Arizona Legislature Balances Budget on the Backs of Children

[toomuch2lose]

OK I just learned that Arizona subsidizes a solar program for homes and businesses. A lot of states also do this as well,except for the state of Arkansas,which by the way,does not have the budget problems that Arizona does. So my question is: How much money did the state give away in these subsidies,meanwhile cutting education,and health care? .

[scrapdaddy811]

maybe these budget cuts will force these idiots to cut the fraud and fluff our of there budget. to assume that more money = better education is proven wrong by these fools every day. the amount that we spend per student borders on being obscene the simple fact is that they would spend 3x as much if they were alowed to and they wouldnt improve the quality of education one bit, it would go almost compleetly to raises for upper manigmant.

[JaneBlonde411]

How can a woman who was not even elected into office come in and take away what little funding we did have for schools? This is crazy! Help! We need Napoletano Back!!

[Teacher617]

I am Flagstaff EA vice-president. Yes, we must balance the AZ budget by law, but legislators turned much too quickly to education cuts instead of looking at other means. If the weather allows today, I plan to attend 2 meetings at NAU to hear what they have to say, then voice my concerns.

Feb. 9, 10-12:30 and 7-9 p.m.

[chick5581]

That was such a good video! haha! Good job! I like the music in the background too. What was the song you used?

[stratcat99]

If we are so far behind everyone else in funding, and we have been for some time, then over spending on education is not the cause of the problem. Therefore, cutting funding from education is not the solution. This seems like the easy way out for many elected officials. More thought needs to go into what can be cut first, and where money is being wasted. If other states can do it, AZ can. Losing teachers and families with students is not going to help the AZ budget.

[AZEducationAssoc]

This is a touchy issue but what we must understand is that Arizona is 51st in the nation for public school funding. Our state does not have the luxury of cutting public schools. Our problem is not overspending, its a broken revenue system which does not provide enough resources to fund already underperforming services. Tax loopholes and cuts for the wealth corporate interests are not the pathway to a successful future. Investing in education is!

[dirishjock]

i am a teacher and a member of AEA and nobody wants to see education cut but we have a constitution that says that the budget must be balanced. Everyone is facing cuts. People forget that if the economy is down the state has less revenue to fund all programs not just education. What we face here is just another case of someone spending beyond their means, in this case it was Arizona State Government. We may not like it but we ALL must bite the bullet and cut back until the economy recovers.

[jillhicks1975]

Andrew - thank you for taking the time to make this message. I agree with your comments and appreciate everything that AEA does. I'd love for you to present more facts in your message so that we can take those specifics to our legislature when calling, emailing and faxing them about our concerns.