Brewer: Kill tax initiative first, then work on education funding

27 comments:

• one of the last posted at 9:18 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 31

  How much of the 1cent tax went to schools. The gov and leg. diverted funds from it to the general fund. Then used it for tax credits for corporations.
  204 has a requirement that that wont happen to funding from this one. That is why Brewer is against it. She wont be able to divert the funds away from education.

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• sdjtaz posted at 9:37 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 127

  Timmy, we'll help you buy dog food for Lassie. But for us to help you, you first have to take Lassie out into the woods and shoot her.

  By no means is Prop 204 a great deal. However, it is on the ballot because Brewer and the conservatives in the Legislature have consistantly cut back on funding for education. Currently, tuition at ASU is just under $10,000 a year for in-state students (or nearly $40,000 for a four year degree). I wonder how that matches up with the Arizona Constitution (which states that university costs should be "as nearly free as possible").

  Then we can talk about the cutbacks to school districts in Arizona. First, the conservative Legislature has failed to provide the required funding for school construction and renovation, which is mandated by the Student's First law passed in 1998. In the last two budget years, funding for renovation decreased from $22.1 million (which was woefully short already) to $8.7 million. This means that many schools in poor and moderate income areas have to go without in order to pay for the maintenance costs themselves.

  Maybe it was time that Arizona refocused our priorities. Instead of focusing on saving a dollar in the State budget, so that we can cut upper income tax rates, we instead to focus on the future and fund our schools.

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• bubba posted at 9:40 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 313

  one of the last.....You've nailed it on the head!! Brewer only wants revenue she and her team of theives can steal from. For example: Fed. money meant for homeowners at risk of forclosure.

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• downtownresident posted at 9:44 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 770

  Until, "we the people" elect a legislature that wants to work on the problems we have instead of licking the boots of big business to get more money for themselves, I don't trust any of our political "leadership" to do the right thing.

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• Deddzone posted at 9:47 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 127

  Support 204 and don't let Brewer and the defunct state gov steal it away from schools.
  Gov Brewer, the voters are not happy and we are aware of your tricks. Education in Arizona is important and the voters will decide this--you had your chance.

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• David Lucier posted at 9:48 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 5

  Is Brewer joking? That's quite a negotiating tactic there, Jan..."drop all your demands, and then we'll talk." That's ludicrous.

  And where is our present "education advocate" John Huppenthal?

  Still holed up in an undisclosed location!

  Apparently, none of Jan's peeps will even talk to the guy. "Political consultant Charles Coughlin said he worked with Lisa Keegan and Jaime Molera, both former state school superintendents, on behalf of the state Board of Regents..."

  On behalf of the Board of Regents???? Who died and appointed Coughlin the spokesperson for the Board of Regents. Can't they speak for themselves?

  So, Jan won't talk. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is in hiding and the Board of Regents has been struck dumb.

  Obviously, a preview of things to come.

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• deportthemall posted at 11:00 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 7

  [beam]we do not need more taxes for anything, we need spending cuts! and to fight against educating the students of illegals, stop all tax funding that supports/encourages illegals to come with their entire families to suck off the tax payer teets.

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• JMJ posted at 12:00 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 297

  Egads. Just another day in the state which is first in cuts to education and last in education because of the cuts imposed by the dunderheads in "charge".

  Vote YES on 204. Leave GED Jan in the dust.

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• Bodacious posted at 12:34 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 28

  Thank you Gov. Brewer for having the knowledge to know that throwing more money at a problem does not necessarily fix the problem. Vote NO on Prop 204. It will just be more money wasted by our overblown education system.
  Arizona is 9th in spending per student ($11,000 per student) yet virtually last in test scores. By comparison South Dakota is 48th in spending ($6,000 per student) yet rank in the top ten in test scores. Why is that?
  It's because South Dakota doesn't have to spend half their time teaching kids English before teaching them reading, writing, and arithmetic.

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• ibcingu posted at 1:15 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 1

  I agree with everyone on here who's said Brewer doesn't want this cuz she won't be able to "steal it", which is exactly why this state has no money for education.

  
  THE GOP IN THIS STATE ARE PATHETIC ---AND -- WAKE UP PEOPLE--- THEY'RE KILLING IT.

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• Tookie88 posted at 1:18 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 134

  I am a teacher and a few years ago when the budget mess began, we were told to spend what we referred to as our "rainy day" fund right away. The reason? The state was looking for money and our school's rainy day fund that we used to fill any shortcomings for supplies, field trips, etc. was considered part of the general state fund and the state was planning on taking it. The school and the district didn't want to loose any of that money that was suppose to go to the classroom and students.

  The state will rob education blind every chance they get...and they already have. But see how quickly the politicians are to use the term, "It's for the children" whenever they need money! Also, the politicians are so proud of the fact that we were number one in budget cuts for schools...what is so great about telling the rest of the world that Arizona does not value education?

