While Arizona Democrats continue to search for ways to bring down the state’s school choice opportunities, Republicans are working on solutions to increase salaries for teachers in K-12 public schools.
On Monday, Arizona Republican legislators held a press conference to announce a plan to raise teachers’ pay, calling it the “Teacher Pay Fund.” The goal of the lawmakers is to “deliver K-12 public school educators with an average of 7% pay raises all without increasing taxes.”
According to the press release from Arizona Senate Republicans, the plan involves an addition to the November 2024 ballot, where voters would decide on Prop 123’s future. If voters approved that question, that money would be “dedicated solely to teacher pay raises, beginning in the summer of 2025.”
Senate President Warren Petersen endorsed the plan, saying, “This initiative will allow Arizona to be more competitive in teacher salaries, boosting teacher pay in Arizona above the national average, and making a big increase to starting teacher pay. We believe we can continue this dedicated funding source long-term because the fund has already grown exponentially over the last eight years, even during tumultuous economic times.”
The Chair of the Senate’s Education Committee, Ken Bennett, added, “Republicans have led the charge in dedicating billions of new dollars to K-12 education, on top of Prop 123 funds and inflationary increases, but unfortunately not enough of those dollars are getting into our classrooms or to our teachers. Arizona teachers right now make about $56,700, on average. This proposal will increase teacher pay to an average of over $60,000. We can – and we should – do better. This is a responsible proposal that won’t create a new tax burden for our citizens.”
AZ Free News reached out to Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, who said, “We absolutely have to increase teacher salaries. We lose 40% of our teachers in 4 years and then another 26% in years five to nine. So that’s a total of 63% of our teachers that we’re losing. We cannot replace teachers at that rate. Surrounding States all pay more and we lose good teachers. We can’t afford to keep doing that.”
One of the top advocates for teacher pay increases at the state legislature, freshman Representative Matthew Gress, attended the press conference and supported the plan. He posted, “Today, I’m proud to join with teachers, school board members, and my legislative colleagues to introduce a plan that sends 100% of NEW State Land Trust resources for K-12 education DIRECTLY to the classroom. If approved by voters, classroom teachers will get a $4,000 RAISE.”
Today, I’m proud to join with teachers, school board members, and my legislative colleagues to introduce a plan that sends 100% of NEW State Land Trust resources for K-12 education DIRECTLY to the classroom.
Gress took a political shot at some of the state’s education interest groups, adding, “It’s time to bypass school administration and the education unions to do what’s right for Arizona students. Every student deserves a high quality educational leader in the front of their classroom, EVERY DAY without exception. Common sense couldn’t be more clear.”
It’s time to bypass school administration and the education unions to do what’s right for Arizona students.
EVERY student deserves a high quality educational leader in the front of their classroom, EVERY DAY without exception.
It didn’t take long for some of those groups to react to the Republicans’ plan. The Arizona Education Association’s President, Marisol Garcia, warned that “the devil is in the details,” making the case for “education support professionals” to receive increases in pay along with the state’s teachers.
Save Our Schools Arizona called the proposal a “shell game,” accusing Republicans of using this scheme to cut funding to K-12 schools. The group argued that Arizona legislators should instead be committing “new dollars” for students and teachers and attacked the 2022 universal expansion of ESAs as part of the problem.
Read our statement on the proposed “Teacher Pay Fund,” which is a shell game: pic.twitter.com/bYRuOF0FkC
Earlier this year, Representative Gress, a Republican, sponsored HB 2800, which would have given Arizona teachers a pay increase. According to figures provided by House Republicans, the bill would have given state instructors the fourth highest ($50,554) starting salaries in the nation, compared to a current ranking of 27th ($40,554). The bill did not make it to Governor Katie Hobbs’ Office during the 2023 session.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A controversial post on social media from southern Arizona Democrats was deleted after attracting significant outrage from around the country.
Last week, the Pima County Democratic Party responded to a post on the platform “X,” calling for the end of school choice in Arizona.
The post that the Pima County Democrats chose to react to was from Greg Price, who, according to his bio, is involved with communications with the State Freedom Caucus Network. Price was alerting his more than 326,000 followers about the news out of the Illinois Legislature, where the state house there adjourned without extending the Invest in Kids program, which gives scholarship tax credits to almost 10,000 low-income children.
Pima County Democrats wrote, “Let’s make this a goal here in Arizona. Let’s kill school choice – send it to the grave.”
