ARIZONA TOWN HALL.PDF

Created: 02/19/2018 • Last updated: 02/26/2018
General information
Organization Arizona Town Hall
Contact First name Laura
Contact Last name Parsons
Contact e-mail lparsons@aztownhall.org
Contact phone number 602 252-9600
Address
Street 2400 W. Dunlap Ave. Suite 200
City Phoenix
State AZ
ZIP Code 85021
From what tribe is the Gila River Indian Community
organization requesting the
grant?
Total grant amount request 10,000
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The Gila River Indian Community offers multi-year awards. If your organization is
requesting a multi-year grant for this project or program from the Gila River Indian
Community, enter the amount to be requested each year.
Amount
Year 1 (Gila River Indian
10,000
Community Grants Only)
Year 2 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
Year 3 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
Year 4 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
Year 5 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
2 / 2





Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Cover Sheet
Municipality Information
1. Date of Application: 2/22/2018 (NOTE: Click or use up/down arrow keys to move among fields)
2. Name of City, Town or County: Maricopa County
3. Mayor (City or Town) or Board of Supervisor’s Chairman (County): Steve Chucri
4. Mailing Address: 301 W. Jefferson Ave., Ste. 960
5. City: Phoenix State: Arizona Zip Code: 85003
6. Acknowledgement of Submission by Authorized Municipality Representative:
Typed Name/Title: Click here to enter text. Signature:
Applicant Information
7. Department/Organization Name: Arizona Town Hall
8. Is this a 501c non-profit Organization? No Yes If yes, attach IRS Determination Letter
9. Application Contact Person: Tara Jackson Title: President
10. Phone Number: (602) 252-9600
11. Mailing Address: 2400 W. Dunlap Ave., Suite 200
12. City: Phoenix State: Arizona Zip Code: 85021
13. Email Address: lparsons@aztownhall.org Website Address: www.aztownhall.org
Project Information
14. Project Name: Community Town Halls on family and child services
15. Purpose of Grant: To empower communities to solve issues with family and child services through Community
Town Halls.
16. Priority Funding Area Healthcare
17. Annual amount requested $10,000
18. Number of years that funding is requested 1
19. Total amount requested (annual amount x $10,000
number of years)
20. Has your organization received past funding No
from GRIC? If yes, list each year and amount
21. Geographic area served Maricopa County
For Office Use Only:
Data Entry Receipt Evaluation
Outcome Approval Recommended/Amount $ Denial

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Narrative
Please structure your proposal to provide the following information in the order indicated. Provide the narrative in
paragraph form in the text field provided. Please be thorough but strive for brevity.
1. Briefly describe the organization’s history, mission and goals.
Since 1962, Arizona Town Hall has been educating, engaging, connecting and empowering Arizonans to solve
critical policy issues through a consensus-based process that encourages civic engagement, develops leaders
and strengthens communities. In 2017, a new method for engaging Arizonans was implemented. Designed to
engage a greater and more diverse group of Arizonans, Community Town Halls were held throughout the
state prior to the statewide Town Hall. These programs allow communities to address issues on a community
level. These sessions create community-based solutions while also creating an ongoing discussion that builds
up to and informs the statewide gathering. The Community Town Hall concept proved more impactful than
anticipated because it created a venue for communities to begin constructive action immediately.
Accordingly, the decision was made to expand the model with the goal of at least one Community Town Hall
in every legislative district.
2. If the applying organization is non-municipal or a non-profit 501c, please describe your relationship with Arizona
municipalities including past and present support, whether through partnerships, collaborations, in-kind
contributions, grants, tax-based funding or other. Describe the supporting municipality’s role in this project. If
the applying organization is a municipality governmental sub-division please enter the text “Not applicable.”
Arizona Town Hall is a 501(c)(3) organization that regularly partners with Arizona municipalities to conduct
community conversations and to engage the public on policy issues. These include partnerships,
collaborations, in-kind contributions of space and equipment, grants and consulting services. The supporting
municipality’s role in this project would minimally be to provide the shared revenue grants to conduct the
Community Town Halls. However, we have been actively engaging with more municipalities in Community
Town Halls and will be actively seeking greater involvement with Maricopa County.
3. Describe the proposed project and planned goals and activities.
The proposed project is a one-half to full-day Community Town Hall in Maricopa County on the topic of child
and family services. The event would engage up to 200 people. Participants are provided with background
information on the topic and then they participate in a facillitated discussion about the best way to address
the issue. Participants also commit to personal action steps. A report of recommendations is created from

