Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey released his proposed budget on Feb. 10. Initial estimates suggest Ducey’s $9.5 billion budget will generate a $621 million surplus. While this seems like a wonder of fiscal magic, it neglects a major component that the state has failed to accurately fund over the last decade: Education.
In May, Arizona voters will head to the polls to vote for or against Proposition 123, a proposal designed to settle a lawsuit in which the court found the Arizona State Legislature at fault for not increasing funding for schools based on inflation during the Great Recession of 2008 and ordered the state to restore funding posthaste.
Attorneys for the legislators fought tooth and nail against a group of school districts and educational advocates to avoid paying the back interest and inflation adjustments that totaled at least $750 million. Including interest, funding to state universities and the increasing number of students, the sum total due that Arizona’s education has been shortchanged since 2008 ranges as high as $1.7 billion.
To settle a court injunction that would have ordered immediate payments to schools, negotiators settled on a proposal to be sent to voters. If approved, Proposition 123 would add roughly $600 million to education by borrowing from the State Trust fund. Even Arizona Treasurer Jeff DeWitt formally opposes the proposition, arguing that it is a short-sighted measure dipping into the fund’s principal, cutting future interest growth and because its overly optimistic economic outlook does not account for stock fluctuations which would deplete the fund should the economy slow or face another recession.
Proposition 123 advocates state the plan would add $300 per student per year, which seems great, but in order to reach the national average for per-student funding, the state would need to increase that to $3,000 per student. Arizona is ranked 49th in the nation in per-student funding, which has actually fallen 13.3 percent since 2008.
Last year, Ducey cut funding to Arizona’s three state universities by $99 million, which already suffered millions more in budget cuts since 2008. Ducey’s new budget only restores $8 million.
In 2010, the Arizona Board of Regents made cuts to the state’s honors scholarships, which formerly provided full rides to students who placed high on the state assessment test. Now that fund only provides for 25 percent of their tuition. Sedona and the Verde Valley’s best and brightest students who look to earn a relatively low-cost higher education at Arizona’s universities have fewer tuition assistance programs and services to look forward to and may instead opt for out-of-state schools with more scholarship opportunities, meaning that once they graduate, they are less likely to return to Arizona for employment, hurting our overall economy and our communities.
While balancing the budget should be the goal of every elected official, claiming a surplus when programs for our kids have been consistently cut is either fiscally irresponsible governance or outright deception.
Ducey should pour his $621 million “surplus” into education to reach pre-recession levels until the $1.7 billion debt is paid off. Until then, Ducey’s claim must be footnoted with: Surplus due to stealing from your kids.