People were quick to respond to the post. Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope stated, “Let’s be clear about what this tweet means. School Choice in AZ really blossomed in the 1990s and times prior in AZ. @PimaDems want to end school choice options like Open Enrollment within a school district, charter schools, abolish private schools, eliminate home schooling. Basically have the government tell families what to do with their kids cuz the government knows best. Nope. Not gonna happen as long as I represent Pima County!”
Let’s be clear about what this tweet means. School Choice in AZ really blossomed in the 1990s and times prior in AZ. @PimaDems want to end school choice options like Open Enrollment within a school district, charter schools, abolish private schools, eliminate home schooling.… https://t.co/LSjDM3YaVy
Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma weighed in, saying, “The Democrats’ desparate attacks on school choice do nothing but reveal their own desire to indoctrinate children with their radical leftist ideologies. They couldn’t stop charter schools or other school choice programs despite decades of trying. School choice is here to stay.”
Even a journalist from the Arizona Republic, Laurie Roberts, added her thoughts about the post. Roberts said, “Pima County Democrats want to kill charter schools, as well as universal ESAs? Genius plan if your goal is to remain the minority party at the Legislature.”
Pima County Democrats want to kill charter schools, as well as universal ESAs? Genius plan if your goal is to remain the minority party at the Legislature. https://t.co/UwnqQJHbVG
Despite the pushback on their post and the subsequent deletion of it, the county party continued to attack school choice over the weekend, focusing its ire on the state’s universal ESA program. The southern Arizona Democrats wrote, “Did you know that even though Arizona private and charter schools are fueled by our ESA/Voucher tax dollars, they can turn away kids for any reason they want. School choice isn’t your choice, it’s the school’s choice. 92% of AZ kids attend public schools. Fund them.”
Did you know that even though Arizona private and charter schools are fueled by our ESA/Voucher tax dollars, they can turn away kids for any reason they want. School choice isn't your choice, it's the school's choice. 92% of AZ kids attend public schools. Fund them. pic.twitter.com/GD4WVBxA8D
Their account added, “Private schools and Charter Schools are virtually non-existent in rural Arizona. The ESA and Voucher scam, robs rural public schools of their already dire funding, and gives it to parents in wealthy Scottsdale zip codes. It’s a scam folks.”
Private schools and Charter Schools are virtually non-existent in rural Arizona. The ESA and Voucher scam, robs rural public schools of their already dire funding, and gives it to parents in wealthy Scottsdale zip codes. It's a scam folks.
With the start of the Arizona legislative session just two months away, these sentiments from Democrats in the state’s second-largest county are instructive to ascertain how party activists will attempt to steer the policy movements on school choice issues. In the 2023 session, Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs failed to achieve any cuts or increased regulations on ESAs, angering members of her base who felt that she abandoned her campaign promises. After signing the budget she negotiated with Republican legislators, however, Hobbs turned up the dial on her attacks on the ESA program, attempting to smooth over the frustrations of Democrats around the state. The uptick in political bickering with ESAs will be a factor in navigating critical boxes to check, including the completion of the next fiscal year budget.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizonans may be ready to do an about-face on a candidate for President of the United States if recent polls are any indication of next year’s results in the November 2024 General Election.
On Tuesday, Noble Predictive Insights released a poll, showing that former President Donald J. Trump has an eight-point lead over current President Joe Biden in the Grand Canyon State.
The snapshot of the still-distant race has many encouraging signs for the 45th President, although sixteen percent of Arizona voters may still be undecided. Trump holds an eighty-point advantage within the Republican Party for the General Election, while Biden appears to only command a net sixty-seven points inside his own party. Independents, who are Arizona’s largest voting bloc, are split between the two candidates (37-34 Trump), and there are still a significant portion of those voters who are unsure about who they will vote for – if at all – in November’s crucial contest.
Noble Predictive Insights also released a poll of the Republican primary field, showing Trump with a commanding lead over any other competitors. Trump’s numbers in the November survey grew to 53% of the Republican electorate (up from 50% in July), while Governor Ron DeSantis lost three points (19% from 16%). Ambassador Nikki Haley doubled her standing from the July report, acquiring eight percent of the Arizona GOP field (from four percent in July). Vivek Ramaswamy remained at nine percent. This poll was fielded at the end of October, when former Republican contenders Mike Pence and Tim Scott were in the race; Pence pulled in three percent, and Scott, one percent.