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
the discussions which is provided to community members, the press, elected officials and others. The report
is also provided to participants at the statewide Town Hall for consideration. One or more participants at the
Community Town Hall will participate in the statewide Town Hall—bringing the perspectives and solutions
developed in their community to the statewide conversation. A copy of the reports from the 2017
Community Town Halls on “Funding preK-12 Education” will be provided with this application as an example
of the written output of these events.
4. Describe how the proposed project satisfies one or more of the priority funding areas identified by the Gila River
Indian Community.
Community Town Halls educate participants on the policy issue being addressed, providing research,
resources and potential solutions. All Community Town Halls serve an important education purpose that
empowers participants to solve their own community issues. The topic for the 2019 Community Town Halls
also falls within the priority funding area of Healthcare.
When considering this topic, Arizona Town Hall members stressed the importance of addressing healthcare
as a critical component for strengthening Arizona familes and supporting child development. Food, nutrition
and preventative services will be a critical component of these community events. These sessions will not
only devlop strategic plans for addressing these concerns, they will connect resources to those who need
them the most. Creating constructive community forums to address these important topics in a way that
connects resources, empowers participants to take action locally and that provides an opportunity for their
perspectives to be considered on a statewide level will go a long way towards strengthening child and family
services in Arizona.
5. Identify the needs/problems to be addressed, target population and number of people to be served by the
project.
Arizona has consistently ranked at the bottom of all states for child and family support. Community Town
Halls are a powerful tool for galvanizing grassroots communitites to make constructive change. This request
is for one Community Town Hall that will directly involve up to 200 people. This request also includes funding
to send one or more participants from the Community Town Hall to the statewide Town Hall where they will
not only share perspectives and solutions from their community; they will also connect to other across the
state to further develop solutions and work tgther on implementation efforts. Solutions developed during
these Community Town Halls will not only benefit the immediate community; they will be shared with the
statewide community at the statewide Town Hall and with state leaders and influencers through Town Hall

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
publications, media outlets and other means. In this way, the entire state will benefit from the knowledge
and ideas that emanate from each Community Town Hall. A partial list of media from the 2017 topic will be
submitted as part of this application to show the impact of these gatherings on the population at large.
6. Define the project as a new or continuing program.
Arizona Town Hall first introduced the Community Town Hall program in its current form in 2017. In 2017 we
hosted 16 programs in 8 counties throughout the state. The programs served over 1,000 people directly. The
actions by participants and coverage by the media had an impact greater than expected with more
communities organizing to become involved. As a result of the success of these programs, the decision was
made to expand efforts with a targeted approach to host at least one program per legislative district (30
programs) on each topic.
7. Provide a brief timeline including start and finish dates. Indicate if the timeline is flexible.
Community Town Halls will be hosted through the summer and early fall of 2019. The time is flexible.
Preparation for the events (research, community partners, logistics) begins in the fall of 2018.
8. Identify other organizations, partners or funders participating in the project and their roles.
Arizona Town Hall collaborates with a wide array of organizations for all projects and this one is no
exception. The state’s public universities, the Arizona Board of Regents and a wide array of
representatives from the healthcare industry, educational, judicial, government, business and leadership
organizations are working together to create the background documents and other information utilized in
conjunction with this project.
The space to hold Community Town Halls is generally provided through in-kind contributions from
educational and government organizations.
The same groups that collaborate to create the resource document also partner in hosting and
supporting events and many have expressed an interest in hosting events on this topic (dependent on
funding. Ongoing partnerships with Vitalyst Health Foundation, the City of Phoenix and the State of Arizona
will certainly be a part of this topic.
Arizona Town Hall also partners with high level proessionals, such as lawyers and executives to provide
skilled facillitation for Community Town Halls.
9. Would you be able to implement the proposed plan if your organization received partial funding for this project?

