Are you mourning the loss of teacher rights due to the legislature? You’ve heard of Black Friday, well, I’m thinking that November 24, the day the budget bill becomes LAW, should be BLACK TUESDAY. Join your fellow teachers and spread the word to wear Black on Tuesday and when people ask why…. TELL THEM. Get the word out. Get the petition signed.
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.
Click on the link above to read a summary of the rights which the legislature have taken away from us and we need to get these back!
Legislature Meets Today at 1:00 p.m. |
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The House and Senate are scheduled to meet today at 1:00 p.m. It is unclear what, if anything, they will do today. While bipartisan talks have begun, little progress has been reported to this point.
The governor has a package of nine budget bills on her desk, virtually the same budget she vetoed on July 1. A meeting among the House Speaker, Senate President, House Minority Leader, Senate Minority Leader and Governor occurred last Friday. Yesterda the Senate President, Senate Minority Leader, and Governor met. This morning another meeting among all five key leaders will occur at 9:00 a.m. At this point it is not clear if any progress has been made in these bipartisan meetings.
Rumors about what the governor will do with the budget are plentiful. One scenario would have the legislature sine die the special session today providing the governor with 10 more days before having to decide what to do with the bills. This would allow more time for bipartisan discussions. If the legislature remains in session, the governor must either sign the budget bills or veto them by tomorrow. If she takes no action, they will become law without her signature.
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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:
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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.
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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
| Act Now! Legislature is attempting to Pass a Budget with Massive Cuts to Education | ||
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The Senate and House Republican Leadership of our legislature have come to an agreement on a budget and are attempting to pass it tonight and tomorrow. The budget will be similar to the two separate versions passed over the last two weeks by the Senate and House Appropriations Committees. Therefore it will contain massive cuts to K-12 education.
At this point in time, amendments are being drawn up by Senate and House staff to create a budget that the leadership in both the Senate and House hope to push through the process in the next 18 hours. If the Senate Republican leadership can get 16 of the 18 members of their caucus to support this budget it will pass the Senate and the House will act on it tomorrow.
It is not clear if there is enough support in the Senate or Republican Caucus to pass the budget, although it is speculated that some more moderate Republicans may be convinced to vote for the budget in order to move the process along, despite their opposition to this budget. These less conservative Republicans would be gambling that the governor would veto the budget forcing further negotiations where the budget could be improved.
These partisan games need to come to an end. The governor and Senate and House leaders from both parties need to sit down and begin negotiating a budget that uses a comprehensive approach to resolve our nearly $4 billion dollar deficit.
Please contact your legislators immediately and let them know you oppose this budget. Ask them to urge the leaders in their parties to sit down with the Governor and leaders of both parties to craft a budget that uses revenue options to create a balanced budget that invests in public education and other vital state services.
Thing Happen Fast – Sign up for AEA Twitter so your communications with legislators is received before it is too late. With the quickly changing events at the Capitol, action is needed as a moment’s notice. In urgent situations, AEA can alert you by text to act if you sign up for twitter.
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The Arizona Legislature finally got it right last week when they failed the house and senate bills to delay when employees in the schools would need to be given non renewal letters and Reduction in Force Notices. Some may feel this was not the best thing, give districts more time. However, we contend this was the right move because if the legislature continues to play this waiting game then we all will get the shaft when the legislature makes their final decision on the budget, which should not include cutting education.
Moving the dates also may create a problem in timely responding to a contract offer. By statute, school employees have 30 days to sign and return the contract. This 30-day period is measured from the date of the contract – not the date on which the contract is received by the employee.
Many school employees already have made plans and commitments for the summer. Some leave the state for educational opportunities, jobs, and vacations. If contracts are issued when they are gone, the period within which they must accept and return those contracts may expire before they even know they have received a contract.
The CEA President recently sent information out to all members of the district in separate e-mails to share information about what is happening with the legislator and asking for people to contact their legislators. Many members both CEA and non CEA members expressed appreciation for this information. A few community based groups got the information and are now working with CEA leaders to get the message out into the community. We consider this a success, however a few did not appreciate it and felt it was political and SPAM, which is why the e-mail system for CEA was shut down for a while.
Here is an interesting thought and why CEA is fighting so hard to get us all working together. Their is a false sense of security occruing because of the cuts which were made for the remaining part of 2009 school year. No one, thankfully is being let go from their job or position with the district. This is good news, however the bad is the appearance of this fasle sense of security for next year and what is looming. This current year’s cuts will pale in comparison to next year’s cuts and many people in education across the state will not be in their same role and some may not have a job. We don’t know yet what the cuts may mean in terms of personnel or programs in the district yet. We will work on this during the IBN process, but we must as individuals also work on changing the minds of the legislators. We can do this, but it must be consistent and a strong force in order to do this.
Please continue to share information with your colleagues and refer them to our new website: www.creightonea.org or here to our blog. Their are many informational meetings still occuring at each of the sites. Your site leaders have asked for a committment from you to do any or all of the following:
Please get these committment cards back to your site steward so we can compile the information and start acting on this. We are at a point right now where we can either work seriously hard and long hours, to prevent our future from going South really quickly, or we can sit idly by and do nothing to help ourselves.
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009, CEA President and Creighton School District Superintendent were at the legislature together meeting with legislators who represent our district. We shared our stories, how these cuts would impact us in the district. We are working together to do our best to keep the decisions which should be made for the best interest of our students in public education held up at the capitol. If the legislature goes through and passes the Chairman’s cuts (Pearce and Kavanagh) then we will be in a world of hurt in the district. A request came from Representatives David Lujan, Kyrsten Sinema and Eric Myer to share how this impacts us in the neighborhoods, schools and community since they have the media spotlight.
We will be holding our Steward Council on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 3:30, location TBD. At 4:30PM we will have our general membership meeting, which ALL people are welcome to come to and find out more about what is happening at the legislature. As the Creighton Superintendent noticed and remarked to CEA President, Jason Schnee, CEA is in the middle of this with AEA we know what is happening and are working hard to make sure we don’t have to do the cuts.
PLEASE BRING AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN TO THIS MEETING, Parents, community members, business partners, anyone is welcome. CEA will also be presenting information at Monte Vista School’s PTO meeting next week about what’s happening to get the parents involved.
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