David Cook is a Republican politician elected to serve in the Arizona House of Representatives from the 8th Legislative District. Representative Cook was elected to the State House in 2016 and represents central and eastern Pinal County and southern Gila County. He currently is in opposition to tax reform.
When alerted that a postcard campaign was taking place on Wednesday the 16th to encourage him to listen to the stories of hardworking Arizonans that need tax relief he did provide the following social media tweets (@RepDavidCook), “ …Yes – “we” the people- not any one person, one party, one county- “We the people” of Arizona. Those of us that are truly conservatives – saving the taxpayers – Billions (or trying to) and paying off those debts – not kicking them down the road – for future generations.” A public school teacher then asked, for him to support the flat income tax rate. Now, more than ever we need tax relief. He replied, “How much are your HOA fees a year?” The response, “Respectfully, we don’t have HOA fees, we have Biden penalties.” Silence
Arizonans need to call Representative David Cook (LD8) 602-926-5162 and voice your stories about how hardworking citizens need tax relief. Tax relief is any government program or policy initiative that is designed to reduce the amount of taxes paid by individuals or businesses. This is the time to return money to taxpayers, not leave it in the hands of the government.
Catherine Barrett, an Arizona Master Teacher, has been called “the bravest teacher advocate in the state” by educators and lawmakers. She holds Masters degree in Education and had been teaching for 19 years.
Following the dissatisfaction with the education system last year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction race this year is bound to witness a huge turnout of parents and taxpayers. The recent school closings have been a source of frustration for many parents since they have coughed up a significant amount of money to keep their children in school.
The education system has not been kind to the parents due to the coronavirus outbreak, which forced all schools closed in order to avoid putting students at risk of contracting the virus. However, the education sector has not been resilient in its work and should have invented preventive measures to ensure that students returned to learning after a short period. The closing of schools indefinitely caused the taxpayer’s money to be wasted as money was already dispersed to the Department of Education to cater to education needs.
The general public is disappointed by the fact that around 7.1 billion dollars were spent on education, yet schools remained closed for a more extended period than deemed necessary by some.
Most working-class parents have been frustrated by the closures since their children needed extra care than they would have if schools were opened. Some financially unstable families also depend on schools for childcare and food for their children. The parents were forced to spend more to cater to their children’s welfare when they had already paid for school fees and taxes to keep them in school. This was a extra burden as some parents lost their jobs during the pandemic, and some had to close their business permanently. With more than 124,000 schools closed, many children were affected, and some were forced to drop out of schools after they reopened due to challenging financial situations their families faced.
Catherine Barrett, an Arizona Master Teacher, has been called “the bravest teacher advocate in the state” by educators and lawmakers. She holds Masters degree in Education and had been teaching for 19 years.
Low tax rates are essential for sustained growth and overall social wellbeing. Surveys show increased public support at 81% for reduced tax rates in Arizona. In support of teachers, activists such as those involved in the #REDforED movement, have emphasized the need for better measures that boost and enhance the overall reward scheme for teachers.
Reduced personal income tax will have a significant impact on the Arizona business community. A reduction of 2.5% in personal income tax evens the playground in the Arizona business environment. It will keep more money in small businesses, allowing them the much-needed resources for the growth and job creation. Without a doubt, Arizona’s business environment experience tax burden limits its attractiveness to external business and workforce. In addition, current tax policies have resulted in increased immigration outside the state. Employees are seeking a better working environment that has policies which enable them to keep a higher percentage of their earnings.
Furthermore, increased pocket income after-tax increases the family purchase power and reduces reliance on state interventions. The recommendations for tax reduction are also based on the state fiscal budget operated on-budget surplus. Thus, the recent proposal to increase the income tax is unwarranted harm to the local business community. Instead of increasing the tax burden, the state should adopt spending reforms. In the era of Covid-19, this proposal stands to impact natural and long-term effects on the Arizona people.
As a teacher activist, I support income tax relief so that employees, families, and businesses in Arizona survive and thrive during these challenging times. The Covid pandemic has negatively impacted business and families in Arizona. Income tax relief is essential to help the business and families under distress.
Catherine Barrett is an Arizona Governor’s Master Teacher and currently Chair of citizens initiative petition, A Classroom Code of Ethics For Public Schools K-12. You can find her on Twitter @ReadersLeadPD, and on Facebook at Yes4Ethics
As graduation season is quickly approaching, many high schools and universities are faced with deciding between virtual or in-person ceremonies. As states begin to lift mask mandates, as reported by The New York Times, educators choose to continue holding virtual graduations. Being forced to host these small ceremonies is not ideal, and the loss of their special celebrations will sadden many students. However, due to public health risks presented by the pandemic, this precaution is necessary for many schools. Virtual graduation is a hard decision, but it may have an upside. Let’s analyze the lack of traditional graduation ceremonies in serving as an eye-opener to the ‘lost’ school-time and the starless future in the job market.
Amid the complex changes, everybody has been compelled to cope. The strife of the pandemic has made way for more neighborly festivals later on. The need to adjust the face-to-face functions for pandemic limitations has set out the freedom for graduations to be more available later on. This option permits relatives who can’t travel or individuals with more extended families to participate in the special day.
Because of the pandemic, plans changed, and life was reconsidered. The virtual graduation functions were unquestionably not what seniors had expected as the hotly anticipated finish of their school vocations. Virtual graduations are not the slightest bit amazing arrangements; understudies merit the magnificence and acknowledgment that accompanies achieving such an accomplishment as moving on from secondary school or even primary school. Nonetheless, this isn’t to imply that beating the earlier year’s deterrents has received no rewards.
Alumni of 2021 merit the option to be disturbed about their deficiency of conventional functions, and their misery over virtual beginnings ought not to be neglected. Following quite a while of challenging work and late evenings considering, these understudies were denied graduation services and their capacity to command the entirety of their achievements face to face. Notwithstanding, these equivalent, appalling conditions have made COVID-time initiations open to potential participants who might not regularly have the option to drive to conventional graduations.
While the wearing of masks has become a norm across the world as we strive to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, the debate over their efficacy continues. Parents and teachers, who doubt the need for masks, are heeding the words of Robert Frost: “Freedom lies in being bold.” To that end they are uniting to end the mask mandates in classrooms.
Members of Arizona Stands United will be holding a rally at the Capitol on Monday afternoon after presenting Governor Doug Ducey with petitions bearing the signatures of over 10,000 Arizona who want children to have a choice.
The group, whose slogan is #LetTheChildrenBreathe, believe that due to the fact that the vast majority of teachers have been vaccinated, there is no justification for forcing children to wear masks.
The debate concerning wearing masks in schools has spurred heated discussions, and caused awkward, and even disturbing situations. Some teachers have been forced to call security on students who defy school mask policy.
The issue raises serious questions, not the least of which is how will the education system embrace choice and freedom for minors?
Catherine Barrett is an Arizona Governor’s Master Teacher and currently Chair of citizens initiative petition, A Classroom Code of Ethics For Public Schools K-12. You can find her on Twitter @ReadersLeadPD, and on Facebook at Yes4Ethics
