was passed in the 2008 legislative session for “excess utilities” (this is an $80 million cut to school districts that previously levied for “excess utilities”).
Reduced funds for Career Ladder
Districts with the Career Ladder program will have their overall budget reduced (from 5.5% to 5%), with the potential that no new teachers could be allowed to join this school year.
Policy changes targeted against teachers & association members
Release time and association time
The Republican Leadership wants to prohibit a school district employment contract from including compensated days for professional association activities. This means all release time and professional association time will no longer be able to be compensated in any way by the district. All bargaining and association time will need to occur outside of the normal school day.
No contract dates
A school district will no longer have to issue contracts by May 15 to teachers with continuing status.
Salary reductions
The May 15 statutory deadline for notice of salary reduction will be removed and school districts will now set their own salary reduction deadline.
Teachers with continuing status
A school district will be prohibited from adopting policies that provide employment retention priority for teachers based on “tenure” or seniority.
A school district will be able to reduce the salary of a teacher with continuing status in any manner. The statutory protection currently says a salary reduction of a teacher with continuing status can only occur under a general salary reduction.
Provisional teachers
Provisional teachers will no longer have to be notified of nonrenewal by April 15.
A school district will no longer have to give a preferred right of reappointment to a job for a teacher who has lost his/her job through the reduction-in-force (RIF) process.
THE FIGHT CONTINUES…JOIN US AT THE CAPITOL WEDNESDAY, JULY 29th @ 12:30PM
Hello members,
Please read the excerpt below from AEA’s Staff about the budget:
|
Republican Deal Being Pursued with Governor
It appears that the Republican legislative leadership is working on a budget solution this week in the special session called by the governor. Since the July 6 action to temporarily resolve the state’s budget issues by restoring the 2% inflation factor and basic state aid funding to education, there has been little action. That temporary solution left the budget with a deficit of around $2 billion and the legislature set an October 1 deadline to resolve it.
Many legislators have been on vacation or attending conferences while legislative leaders and staff members have worked in closed-door meetings on potential budget solutions. For the last two weeks, the entire legislature has only met briefly on Mondays while bipartisan discussions among legislative leaders have occurred a few times in private meetings.
Yesterday that changed as the legislature met and adjourned until this Wednesday afternoon. Reports quickly emerged that the Republican leadership had met with the governor yesterday morning. The Democratic leadership was not included in the meeting and do not appear to be part of whatever strategy is emerging. Republican leaders are having small-group meetings with members of their own caucus, while the Senate Democratic Leadership held an open caucus meeting yesterday afternoon.
It remains to be seen if a regularly scheduled bipartisan meeting among the legislative leadership will be held today. The governor has not been participating in the bipartisan meetings that have occurred over the last few weeks.
Initial reports of a potential budget settlement are emerging, as described in this Arizona Republic article.
Arizona would be well served by a bipartisan budget solution that provides adequate funding for public education and vital services through a fair and adequate tax system. Such a solution will require additional revenue and could include tax increases. The constitution requires a 2/3 majority and the governor’s signature to increase taxes, but the legislature can refer a tax increase question to the ballot by a simple majority vote. There are many revenue-generating options available to legislators.
AEA will be gathering more information today and provide more details as they become available. Visit www.march4schools.com for updates.
|
SO, MEMBERS, we need your help, AEA is organizing members from across the state to come down and be at the capitol at 12:30PM tomorrow, Wednesday, July 28th, 2009. You might ask why are we going down there? It was our efforts throughout the month of June and even into the very late hours on June 30th and early July 1st, which made the legislators know we were going to be down there watching them and telling them they need to do it in a bi-partisan manner. Please join me and fellow AEA members from across the state tomorrow! Bring your children, your neighbors and anyone else who you can to come down! Our state’s future is in their hands and we need to let them know we want them to go through and work in bi-partisan manner which they have already demonstrated to the Arizona Voters when they passed a temporary budget and funded the 2% inflation factor and the base support level to schools.
