Local school districts and education advocates are relieved following the passage of Proposition 301 into law last week, securing an important school funding source for the near future.
On March 27 Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law Proposition 301, a bill that extends the education sales tax an additional 20 years. The 0.6-cent sales tax brings in about $667 million dollars into the Arizona public school system per year.
The money from Prop 301 funds classroom expenses and building maintenance, state universities, community colleges and provides money to students and their families for scholarships. It also helps fund teacher salaries, which has been a point of concern for teachers participating in recent walkouts and protests as part of the Red for Ed movement.
Prop 301 was originally passed in 2000 and is set to expire in 2021. The renewing of this law protects it until 2041.
The extension of this law does not give the state’s public schools and universities any additional funding, or increase the tax rate, but it does relieve some of the tension within the education community that was looming over the expiration.
“We are happy that the funding cliff is off the table and we can now start the difficult conversation about what the vision for Arizona education is,” said CEO of Expect More Arizona Christine Thompson. “We hope the progress meter is the frame for that conversation, and then how we can make investments moving forward to benefit the entire education continuum.”
Expect More Arizona is a nonpartisan organization working statewide to support an excellent education for every child from preschool through college. They created a progress meter to measure how students in Arizona are progressing toward national level goals.
This school year Prop 301 provided just over $12 million for Phoenix Union High School District which means about $386 per student.
In the Phoenix Union High School District, the graduation rate increased from 55 percent to 83.3 percent since Prop 301 was signed into law in 2000. The annual dropout rate in 2000 was 9.3 percent; today, it’s 3.1 percent.
According to data from the district, about 50 percent of last year’s Phoenix Union graduates enrolled in college immediately after high school.
“That is the highest percentage ever, a jump from 46 percent in 2016, and closing in on Arizona’s median 53 percent,” said Craig Pletenik, Phoenix Union High School District communications director.
Pletenik said it is hard to tell whether these increases in performance are specifically caused by Prop 301, but said the funding that comes from it definitely benefits the education environment provided to the students.
Under the recently passed legislation, $64 million that previously went to the School Facilities Board will now go toward the Classroom Site Fund. Money in this fund can be spent increasing teacher salaries.
Arizona currently ranks last in the nation in teacher pay, according to a 2016 report form the Bureau of Labor Statistics, leading to Arizona teachers to protest and demand salary increases following the West Virginia teacher strike last month.
“There’s always plans to increase teacher pay with the money,” Pletenik said. “Our teachers are going to get a small increase this year and we’re also looking at restructuring our salaries for next year.”
Many consider this is a very important step for education funding, although there is doubt about whether it’s really enough. According to a 2016 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan Washington think tank, Arizona is one of several states still spending less on K-12 education now than before the recession.
“The Prop 301 extension does not add anything, but only maintains the status quo and will prevent a funding cliff when 301 was scheduled to sunset,” said Pletenik. “We are pleased that we will not have to deal with the funding cliff, however, it does nothing to address the funding challenges we are currently dealing with. It only prevents the situation from getting worse than it already is.”
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Thompson said she hopes this extension of Prop 301 will continue the conversation about the benefits of incremental investment over time in our education system.
“We’re so glad that people are voicing their concerns about the lack of funding for education as a whole,” Thompson said. “We are excited to have them and others at the table as we talk about what is needed in the next long term investment for education.”
Contact the reporter at Clare.Griffin@asu.edu.
