The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) announced it would take a stand against lifting the highly contested aggregate expenditure limit (AEL), which puts a cap on public school spending unless it comes with systemic reform.
“Fiscal responsibility is a foundational tenant of good governance, and the legislature has a fiduciary duty to our constituents to ensure that their tax dollars are spent as efficiently and responsibly as possible. Unfortunately, despite years of record high education funding from legislative Republicans, government-run school districts continue to increase class sizes, strip teachers of critically needed classroom resources, and force feed a far-left worldview on children,” according to the AFC.
Unless it is accompanied by systemic reforms that benefit students, families, & teachers, the Arizona Freedom Caucus stands unanimously opposed to any attempt to override the voter- approved AEL.
We stand firmly on the side of parents & families to demand change. pic.twitter.com/C7dLLu5t5l
— Arizona Freedom Caucus (@AZFreedomCaucus) January 26, 2023
The AEL, passed by Arizona voters in 1980, puts a cap on how much public schools are allowed to spend in a single year. The limit is calculated based on the student population and rate of inflation. Should schools have more money budgeted than allowed under the AEL, they cannot spend the excess unless approved by the legislature.
Currently, the Arizona Public School system is roughly $1.3 past the cap, and every school district would need to make appropriate budget cuts unless the AEL is lifted before March 1st. This surplus came from the massive investments poured into the school system by former Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and the Republican legislature in 2022.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne (R) shared concerns that budget cuts would mean teachers getting laid off, which would impede his plans to improve the educational prowess of the state.
Both Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) and the Republican-controlled legislature have expressed a desire to lift the AEL so public schools can keep the money already allocated to them. However, the nine state Representatives and three Senators that make up the AFC say just lifting the cap is not enough for Arizona’s schools.
State Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), chairman of the AFC, said one of the major reasons for the protest was the low test scores seen in the state.
“At a time when the Republican-controlled legislature is appropriating historically high education funding, test scores continue to plummet. In the latest publicly available data, only 28% of Arizona eighth graders are proficient in reading and only 32% of eleventh graders were able to pass the state math assessment. Adding insult to injury, these catastrophic failures of government school districts are disproportionally hurting low-income, minority, and middle-class Arizonans,” said Hoffman.
Moreover, as reported by The Arizona Sun Times, American College Test (ACT) scores for Arizonan students fell in 2022, along with the rest of the nation. Across the board, the average ACT score of Arizona high school graduates was below the college readiness benchmarks.
Therefore, Hoffman said more than a budget fix, Arizona’s schools need some systemic reform to get where they need to be, which is what the AFC s seeking.
“Until systemic reforms to fix these harmful conditions for Arizona students are enacted, we must say enough. The Arizona Freedom Caucus stands firmly on the side of parents and families to demand change. We will not sit idly by while the system continues to fail students. It is time to enact systemic reforms designed to empower parents, prioritize students, and support teachers,” Hoffman concluded.
The AEL can only be lifted with a two-thirds majority vote from the State House and Senate.
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
