The following was written by Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board Candidate Dr. Charles Santa Cruz:
During the past several weeks, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of constituents who are very concerned about our students, our educators, our support staff, and our educational system. They voice a great deal of anxiety about programs, class sizes, supplies and materials, and the financial crisis that will impact all facets of GPS in the next few months. The district is currently organizing and preparing itself for the loss of $15,000,0000.00 from the 2015-2016 budget. As the district works to mitigate the loss of funding on both the Maintenance & Operation and Capital sides of the budget, administrators will likely discover that even deeper cuts will need to be made to our instructional programs and personnel lines.
The district’s financial challenges are absolutely dire for the students, parents, educators, and support staff, and it definitely warrants our concern and attention. It is, however, important for all of us to broaden our view about our “educational crisis.” Linda Valdez, a columnist for Az Central, put things into a larger perspective. I have taken the liberty of extracting some of the key points she included in her column from September 5, 2014. In the article, she clearly illustrates how education and the economy are significantly intertwined. She starts by stating “Arizona is sitting on a diamond mine. But we treat it like a burden.”
During the last eight years, policy makers and legislators have implemented statutes and initiatives that have had a negative impact on our public education system. Their short-sighted view has had an impact on the economy of local communities and the state. “They slashed education funding more than most states did during the recession, and they’ve been slower to bring schools out of that hole, says John Myers, vice president of the APA Consulting, which has done work with Arizona Business and Education Coalition.”
The business community and those concerned about growth, jobs, and the economic health of our town, cities, and state believe that a strong and vibrant educational system is aligned to our financial structures. “Public schools are not a drag on the system, but a major contributor to the vitality of the community, Barbara Hickman, superintendent of the 9,900 student Flagstaff Unified School District, writes in the September issue of School Administrator magazine.”
Hickman also stated: “The value of a high school diploma in the labor market is $10,000 a year or $490,000 over a lifetime, the report found.”I continue to be perplexed by the idea espoused by some, that our funding of education is not an important element of our economy and that tax dollars are better utilized when the funds are allocated or diverted to the pet programs of some of our legislators. In her column, Valdez included this important fact “A study done for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools in 2011 found that increased student performance between 2007 and 2010 correlated with an increase in property values of between $2.8 and $9.5 billion, resulting in annual property tax revenues ranging from $28 to $86 million higher than they would have been, the district’s then-superintendent James Merrill wrote in School Administrator in June 2012.”
We can not continue to craft and implement policies and statutes that hinder public schools from doing the job they were designed to do. The funding of high quality instructional programs and attracting the most talented educators and support staff is directly correlated to our economic stability. The article further stated “A 2013 analysis “A 2013 analysis by the Morrison Institute found Arizona ranks 42nd in the nation for per capita personal income, but it ranks 47th in per-pupil spending. Education Week’s 2014 state report card gave Arizona a D+ for K-12 achievement, and an overall national rank of 47th in a list that includes the District of Columbia.”
Our choice is clear. We must fund our public education system appropriately if we are to have the type of tax base and economic impact we want for our community. The state must deliver the $317,000,000 it owes to public education. Again, columnist Linda Valdez reminds our legislators that they have an obligation to our public school system. “Arizona’s Constitution calls for a “general and uniform school system” (Article 11 sec. 1) and tells lawmakers to “provide by law for an annual tax sufficient, with other sources of revenue, to defray the necessary ordinary expenses of the state for each fiscal year” (Article 9 sec. 3).”
The article concludes by reminding all of us of the following regarding educational funding “It’s an investment that would have immediate economic benefits.” I couldn’t agree more. It is only a matter of time until the voters of our community and our state begin to see the full economic impact of this calculated and deliberate attempt by policy makers and legislators to dismantle our public education system.
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