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Yes. If this project receives only partial funding, Arizona Town Hall will not be able to fill all requests for
Community Town Halls but it will still hold events. Arizona Town Hall is also seeking supplemental funding
from other sources and will scale up or scale down the programs depending on the actual funding received.
10. Describe your plan for project financial sustainability beyond the grant period. If this is a program/project
previously funded by the Gila River Indian Community describe efforts made towards the previously described
sustainability plan.
Once held, Community Town Halls tend to be the most self-sustaining of the events organized by Arizona
Town Hall because the local communities take ownership of the event and, with guidance from Arizona Town
Hall staff, are able to create a strategic plan for funding and implementation of future events.
Nonetheless, the focus on Community Town Halls is part of a new strategic directive supported by many
of Arizona Town Hall’s long-time supporters. We are also hoping to approach national funders to provide
further sustainablility and to expand this popular program.
11. Describe your plan to document progress and results.
Arizona Town Hall will track the number of persons and organizations involved, the number of persons
attending the Community Town Hall and the number of persons who receive the printed reports and
recommendations. Media coverage will also be cataloged. In addition, participants will be surveyed to
seek their evaluation of the event and to determine the actions that they plan to take. Arizona Town Hall
will also encourage local leaders to develop a follow-up plan to track and encourage recommended
actions.
12. Indicate any application to and/or awards made by a tribe other than the Gila River Indian Community for state
shared revenues for this and any other project for the past five (5) years. If this information is included in a
separate attachment, please indicate that here.
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has provided 12% gaming grant awards since 2012 for a
different project, the Community Outreach Programs. Community Outreach Programs take place after the
statewide Town Hall (as opposed to before) and focus on reporting of the recommendations from the
statewide Town Hall and, in this instance, the Community Town Halls. The Community Outreach programs
are the last step in the process and provide minimal community discussion while the Community Town Halls
are part of the initial community dialogue and are primarily focused on community discussion that informs
the statewide gathering.

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
The grants provided by SRPMIC are set forth below.
2012: $15,000
2013: $15,000
2014: $20,000
2015: $15,000
2016: $15,000
2017: $15,000

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Project Budget
Budget Period: Fall 2018-Fall 2019
For each budget item listed here please provide a narrative description on the following Project Budget Detail page.
Proposed Budget Expense Amount Amount In Kind Total Budget
(list each budget item) requested from requested or contributions
GRIC secured from
other funders
1. Research for topic $500 $20,000 $120,000 $140,500
2. Handouts for event $100 $1,000 0 $1,100
3. Staffing for registration, $500 $0 $1,500 $2,000
organization, logistics, outreach and
publicity
4. Professional facillitation and $3,000 $0 $0 $3,000
creation of report from event
5. Venue $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000
6. Food $100 $0 $0 $100
7. Scholarships for partcipants to $3,500 $0 $0 $3,500
attend statewide Town Hall
8. Professional media services to $800 $8,000 $0 $8,800
publicize reports and voices of
participants
9. Creation of program, discussion $1,500 $0 $0 $1,500
questions, and methods for
participants to have an impact
10. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
11. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
12. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
13. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
14. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
15. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
16. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
17. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
Total Budget $10,000 $29,000 $122,500 $161,500

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Project Budget Detail
Please provide a narrative description for each of the project budget items listed on the previous page. Include the
dollar figure and how it was derived.
1. A comprehensive research report is created by a team of professional experts to inform all Town Hall events on the
topic. Portions of the report are excerpted or tailored to the community (which is the $500 amount for the event).
2. Simialr to the research report, a template of handouts is created through other funders and supporters. These
templates are modified and copied for each event which reduces the time and cost for the individual Community Town
Halls. The costs to modify and copy are estimated to be $100 for this Community Town Hall.
3. Staffing for logistics, registration, name tags and other support is estimated to be about 25 hours at $15-$20/hour.
4. Professional facilitation by two to three highly trained facilitators, including preparation and drafting of final report
($150 x 20 hours)
5. $0 We generally receive in-kind donations.
6. $100 for snacks and drinks
7. Cost of attendance is generally $1,200-$1,400 per person (including hotel, meals and registration). Budget is for three
people to attend from this event.
8. Inspired Connections $100 x 8 hours for media relations and drafting of op-eds and releases.
9. 15 hours x $150/hour
10. Click here to enter text.
11. Click here to enter text.
12. Click here to enter text.
13. Click here to enter text.
14. Click here to enter text.
15. Click here to enter text.
16. Click here to enter text.

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
17. Click here to enter text.
Other explanation: Click here to enter text.