I’ll see you there,
Jason Schnee
CEA President
Arizona’s state budget deficit, as a percentage of its total budget, is the worst budget deficit in the country. The shortfall for fiscal year 2009 – the year we’re in now – is at least $1.5 billion. For next fiscal year, the prediction is in the range of $2 to $3 billion. Education makes up a large percentage of the state’s budget. Education-friendly Governor Napolitano is no longer with us. Politics at the Capitol may determine whether or not you have a job next year.
This bulletin will describe some of the budget options being considered. On the back, we have steps that we want you to take.
$ $ $ $ $
Cut Taxes Again. Since the state is in a deep financial hole – what’s the first thing that the Legislature wants to do? Repeal the school property tax and take another $250 to $300 million off the table! A big reason we’re in this crisis is that the Legislature has spent the last decade cutting taxes. Our revenue system is heavily weighted toward sales taxes and the current recession has put consumer spending in the tank. So, of course – repeal the property tax. What a good idea that is!
$ $ $ $ $
Cut School Budgets this year. The state has limited district spending during the current budget year – by reducing “soft capital” expenditures (text books, furniture, etc.) and simply taking back a percentage of each district’s revenue. The Creighton Elementary District has been fiscally responsible this year. But cutting the total budget with only a few months left could be very difficult.
$ $ $ $ $
Next year? Massive Cuts. The Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees (John Kavanagh and Russell Pearce) are recommending major cuts to K-12 public education. If these go through for the 2009-10 school year, we will see a big impact on class size, student services, jobs, and paychecks. Here is some of what they have on the table:
•Phase out Career Ladder
•Phase out Teacher Experience Index (the extra funding for districts with more experienced teachers)
•Eliminate full-day Kindergarten and early Kindergarten (How many jobs will that be?)
•Stop new school construction and school building renewal funding
•Across-the-board reduction of basic state aid – to the tune of $220 million
In total, for Creighton, we’re talking about millions of dollars in state support being cut from the budget this year and next year. That’s on top of cuts due to enrollment reductions.
What You Can Do
We must flood key legislators with our message – starting right now. Our AEA lobbying team can’t do this alone. Our strength comes from thousands of educator-voters in the legislative districts, people like YOU.
1.Be a Cyber Lobbyist. If you haven’t already done so, send your name and your home email address to the AEA Phoenix Metro Office. (602) 264-1774 ext 142. Or give that information to your CEAA Site Steward at your site. We will sign you up to get the regular AEA Legislative Reports and calls-to-action. The reports are timely and helpful. They make it easy to fire off an email message to key legislators.
2.Contact these Legislators now. Below are the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of six key legislators. Send an email or leave a telephone message. Tell them who you are and where you work. Use your home phone or home email. Do it today.
Here’s the message: We cannot deliver quality education if the state makes such drastic cuts to our funding. In times like these, do not repeal the state school tax. (Consider the budget cuts we went through last year, imagine multiplying that four or five times, and tell them what that will mean to you and to your students.)
Senator Bob Burns, President of the Senate, rburns@azleg.gov, 602-926-5993
Senator John Huppenthal, Education Committee, jhuppenthal@azleg.gov, 602-926-5261
Senator Russell Pearce, Appropriations Committee, rpearce@azleg.gov, 602-926-5760
Rep. Kirk Adams, Speaker of the House, kadams@azleg.gov, 602-926-5495
Rep. Rich Crandall, Education Committee, rcrandall@azleg.gov, 602-926-3020
Rep. John Kavanagh, Appropriations Committee, jkavanagh@azleg.gov, 602-926-5170
Again – use your home phone or home email. Don’t do this from school!
3.Sign up to go to the Capitol.
•Shadow Day. We will soon be asking for teams of educators to go to the Capitol to “shadow” our AEA lobbyists, meeting with key legislators. If you can give up a personal leave day, talk to your CEA Steward about helping us with this activity.
•AEA Day at the Capitol. On Wednesday, March 4, we will organize hundreds of educators and friends of education to converge on the Capitol. Again, contact your CEA Steward if you would like to participate in this exciting event. We need as many of you there to share the impact their decisions have on our schools.
|
| Subscribe to CEAMembers |
| Visit this group |