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• Mike McClellan posted at 1:25 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 785

  The folks here against the sales tax extension ought to know that this extension doesn't "throw more money" at education, it maintains the level (maybe) it's at now.

  And as we all know, Arizona cut more from its education budget than any state in the nation over the last 5 years.

  And as we all know, the legislature and Jan Brewer have cut education funding by 22% over the last three years.

  As to this stuff by Bodacious, about how Ariozna schools "are virtually last in test scores." -- Really?

  We rank 30th in SAT in the last comparison -- middle of the pack
  On the NAEP, we're middle of the pack.

  But as to your claim about South Dakota -- well, according to the latest statistics, that state spends $8500 per pupil and ranks 12 in student performance. Arizona spends $7900 per pupil and ranks 43.

  The number 1 performing state? Massachusetts -- which spends almost $15,000 per pupil. Number 2? Vermont, with over $15,000 per pupil. Number 3? Minnesota, at $11,000 per pupil.

  Here's the source -- http://www.golocalprov.com/news/exclusive-national-education-rankings-ri/

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• ralpho posted at 1:44 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 38

  This is what people like her dont understand about taxing us.
  Where we are taxed to death is not the federal level it is tax on everything else.
  Even the fees on things like license plates smog it all adds up to lets see 25 percent of income on cigarettes for us low income most of us. 8 1/2 everything else where I live, plus fees like the ones smog license plate insurance forced gas price taxed. another 2 or more, 35 percent of income now add very high rent you can see why the line is so long at the grocery store on Friday there is no food left and no money to buy until pay day.
  Oh like you can afford anything but noodles and not the cup of noodles brand either.

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• republicaningilbert posted at 1:57 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 12

  McClellan, a studio apartment in Massachusetts runs $2500 a month. Factoring the cost of living exchange Massachusetts spends the same as Arizona. That has been debunked many times over. Massachusettes also has a very high percentage of students that attend or have attended private school. Far more than any other state. Therefore, many of those high public school scores in MA are from children that were previously educated in private schools and as the economy changed their parents put them in public schools.

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• Mike McClellan posted at 3:49 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 785

  Can't have it both ways, republicaningilbert -- the Dakotas have a lower cost of living than does Arizona, so is it far to compare per pupil between us and them? Especially when you factor in the cost of ELL compared to the lack of cost in the Dakotas?

  In addition, most of the scores in the NAEP come from public schools -- only about 500 private schools across the nation are tested by the NAEP.

  As to your claim about kids shifting from private to public schools, where's your proof and how many is "many"?

  And your studio apartment fantasy, the one that says it costs $2500 a month? Sure, you can pay even more than $2500 a month for a studio . . . in the best parts of Boston, that is. Newsflash, though, Boston ain't the entire state. And I can get a decent studio in Boston for less than a decent studio around Mill Ave. in Tempe. And I can go just a little outside of Boston to, for example, Worcester, and pay $1100 for a nice two-bedroom. So we all know it costs more to live back East than here, but Mass. spends almost twice as much per pupil than we do.

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• ParentX posted at 4:22 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 7

  In May 2009, the leaders of the DM-50, Fort Huachuca 50 and Fighter Country Partnership sent the following letter to Governor Jan Brewer.

  Their appeal fell on deaf ears. Over the last few years, Brewer and the legislature have presided over millions in additional education cuts.

  Time's up. Proposition 204 has my full support.

  Dear Governor Brewer:

  We are writing to strongly encourage you to resist calls for further cuts to education spending as you continue to make necessary budget decisions. From the perspective of the most recent round of the Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process in 2005, further cuts in education endanger the $10B economic engine we seek to preserve and grow; namely, our military installations.

  Quality of education for family members continues to be a significant measure in the Pentagon’s calculus of the value of a military installation. For example, during the last BRAC round the Sierra Vista community put as much effort into preventing the Pentagon BRAC commission from misrepresenting Fort Huachuca with the gross state per-capita education spending statistic as it did in educating them about the true nature of water in Southeastern Arizona. There’s no room for erosion (in either).

  The Pentagon will make decisions to restructure basing of forces as US involvement in the conflict in the Middle East winds down, as it fields new aircraft and major defense budget changes are announced. Education is also a major factor in attracting the talent needed by the many high-tech contracting firms that support Arizona’s military installations. Rest assured that education will be one of the key factors in determining the continued viability of Arizona’s military installations. Holding the line on education spending is an investment in Arizona’s and America’s future.

  The challenges of the current budgetary process are daunting, but they should not cause us to make decisions that will have serious and unintended consequences. We strongly urge you to resist attempts to further cut funding for education in Arizona communities.