Community Town Halls FAQs
What is a Community Town Hall?
• A Community Town Hall is a gathering that includes discussion about a public policy topic that is
informed and facilitated using Arizona Town Hall methods, that culminates in a written consensus
statement that is published by Arizona Town Hall, and contributes to the statewide Town Hall.
• Working in partnership with the Arizona Town Hall, each community designs the event to meet its
particular needs.
• The length depends on the audience, and affects the quality of the discussion. Ideally the event lasts at
least 3 hours, but it may be as short as 1-1/2 hours or as long as one or two days.
• Community Town Halls may be held as part of a previously scheduled event, such as a regular meeting
or conference. May-October is the prime time for a Community Town Hall.
Why sponsor a Community Town Hall?
• To provide communities and leaders with tools that will help them resolve difficult issues.
• To educate community members about, and engage them in tackling important policy issues.
• To provide communities a voice that will inform policymakers and others about the community’s
perspectives and to share the community’s creative ideas.
• To empower communities and community members, through powerful discussion and connections to
resources, to become more effective action agents.
• To enable those who cannot attend the statewide Town Hall to share their ideas and recommendations.
How can my organization sponsor a Community Town Hall?
• Start by contacting Arizona Town Hall; we can help you design an event that will best meet your
community’s needs.
• Your community should determine a date, time, location, and facility. Many communities minimize costs
by obtaining in-kind donations of facilities and refreshments.
• Arizona Town Hall charges approximately $5,000 to support and facilitate a Community Town Hall.
The fee varies depending on the community and the scope of the event; it does not include the cost of
facilities or refreshments.
• Arizona Town Hall is actively seeking philanthropic funding to help support Community Town Halls.
Funding also may be obtained from local governments and businesses or through registration fees and
in-kind donations.
Why does Arizona Town Hall charge a fee and what does it cover?
• Arizona Town Hall staff provides operational guidance and support, training materials, topical
background information, discussion questions and either training or trained facilitators.
• Arizona Town Hall will assist in finalizing your consensus report and will publish and publicize it as part
of its annual program addressing the topic. We also may seek to engage participants in your event in
our media campaign.
• Arizona Town Hall can provide additional services and resources including participant registration and
related bookkeeping, press releases, and contacts for in-kind services such as facilities.
• Arizona Town Hall is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with limited resources. Our staff and volunteers have special
expertise developed over years of training and practice. Fees cover a portion of the costs of providing
the services described above.

FUNDING PREK-12
EDUCATION
COMMUNITY TOWN HALL
FINAL REPORTS

Table of Contents
Arizona Association of School Business Officials 3
Arizona Hispanic Chamber - DATOS 7
Asian Pacific Community in Action 10
Douglas 13
East Valley - Mesa 18
Flagstaff 23
Global Chamber 29
Phoenix - Chicanos Por La Causa 34
Quad City - Prescott 38
Rim Country - Payson 44
Sierra Vista 49
Tucson 54
Verde Valley 60
White Mountains - Show Low 67
Yuma - Southwest Arizona Town Hall 72
2

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Prescott, AZ – October 26, 2017
3

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
AASBO Community Town Hall Report
October 26, 2017
Participants of the Arizona Association of School Business Officials (AASBO) Community Town Hall
make the following findings and recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group
discussions by Community Town Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
Our preK-12 education system should create critical thinkers and good civic citizens who have the
life skills they need to be productive member of their communities. Even though all students may not choose
to pursue higher or who simply leave the profession to make more money education, students should be
ready for higher education, whether it is college, trade school or a different path. Overall, we should create an
educated and flexible workforce that is ready for an ever-changing global economy.
Our education system should consider school boards that are appointed instead of elected. We should
find ways to support more family involvement in the classroom and focus on creating a positive environment for
all children in the classroom. We should also look at creative methods to address the teacher gap and how to
make our curriculum more flexible to meet the needs of different students.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
The amount of funding provided is simply inadequate to meet our needs. The most obvious result of
low funding is the inability to attract and retain quality teachers and other staff, who can easily cross the border
to other states and receive greater pay or who simply leave the profession. Our facilities are also deteriorating
and we are unable to purchase the technology needed to prepare our student for the future workforce.
The system of distributing funds is also problematic. While the pie has shrunk as far as the amount
of funds provided, the bureaucracy and requirements tied to the funds have increased. The school funding
system in Arizona is overly complicated and overly restrictive. Funds are provided with requirements and
limitations on how they can be spent which does not allow schools to use funds where they are most needed.
This also creates a lot of confusion with the public.
The recent method of funding based on current year enrollment creates unpredictable funding and
makes it almost impossible to properly budget. We need to pull the plug and blow this system up. We should
return to the system of funding based on the prior year.
The funding system needs to be simplified to allow school districts and administrators the flexibility to
use the funds where they are most needed. We should follow best practices from other states—for example
instead of approximately a hundred restrictive funds we should have 5 or 6 fundamental funds.
This new system needs to be implemented in a way that provides equal access to quality education
throughout the state. Some communities simply do not have the wealth or political will to pass bonds or
overrides to obtain much needed funding. Others do. This creates a system across the state that does not
provide an equal opportunity for education for Arizona students.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
Increasing funding for our education systems and improving the method of distribution requires
education, communication and political action. We need to find ways to communicate to all Arizona voters—
but especially those who have retired and moved here from other states –We need to communicate to them
why properly and adequately funding our education system should matter to everyone. We need to frame our
message in terms of an investment—an investment that pays dividends in fewer people in prison (and less tax
dollars spent), a more skilled workforce that will be meeting their needs for medical and other services and a
more robust economy.
4

