Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Apache Junction expounds on the impact of Prop. 100 on public education during the April Family Meeting at Sacaton Elementary School. Parents, teachers and administrators joined Rios to discuss the temporary sales tax and funding concerns.
SACATON- State Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Apache Junction, was welcomed on April 22 by Sacaton School District parents, educators and administrators at the monthly April Family Meeting. The meeting was held at Sacaton Elementary School with the focus or theme being “Concerns in Public Education.”
The issues centered on the severe cutbacks in K-12 education in Arizona. Critical decisions are looming for school districts as a result of the funding losses with the likelihood of curtailing educational services and student programs very real. Rios (D23) was on hand to explain the recent public education budget cuts and to discuss Proposition 100, the temporary one percent sales tax which would direct 2/3 of revenues generated to education funding.
“This was a very hotly contested issue in the legislature,” said Rios.
Proposition 100 will be put to a vote during a special election on May 18, 2010. Rios said that since FY 2009 the legislature has cut or shifted onto the local taxpayer $735.9 million dollars in K-12 education funding. Soft capital has also been reduced in FY ‘09, ‘10, and ‘11 for a loss of $186 million according to Rios. “That’s the money that your schools use to buy furniture, text books, computers, different types of technology, etc.” said Rios.
The senator also explained that Arizona is currently under-funded $1.5 billion and that the current legislation directly benefits private schools. “The priority of the current legislature is choosing private school education over public schools. Historically, funding has never been adequate for public school students in Arizona”. Rios went on to say, “you do need adequate funding to educate students, particularly in rural areas”.
Proposition 100 is a temporary tax levied for the purpose of raising state revenues for primary and secondary education, health and human services and public safety. According to the Arizona Education Network, as much as ¼ of all public education funding could be cut if Proposition 100 is not supported by voters. During the April Family Meeting, Rios said that if Proposition 100 is not passed, $428.6 million would be reduced for K-12 education. For Sacaton Elementary School District, this would amount to a reduction of $250,000.
Sacaton Elementary is already facing a projected $156,000 loss in operational and capital funding in 2010-11. Rios said that if Proposition 100 fails to be approved, cuts could then total over $400,000 for Sacaton Schools this coming school year. The yearly budget for the school district is approximately $4 million. “This would be a devastating impact on your local school district if Prop 100 doesn’t pass,” Rios said.
Rep. Frank Pratt, R-Casa Grande, explains the implications of Proposition 100 on his website www.pratt4az.com. “There are no budget cuts written into the language of Prop. 100 however, the budget for FY ‘11 was written based on the assumption of the approval of a 1 cent sales tax.” Furthermore Pratt noted that if Proposition 100 were to fail, cuts will also be made to public safety, healthcare, other state agencies, counties and cities, but the majority would be made in K- 12 and higher education.
Tribal Council Representative Arzie Hogg, D1 and Education Standing Committee member Phyllis Antone also attended the meeting which began with a chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy dinner and concluded with a raffle drawing for 14 prizes.
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