Candidate wants to continue fixing education

In most of my previous 11 budget debates at the Capitol, fired up on Dr. Pepper, I spoke to empty galleries and sleeping colleagues at 3:30 in the morning as I fought against education cut after education cut, corporate giveaway after corporate giveaway, year after year. And then the #RedForEd movement arrived and changed everything.

As the son of public school teachers and father of two Arizona public school graduates, I have viewed education from many angles. Teachers, parents, and students know that decades of attacks on our public schools have led to a crisis. Kids struggle to learn in crumbling classrooms from 20-year-old textbooks and 12-year-old computers while highly qualified educators flee Arizona for higher pay in neighboring states or leave the profession entirely.

For years, Gov. Doug Ducey has been an active participant in the attacks as he tried to kill successful JTED (Joint Technical Education District) programs and signed a harmful private school voucher bill. And despite calls for help from teachers and staff, just a few weeks ago he insulted educators as a “political circus” and offered a measly 1 percent raise.

Tens of thousands of educators and allies rose up with a statewide “walk-in.” The next day the governor announced he would offer a purported 20 percent teacher raise.

It took some tough bipartisan work and a statewide walkout to get his plan to a better place. Ducey ultimately agreed to over $400 million in funding above inflation and enrollment growth for K-12 education next fiscal year.

No, the plan doesn’t fix our system all at once. But I could not oppose a bill that provides more new money to our public schools than I have seen in my 12 years as a legislator. The #RedForEd movement scored a huge victory, and that must be honored. That’s why voted for the bill, breaking with many of my Democratic colleagues while working with the opponent I face in November.

This is far from over. We must continue to find sustainable revenue sources to restore the building renewal formula, give actual 20 percent raises to all education professionals, and restore the $1.1 billion in cuts since 2009. We must fully fund all-day K, community colleges and universities. To thrive as a society, we must invest in ourselves.

We should approve full IRS conformity, which has bipartisan support and provides over $200 million annually by aligning state to federal tax law. We currently give away $13.7 billion each year in corporate sales tax loopholes. Working across the aisle to close just $3 billion would enable us to lower our sales tax by a full cent while increasing revenues by $2 billion per year.

The only way we assure continued progress is to elect in November a governor and legislators who truly understand the importance of public education and act accordingly.

Which we will do. Together.

The #RedForEd movement proved that everyday Arizonans can create real change. #RedForEd has renewed civic activism that will transform our state for the better for decades to come.

It would be my greatest honor to turn this momentum into transformative policy changes and lead Arizona to a better place as your next governor.