We should explore additional or expanded revenue sources. These should include a statewide funding
source dedicated to education. It could be a property tax or an excise taxes on energy
We should study the impact and effect of tax credits and consider eliminating them which would allow
for more funding for education.
We also need to develop relationships with legislators and their staff so that we can help them to better
understand the results of the decisions they are making.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to
take personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the AASBO Community Town Hall. Below
are individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Attend the January 25th day at the legislature.
• Bring back to my district the ideas suggested in our group to educate the community regarding issues
in school funding in Arizona.
• Invite legislative leaders and elected officials to visit schools, attend the Legislative Day at the Capitol,
and remind the community to register to vote.
• Continue to stay involved in the discussion of educational funding as well as actively participate in the
reformulating and accounting for the funds that are currently provided.
• Continue to support efforts to improve and restore funding for schools.
• Continue to educate myself on issues concerning public schools.
• Make more concerted effort to speak in layman’s terms about the funding issues we face. My hope is
that it will educate and inform more folks to make better decisions.
• Create a process in our district and community to encourage and educate on the importance of voting.
• Participate in advocacy to educate students, parents, staff and legislators about our current funding
issues facing schools.
• Take the information that has been presented back to my people at my school and community, and
attend the Legislative Day.
• Work to educate parents, educators and legislators on the funding formula. At my job, I will continue to
fund programs within the constraints of the funding formula.
• Have my regional finance directors contact our local Arizona elected officials to come to our meetings.
• Continue educating myself about how school funding works and participate in more groups that are
trying to make a change in education through the change of laws.
• Focus on educating the public on educational funding.
• Educate myself and my staff about the challenges of education funding in Arizona.
• Attend the Legislative Day at the Capitol on January 25, 2018. Share the discussion we had here with
coworkers, family members, and committee members and encourage them to find their voice.
• Attend the January 25th event. Create a budget of what would be an ideal budget for my district to
show budget shortages.
• Educate our working community and keep them in the know. Do what I can with what I have!
• Plan to attend the Town Hall event scheduled on January 25, 2018.
• Attend the January 25th day at the capitol.
• Share with PTA/PTO families, attend Superintendent community conversations, and join the budget
community at the District.
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• Focus on educating everybody around me, including family and coworkers, about the importance to
take action instead of just discussions about the importance of the school system to receive sufficient
funds to provide our students with a quality education in our community.
• Speak with anyone who will listen about district funding issues and needs in our state. Try to attend
some portion of the “Funding preK-12 Education” Town Hall.
• Work with staff to educate them about school funding and the importance of them becoming involved
and how we can be involved.
• Look into the nonprofit status. Has there been significant increases in this designation to avoid paying
taxes? Learn more about tax cuts and the impact and make graphs of this information.
• Try and attend the “Funding preK-12 Education” Town Hall, work on educating the community on
funding education in Arizona.
• Attend the luncheon in January and be more active in educating others on public education
challenges.
• Attend Arizona Town Hall events, follow their directions to improve Arizona education funding.
• Communicate with my legislators and work with other districts to communicate our story regarding
struggles and achievements to our community (voters) and the legislature.
• Be more vocal and more involved in educating others about funding issues in education.
• Educate the community and employees and contact representatives.
6

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Phoenix, AZ – September 22, 2017
7