In the press release announcing the results of this latest poll, David Byler, the Chief of Research for Noble Predictive Insights said, “An eight-point lead for Trump is striking, but not surprising. Poll averages have Trump ahead of Biden by about a point nationally – that’s a five point swing from the 2020 results. If Arizona – one of the most closely contested states of 2020 – also swung that much, we’d expect individual polls to give Trump a mid-to-high single-digit lead. That’s exactly what our poll – and other recent surveys – have shown.”
The Noble Predictive Insights poll tracks what other recent surveys have telegraphed about the state of the General Election in Arizona: Trump does appear to have a lead over Biden in the state. The latest New York Times / Siena College poll has Trump up by five in Arizona in a head-to-head match-up (49-49 with 603 Registered Voters). Emerson College has the former President leading by two points with a set of polls of both “Likely” and “Registered” voters. And Morning Consult has Trump up four points (46-42 with 800 Registered Voters).
The poll from Noble Predictive Insights computed from 1,010 registered Arizona voters and took placed between October 25-31.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
While the contests weren’t as significant as in other states , last Tuesday, Arizonans concluded a month of elections, which largely took place via absentee ballots.
The majority of races across the state, primarily in Maricopa County, were for bond approvals. Flagstaff voters made decisions on almost two dozen questions, while Tucson voters considered mayoral and city council selections.
Opponents of municipal bonds had a decent night of results. On the Arizona Republic’s Election Tracker page, twelve of forty-four of those questions appeared to be rejected by voters. Many of those results came in the west and east regions of Maricopa County.
In the lead-up to the election, both the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and the Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA) shed light on the spending requests up for adjudication by the voters. ATRA wrote in September that the “$3.5 billion in bonds is easily the largest statewide K12 bond request in history.” The Arizona Free Enterprise Club added, “This level of borrowing being sought by local school districts is both unwise and unnecessary, especially given the large amounts of money that have been pumped into the system.”
Most of the bond questions were approved, however, with several of those results occurring in Glendale and Phoenix. Glendale had five successful bond outcomes and Phoenix had four.
Jeff Barton, the City of Phoenix’s Manager thanked his municipality’s voters for their positive support for the bonds, saying, “Thank you, Phoenix residents, for supporting the 2023 General Obligation Bond Program. Because of your support, we will be able to fund critical infrastructure and rehabilitation needs of both aging City facilities and areas of rapid growth, with new and enhanced parks, libraries, fire and police stations, affordable housing, street improvements and more.”
In 2024, Arizona voters will have higher-profile races to make determinations on, including a President of the United States, a U.S. Senator, and a bulging list of initiatives with critical implications for the future of the state. Although elections in even years have both mail-in and in-person components, most of the voting is still done via absentee opportunities, making the return of those ballots critical to candidates’ and propositions’ successes.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
An Arizona leader has traveled to Israel to show his support of its people as they continue to recover from one of the worst terrorist attacks in their nation’s history.
Peoria Mayor Jason Beck revealed on his Facebook platform this week that he had visited Israel “to meet with and support IDF soldiers, political and religious leaders around the country.”
The first-year mayor surmised he might have been “the first American to visit (the Kibbutz Be’eri) due to the continued threats in the area. This community of approximately 1,100 men, women, and children lost over 120 individuals in the October 7 terrorist attack from Hamas – more than ten percent of its population.
Beck shared he “felt it was extremely important to tour Be’eri and provide an accurate accounting of the horror and the intensity of what took place at this location.” He added that “the lives that were taken, the extreme brutality of Hamas of how men, women and children were tortured, executed and slain is important for someone to take in and carry forward for others to experience and hopefully recognize these heinous acts that took place on these beautiful people.”
As Mayor Beck concluded his post, he challenged readers to stand with this American ally in their fight against their terrorist enemies, writing, “To not support Israel’s ability to defend their people, home and lands from Hamas is to support terrorism and weakness that will surely spread across this world if it is not destroyed.”
According to his account, Beck met with the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen; Rabbi Rabinovich of the Western Wall, and other rabbis and pastors in the country.
Though the west valley mayor has less than one year of time in the political world, he has decades of military and foreign affairs experience through his work in the private sector. Beck is the Founder and CEO of TYR Tactical, which is a “leading global manufacturer of tactical gear and equipment for military and law enforcement.” He also served the United States in the Marine Corps before he veered into his business ventures.
Days after the horrific terrorist attack in Israel, Beck vowed to “send body armor to Israel for the protection of the brave soldiers who will defend their homeland and our Western values.” That promise was fulfilled with an estimate of 2,000 protective vests being shipped to Israel.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
