Photo Credit: azcentral.com
Scottsdale Unified had its share of struggles last year; an incredibly onerous number of struggles. 2021 could easily be considered a Year From Hell for the district. 2022 is arriving with a struggle that is even more imposing than scandal and angry protestors however; it brings the potential of financial crisis.
Due to a relatively arcane statute that is over 40 years old, the Scottsdale Unified School District may be forced to cut $27 million from their budget, a move that would be catastrophically impactful for education in the district; that amount would pay for 52 full days of instruction. And additional $15 million would need to be cut for the next year as well.
So why is this problem on the horizon? Because all the way back in 1980, voters approved an Arizona Constitutional amendment to cap education spending growth to 10% annually, regardless of circumstances. Spending is currently over that limit due to several reasons, including lower attendance rates due to COVID, along with sales tax dollars now included in the equation.
And this could all be solved with a simple vote in the legislature. Easy, right? Why would legislators want to hold children hostage for education funding? Superintendent Kathy Hoffman and a few Democratic legislators are sounding the alarms and calling for it.
Speculation is that Republicans in the legislature are holding out in order to get great concessions from Democrats on education, including vouchers. While tough to prove, it makes sense: so long as they keep their caucus in line, they are in the position of power and have leverage. Why not use it?
Perhaps, but the optics are bad, and the potential outcomes are worse. School districts are now having to do contingency planning across the state, preparing for a worst case scenario that may or may not come. Besides, holding funding hostage for non-necessary legislation which has generally been deemed as unpopular (as vouchers generally are) isn’t good politicking.
There are times for power plays and using leverage, but dangling necessary funding over the head of schools around the state is not the right play. Leadership in the legislature should do the right thing, and simply approve the lifting of the cap so schools can get back to normal and focus on actual education instead of triage.