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Arizona Hispanic Chamber Community Town Hall Report
September 22, 2017
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
The are many goals we want to achieve with Arizona’s preK-12 system.
First and foremost, it is important to create students who are ready to learn, and who become critical
thinkers, lifelong learners and problem solvers–students who are empowered to overcome challenges with
creativity, independence and determination.
It is also important to prepare our students for the workforce, whether it’s a career right after high
school or preparation for post-secondary education, such as a trade school, college or other forms of higher
education. Preparation for higher education is critical because higher education is the key to the high paying
versatile careers of the future. We should ensure that all students have the opportunity to maximize their
potential whether it is through higher education or other means. Our students need to have the skills to be able
to sustain themselves and their families.
We also want to prepare our student to be active citizens of the world, but we should not neglect the
importance of preparing them to be active and productive members of their local community. We want our
children to be empowered to be leaders who give back to their community.
We want these opportunities for all students regardless of zip code, race or other background.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
To achieve the goals we want, we need good teachers. To attract and retain good teachers we need
more funding for pay and benefits. To obtain the funding we need, the state legislature needs to provide
significantly more funding. The funding should also be equalized across communities so that every student,
regardless of zip code, has access to equal funding. The voucher system can create inequities, especially for
rural communities.
Arizona has not been at the forefront of funding public education. On the contrary, we’re at the bottom
and the equity of how the funding is distributed should be investigated. For example, the tax credit system
does not provide equitable opportunities for students to participate in important extracurricular activities.
In some areas, communities raise additional funds with local bonding elections, but even these efforts
have not remedied the severe crisis Arizona is experiencing with teacher shortages and other needs—such as
security, technology and facilities.
In addition to action by the legislature, we need participation and partnership with businesses and
community partners. As a community we should be prioritizing education. We need to lead by example and
demonstrate through our actions as a community that education is a priority. We need to communicate to all
leaders and stakeholders that investing now in education is an investment in the future that has major returns
to our community, including a reduced prison population. The “prison pipeline” needs to be transformed into a
“higher education” pipeline. We need to create the opportunity for our children to maximize their potential with
our education system. To accomplish our goals, we need to raise additional revenue. Simply put, we need to
grow the pie to create the best future for our state.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
What Legislators can do:
• Think about the future. The decisions you make today will have a significant impact on the Arizona of
the tomorrow.
• Since 2007, Arizona’s elected leaders consistently and significantly cut funding for public education.
Restore these funds.
•
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• Stop cutting corporate taxes. It’s not working. Find other innovative ways to partner with business to
fund education.
• Show us how schools are funded. The system is complicated, unclear and it appears inequitable.
Provide us with the information that demonstrates where our public funds are going, especially funding
that goes to charter and private schools. Schools and school districts also have a role in educating
parents about these issues.
• Invest in innovative approaches to improve schools. Incentivize the involvement of the business
community in schools with private-public partnerships.
• Codify long-term school funding measures so that funding is consistent, predictable and equitable.
SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
• We need to act together to leverage public, private and government resources.
• We need to collaborate and work together as one, taking action instead of just rattling our sabers.
Creating accountability for actions is important.
• All of us should celebrate teachers and support increasing their pay--pay that matches their
importance and that provides them with similar pay and benefits as other similar professionals.
• It is important to vote.
9

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Phoenix, AZ – October 28, 2017
10

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Asian Pacific Community Town Hall Report
October 28, 2017
Participants of the Asian Pacific Community Town Hall make the following findings and
recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by Community Town
Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
In considering what we are trying to accomplish with respect to Arizona’s preK-12 education, we need
to recognize that this issue affects everyone in Arizona because we all live in a community that is built upon
educational investment. Paying for schools is not a matter of gifting an education to other people’s children—
it’s a matter of investing in ourselves because a well-educated population is critical to quality of life for all of us.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
Embracing our first statement requires us to consider whether all students, and in particular those at the
edges who have the most challenges, have the opportunity and the support to unleash their potential. This goal
does not imply that we want to create dependencies by throwing money at the problem—economic investment
must be tied to results, meaning that a focus on the results we want to achieve is as important as a focus on
the problems we are trying to solve. By way of example of setting priorities, China has focused its educational
investment on technical education. They have prioritized this over funding of extracurricular such as sports and
music, which are seen as the parents’ responsibility to provide to their children. China has decided that it wants
to produce engineers and it is not relying on local educators to do so, instead it takes advantages of recorded
lessons from the best educators in the world.
Our system should invest appropriately based on the needs of students, being mindful that different
students will have different needs and that it is counterproductive to ignore the children who are least likely
to succeed. In helping those who are challenged succeeded, it is useful to draw a distinction between what
people need versus what we want to give them. We perceive many school board members as not being truly
invested in education and instead planning to use their positions as a stepping stone for political ambitions.
One solution is to perhaps require that people who are running for elected school board positions be barred
from running for a different office for a certain period of time to ensure that they are solely focused on their
current role and what is best for the schools, not their careers. We are concerned that Arizona’s current
voucher program—which pulls money from public schools—leaves behind those students whose parents
cannot afford to make up the difference and this will have counterproductive consequences, such as de facto
segregation of students based on economic status.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
In order to improve the amount or methods of funding for Arizona’s preK-12 schools we recognize
that the government should not have complete responsibility for funding education; stakeholders should also
take responsibility for funding education so that they are not at the mercy of government budget limitations.
Government can encourage endowments through tax incentives and also enhance education through
corporate participation. Corporate participation seems to be trending towards global general investment but we
are optimistic that corporations are also recognizing that they are stakeholders at the local level too by virtue of
their workforce being directly impacted by local education. A tremendous amount of money can be introduced
into education by piggybacking on technological innovations such as the Kahn Academy videos, which have
so engaged students online that Google and the Bill Gates Foundation has invested billions in making those
videos accessible online. Although technology is a valuable tool, it is not the only one, as there remains
a tremendous amount of value in human interaction. Not everyone can take advantage of technological
advances and in introducing these tools it should not be to the detriment of those who lack access, as that will
only result in a greater divide based on socioeconomic status.
11

SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
Instead of luring corporations to Arizona through front end whole sale tax cuts (which considering
Arizona’s budget might take money away from schools), what if we gave corporations economic incentives to
invest in the community once they’re here through tax credits? Also, the voucher system needs to be revisited
and at minimum revised to better ensure a level playing field, if not completely repealed. Finally, we need to
change the narrative from education being a personal issue for parents to a societal issue. Arizona’s children
will eventually become Arizona’s adults and the choice is ours as to whether these adults will be a benefit or a
detriment to the State.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to
take personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Asian Pacific Community Town Hall.
Below are individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Become a member of Arizona Town Hall and participate as an observer in the coming statewide town
hall. Within Arizona Private Lender Association (APLA) I will work on reframing the narrative as we’ve
discussed.
• Learn more about educational funding and resources. I will volunteer in the educational field based on
whether my abilities
• Chastise the people I know who are running for school boards to focus on their schools and not on
themselves while they hold that position.
12

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Douglas, AZ – September 23, 2017
13

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Douglas Community Town Hall Report
September 23, 2017
On September 23, 2017, diverse residents of Douglas gathered to consider funding prek-12 education.
The report below represents the consensus of participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
Opportunities should be available for all children to receive an education that prepares them for
higher education and the workforce. Funding in Arizona should be analyzed and re-prioritized to meet
children’s individualized needs. In addition, we need to support families by providing them with education
and opportunities that raise awareness about educating the whole child and the need to compete globally.
Community outreach and parent involvement is critical to the development and future success of our education
system.
Critical thinking skills and life skills are critical for future careers. In Arizona, a significant emphasizes is
placed on standardized testing. When Arizona’s test isn’t consistent with other states, we need to ask: is this
truly a value to the student or the education system as a whole? Testing has a place in the education system to
ensure the development of student success but it should focus on the growth of the student.
The landscape of employment opportunities is constantly changing. The education system needs to be
proactive in delivering services that take account of these changes and that meet industry needs. Industries
and job sectors need to be considered when developing educational curriculum to ensure individualized
success. Funding for education systems in Arizona should consider Career Technical Education (CTE)
programs, workforce internships and higher education.
Our education system should ensure that all children understand their options and opportunities for
career readiness and higher education.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
The education funding formula should be simplified so that it can be better understood by the public.
Funding formulas also should be updated to reflect current needs—not the needs of the 1980s which is when
the current system was implemented.
Investments in the prek-12 education system should be higher than what is currently provided by the
state. We should look at phasing out the current funding model and focus on a system that better considers
the needs of individual schools. Reliance on local communities and organizations should not be the only way
to supplement state-funded education. Funding should be provided by the state but controlled locally by school
staff and administration. Funding should not be tied to test scores but should be tied to teacher performance,
teacher qualifications and the growth of the students.
Inconsistencies in the funding of schools are draining local budgets with mandated requirements tied to
state-funded dollars. Restrictions on the use of funding hurt the success of all students. Long term efforts and
success are being hampered by yearly budget issues and day-to-day challenges. Schools should be funded
equitably and equally regardless of whether they are located in the State’s rural or urban geographic areas.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
There is a shortfall in government revenue. The funding formula should be updated to match current
trends and to compete in the 21st century. There needs to be a combination of politics, polices and networking
to inform and raise awareness regarding the need to better fund preK-12 education.
A dedicated tax source is one way to supplement funding for the preK-12 education system. State
and local elected officials must be in support of funding education and we must elect candidates who support
funding and who do so in the current year and do not delay payment of needed funds.
14

