Ahwatukee Helping to Destroy Public Education in Arizona

WASHINGTON (Democratic DAD) March 13th, 2009 — Ahwatukee’s own Legislative District 20 Senator John Huppenthal and Representative John McComish, along with their fellow Republicans who dominate the Arizona state Legislature, continue to be “penny wise and dollar foolish” in their support for the destruction of public education in Arizona through budget slashing. In a state with bare-bones educational funding to these slashes will increase class size, leave no money for new textbooks and remove other essentials. Remember, Arizona is No. 49 in per-pupil spending without the current slashing effort. As an educational administrator in the Phoenix area I can tell you that there is no fluff. Essentials will have to be cut.

If you are an Ahwatukee parent with a K-12 student, that student most likely attends either Kyrene or Tempe Union High School District or a publicly-funded charter school, because 85 percent of students throughout the state attend a publicly-funded school. As a resident of one of the most highly educated communities in the state it is more than likely that you view the education of your child as a top priority. Why, you probably even choose to live in Ahwatukee because of its superior public schools!

Like my wife and I would have done when we were raising our two sons, if the situation arose you would make any personal financial sacrifice necessary to insure that your child received a quality education. After all, his or her ticket to a successful financial adulthood depends on it. Doing anything less would be jeopardizing their economic future.

Huppenthal and McComish, as well as their Republican cohorts in the legislature, support sacrificing the economic future of your child through budget slashing. As a matter of fact, not only are they telling you to forgo a quality education for your own child, but to also forgo a quality education for 85 percent of the K-12 students in Arizona who attend public school districts and public charter schools. This is clearly shortsightedness on their part. They are telling you that returning to the state tax levels paid in 2006 (when there was a state budget surplus of $1 billion), which would increase property taxes on an average home by $96 and add 10 percent to the current state income tax, or instituting a new tax is too much of a burden to bear.

Don’t they understand that today’s students are tomorrow’s earners?

It is a well known fact that higher education leads to higher incomes (http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_786.html). By lowering the quality of education in Arizona won’t we also be lowering the future earning power of our citizens? Don’t lower earners pay less taxes and have less discretionary income causing a less than thriving economy? Won’t this have a devastating effect on the economic future of the entire state? Do you understand their lack of forethought? I certainly don’t.

Recently, Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer, who has opposed tax hikes for many years past, came out in favor of a temporary tax increase in order to save needed programs that are being cut with the current budget ax. I urge you to contact Huppenthal and McComish (or your own state senator or representative if you reside in other legislative districts in the state) and let them know that they must support this tax increase because it is vital to both the children of our community and the economy of Arizona for years to come. The e-mail addresses and phone numbers of all members of the legislature can be found at www.azleg.gov.

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