  Sincerely,
  Glen Kerslake, President, DM-50
  Lawrence J. Portouw, President, Fort Huachuca 50
  Steve Yamamori, Executive Director/CEO, Fighter Country Partnership

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• AzEagletarian posted at 4:55 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 3

  "I will work with everybody,'' Brewer said. "And I believe that those people that are behind 204, we need to come together, all of us, to come back to the table, sit down, and get another proposition or another plan put together that is accountable.''

  Accountable TO WHOM, is the real issue here. This is taking place BECAUSE she and the legislature are NOT accountable to the people who elected them.

  The drafters of the Arizona Constitution KNEW more than 100 years ago what kind of shenanigans unaccountable lawmakers could do, that's why they were pioneers in the process of CITIZEN INITIATIVES.

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• AzEagletarian posted at 4:59 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 3

  By the way, the LEGISLATURE put another TAX CUT proposition on this year's general election ballot already and they have signs out on the streets claiming it is about adding JOBS. B S!

  Prop 116 is another TAX CUT they want to build into the Arizona Constitution. The only way they can get people to go along with it is to spew propaganda claiming tax cuts will add jobs to the economy.

  How did that work out for George W Bush???

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• Deddzone posted at 5:58 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 127

  I am giving full support to Prop 204. If gutting education was working so well, why are we so behind other states in education? What are we now---47th or 48th when it comes to education.

  It's very difficult to have an uneducated Governor explain why we do not need to fund education. I would strongly suggest the GOP seek candidates who have more math skills!

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• LearningEveryDay posted at 7:57 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 9

  No, Governor Brewer, I do not want to wait for your solution.
  Your solutions have been too little, too late.
  The meager amounts you have proposed to improve funding to educatin were soundly ignored by the legislature time after time.

  Vote YES on Prop 204 because our schools need to be funded adequately.

  If you have no children in school (mine graduated and moved out of state)
  Vote YES on Prop 204 so that your future DOCTOR, Car Mechanic, Accountant, and plumber, will have had a good education.
  
  Propl 204 invests in education and infrastructure. Vote YES on Prop 204 if you want to drive over AZ bridges and feel confident that they are sound and safe.

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• phxvato1202 posted at 9:15 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 123

  yea brewer, like we trust you to keep your word, your inept and pathetic as our top leader of this state. you and all the gop thugs running this great state need to resign and let this state succeed because if they do it won't be because of anything you did for it.

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• phxvato1202 posted at 9:17 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.

  Posts: 123

  I have been reviewing the booklet sent out by bennett about the coming elections and anything brewer, pearce and arpaio are for i will vote against it as will many more like me.

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• wdgnas posted at 5:43 am on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.

  Posts: 549

  gov. brewer wants a law without oversight, how convenient.

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• Tookie88 posted at 6:57 am on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.

  Posts: 134

  Last time I am saying this....we are not at the bottom for education....we are near the bottom for student funding of education. We are about middle of the pack when it comes to actual scores for student's knowledge. You should thank a teacher for doing so much with so little. Arizona has the lowest paid teachers in the country who work much harder than I have seen teachers work anywhere else. Just think what teachers could do if their classrooms were properly funded...that classrooms had enough resources to stay competitive with the rest of the country...that we could hire more aides to help support struggling students....that we could decrease class sizes....the list goes on. Combine proper funding and the hard work of talented teachers and our scores will sore through the roof!

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• Light-a-Shuck posted at 8:26 am on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.

  Posts: 7

  Talk is cheap. The governor is NOT about funding for public education. She is all about support of charter schools, vouchers and on-line instruction not so much because it's better, just cheaper. Those Radical Republicans at the head shed downtown are all about continued cuts to public education. They see public education as the beast to kill. Take a closer look at what's happened over the last three years in public education. They killed kindergarten funding, virtually eliminated soft-capital and school building funding. No, the governor doesn't have the guts to stand against Goldwater Institute backed republicans that have it out for public education.

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• samkat posted at 2:11 pm on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.

  Posts: 1164

  Welcome to the state of Arizona where we have the best government special interest money can buy. Jan doesn't even get out of bed without Charles Coughlin's permission. She has no power over the legislature and those nimrods are out to destroy the public school system so they and their cronies can loot our tax dollars for themselves. I will vote for Prop 204 since it is a thorn in the side of our so called conservatives.

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• phxvato1202 posted at 7:40 pm on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.

  Posts: 123

  samkat-- your only kidding yourself when you make a comment that you will vote for tge prop 204 to get at conservatives. honestly you had every intention of voting for it even before this story came out cause you just like brewer, arpaio and pearce. you have posted so many comments on azcentral that indicate that you didn't just walk up to this article, you looked for it. Yor a hypocrite just like brewer is, and your now i will support brewer because?? id so full of ch?? just like you. your a racists, have always been and always will be so at least be honest with yourself and quit pretending to be anti brewer cause it's doesn't become you.

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