Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, offered the following statement in response to the 2024 State of the State from Governor Katie Hobbs:
"Arizona educators are committed to helping all of our students succeed, no matter who they are or where they live. But in recent years, our jobs have been made much harder by severe shortages of classroom teachers, bus drivers, classroom aides, and more. Our state is continuing to lose thousands of educators every year to better-paying jobs in the private sector or in other states, and our educator retention crisis is only deepening.
Getting it right when it comes to the renewal of Proposition 123 is a central piece of addressing that crisis. In light of that, I was glad to see Governor Hobbs lay out a proposal for Proposition 123 that would include raises for all educators in our schools, from teachers and school counselors to bus drivers and classroom aides, as well as much-needed investments in school safety.
Educator retention shouldn't be a partisan issue, and we sincerely believe it doesn't have to be. Our union looks forward to reviewing the details of Governor Hobbs' proposal, and to working with legislators of all parties to make sure that we replace Proposition 123 with something that includes every educator, from the person who opens the building in the morning to the person who locks up the building at night.
In addition, I was glad to see Governor Hobbs continuing to demand accountability and transparency measures for ESA vouchers. Common-sense policies like financial safeguards and audits and student safety protections are important initial moves towards addressing the damage created by this disastrous, out-of-control program.
Finally, it was good to see Governor Hobbs call for a long-term solution on the Aggregate Expenditure Limit, the spending cap that creates so much unnecessary uncertainty for educators and families.
There is so much more that needs to be done to fully invest in our public schools and deliver on the promise of public education. But in the face of the current political reality at the State Capitol, these proposals are an excellent place to start. We hope that legislators of both parties will recognize the need to act and get to work.
