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PHOENIX -- Teachers associations across the state say they are encouraged by the new bipartisan $3.3 billion education package on the governor’s desk, but some worry the funding promise won’t last.
MORE: It's official: Arizona education to get extra $500 million Lawmakers still need to account for a nearly $2 billion budget shortage, and eighth grade science teacher Paul Strauss said he is worried the funding might be yanked from under them just as schools are getting back on their feet. In past months, Strauss said the Deer Valley School District, where he is a teacher, lost 100 teachers from layoffs in the worst budget crisis in Arizona’s history. Most of those were first and second year teachers. “We had 230 dollars per student in the state of Arizona,” said Strauss. “If things would have gone through the way that they were last week, we would be down to 30 dollars a student, so we can't replace outdated text books, and we can't even make copies of supplementary materials just to get us by.” Strauss and other teachers marched to Governor Jan Brewer's office with 100 letters from around Arizona, asking her to veto the budget lawmakers proposed last week, leaving the state with essentially no funding for public education. Brewer said she agreed that budget would have catastrophic affects on the public school system, and praised Republican and Democratic lawmakers for coming together to put forth the new education package a few days later. “I want to encourage them to stick with their chosen profession,” said Democratic Representative Patricia Fleming, about Arizona's teacher shortage. “We sympathize with you. We know that you're teaching because you love to teach, not because you're going to become wealthy, and in many instances these teachers are taking on second and third jobs just to survive.” The new education package will fund schools the same as last year, plus two percent per year for inflation. It will also allow Arizona to be eligible for around $1 billion in federal stimulus money for education. It sounds like a good on the surface, but some teachers say, it’s not all roses. Lawmakers have designed a $9.9 billion budget, but they only have $8 billion to use, leaving a nearly $2 billion funding gap. “That's the scary part,” said Strauss. “We may have some extra money, according to this bill that went through, but if the funding is not there in a couple months, I'm kind of afraid that money is going to be taken away, and then what do we do with those teachers again?” Brewer has been pushing for a $0.01 sales tax from the beginning of budget negotiations, but the idea of raising taxes does not have support from the House or Senate. Now, with 70 percent of the budget left to rework, and with no other revenue source, their only other option would be to make more spending cuts. “Speaking as a Republican school teacher, I'm not a big fan of taxes, but these are bills that we actually have,” said Strauss. “There are certain needs that we need as a society, and it's really hitting our kids hard.” Lawmakers have an October deadline to decide on the final budget, and with school starting in a month, Strauss said teachers want to know how many students will be in their classes, and whether they will have jobs at all.
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