A passionate discussion about education funding was reignited Tuesday as state legislators held the year’s first hearing on state appropriations following the release of Governor Doug Ducey’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017.
The Committee of Appropriations met to discuss a new state investment proposal created by the Arizona Board of Regents in response to Ducey’s budget.
While the hearing didn’t go over specific bills, it did provide a platform for both ABOR and members of the public to voice their opinions about the state’s education budget.
ABOR proposed a new state investment model for the fiscal year that mainly focuses on giving aid to Arizona students pursuing higher education, ABOR President Eileen Klein said.
“I’m representing a university system that is now at the bottom of per capita funding in the United States for our students,” Klein said.
Implementing ABOR’s proposal would increase the state’s per-resident-student support to $5,552 for the fiscal year of 2016 by increasing the state share by $24 million, according to the request. The plan also called for a restoration of $33.4 million that would increase the per-resident-student support to $5,900 and would ultimately reduce university operating losses to about $3,096 for the fiscal year of 2017.
Klein said ABOR’s proposal was created by “putting students at the center” and maintaining focus directly toward Arizona resident students. The state’s universities currently see these resident students as “loss leaders.”
While there were many supporters of the new proposal, there were some who were not as optimistic about introducing a new budget.
Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills and vice-chairman of the appropriations committee, was hesitant.
“$6,500 a year out of pocket, a research university that’s nationally acclaimed, things are good, they can get better though and we can work on that,” Kavanagh said.
He said the current tuition payment is “very affordable” in the state and that he does not see a need to revise a budget that does not have any major issues.
During the hearing, there was debate about the exact numbers being used in the proposal– figures Kavanagh qualified as “distorting.” ABOR representatives said they would clarify this issue with additional data.
Another important issue raised during the hearing was the relationship between poverty and education.
Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson and chairman of the appropriations committee, emphasized this point.
“If we can get more people in poverty bachelor degrees, we’ll be solving most of our state’s problems and probably cut our state’s requirements for paying for poverty in half,” Farley said.
While the discussions during the hearing seemed to sway in several different directions, the conversation often boiled down to the argument that the state’s education system needs better funding.
The hearing on appropriations concluded by giving the public an opportunity to provide their own testimony about the situation.
James Arwood, a student at Arizona State University and executive director of Students for Affordable Tuition, gave testimony urging a productive dialogue.
“I am here respectfully because I know that you care,” he said. “I know that all of you care about education to try to do a little bit more because we’re doing everything we can.”
Michael Martinez, a board member of the Arizona Students Association, left the discussion feeling hopeful about possible results.
“There seemed to be a willingness to actually bring more funding into higher education and the acknowledgement that we can do better,” Martinez said.
Contact the reporter at dquirozc@asu.edu.