Economic development must also be examined and reevaluated in local communities to ensure
industries are investing in our preK-12 education system.
Perhaps out of the box collaborative efforts could help–philanthropic fundraising, state and national
grant opportunities and other efforts could help supplement funding in local communities.
Equitable preK-12 education funding should be available for all children, including rural areas and small
school districts. Funding in our state should be prioritized for preK-12 education versus state corrections and
public assistance because prioritizing the funding of a robust preK-12 education system will cost less in the
long run.
SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
The state of Arizona should prioritize education for the betterment of all residents. A priority that
needs to be addressed is securing a dedicated funding source–one that cannot be swept and used for other
purposes, that is protected, and that is not tied to testing. This could be accomplished through legislative
action. We should also allow more local control for critical decisions on how to spend funding provided by the
state.
We should take actions individually and as a community to honor educators–to lift them up and show
them that we value and respect them. These types of actions will allow us to better recruit and retain good
teachers.
We all need to take action to raise the consciousness of all Arizonans about the need to adequately and
equitably fund preK-12 education
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to take
personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Community Town Hall. Some of the ideas
shared are set forth below:
I WILL…
• Encourage people to vote for officials who are committed to improving education funding.
• Discuss other funding sources for schools – contact local legislators and educate myself.
• Make sure I attend more events like this and also share everything that was discussed today with as
many people as possible.
• Be more involved in community with our elected officials – local and state and promote awareness of
the importance of being involved in educational decisions and influences.
• Be more conscious of people that are elected from Cochise county to the state legislature.
• Work to educated elected officials of the results of this Town Hall.
• Regularly contact my state representative and state senators during the legislative session.
• Continue to act in the community to ensure more people are aware of the issues affecting education.
• Reach out to our legislators more.
• Educate people to support education and school funding and to vote for education.
• Become more publically involved in developing polices and network more to actualize this work.
• Promote candidates for office who support education.
• Vote and educate the public.
• Elect individuals who see education as a priority.
• Do better research in casting my ballot for my local and state elected officials.
• Share the message with those who I know about funding issues in Arizona for preK-12 education.
15

• Apply myself to finding ways: to advocate more as an informed voter; to communicate more; and, to
network more with organizations and communities to share awareness of the educational climate and
programs that would help our local communities.
• Help to reduce the 16-21-year-old population who is not attending school. In spite of the scarce
funding for education, I will do my best to provide them with the skills to go onto higher education or
enter the work force.
• Continue to be informed about the education funding issues, situations and processes.
• Be proactive legislatively, making sure that my local state and federal representatives understand the
impacts that education funding cause.
• Brainstorm ideas on valuing teachers in Douglas.
• Try to educate people on school funding and the importance of voting.
• Find ways to help inspire my students to seek their passion in life so that they will make the most of
their education and seek to be lifelong learners.
• Research candidates specifically to see their views on education funding to help build a culture that
celebrates educators.
• Engage in discussions with members of the community about this meeting.
• Do my best to support education funding and see that our lawmakers really care for education and see
that they do their work.
• Work with others to promote educators.
• Help to recruit and retain good educators for our community.
• Promote a dinner to show we value teachers.
• Try to educate people on school funding and the importance of voting. I would like to propose an
update on how the legislature works, the funding formula and our constitution.
16

DOUGLAS COMMUNITY TOWN
HALL SPONSORS
17

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Mesa, AZ – September 27, 2017
18

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
East Valley - Mesa Community Town Hall Report
September 27, 2017
Participants of the September 2017 East Valley - Mesa Community Town Hall make the following
findings and recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by
Community Town Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
We want a wholistic, interconnected system; a continuum that begins with family preparation and
engagement, leads to preK ready children, and ensuring that preK-12 education is focused on ensuring
each child is career or college ready. We must maximize the success of every student and reduce the quality
disparity between educational institutions. The success or failure of every student matters.
We know that students of today are our community of tomorrow. Every child deserves access to top
quality educational opportunity. Our community deserves career or college ready students who will enrich our
communities and fuel our workforce. We need to ensure our children are ready to walk through any door and
keep Arizona competitive.
We understand that we must focus on preparation at each level, so each child is prepared to succeed
in each level from prek-12 and each child is ready for the next level until they are career or college ready. We
must prepare every child to have high quality choices in life.
We know funding is important, and the current system is insufficient. We cannot continue to ask our
educators to do more with less. We need to consider fundamental, wholesale, and even revolutionary changes
to our funding model and our entire educational system. Leadership is key to accomplishing these goals.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
“It’s the funding, stupid.” You get what you pay for. Education funding is not an expense, it is an
investment in our future. We must increase funding at all levels and ensure that private, charter, and public
schools are not cannibalizing each other for limited funds.
We must prioritize teacher compensation and ensure it is competitive. Low teacher compensation
increases teacher turnover, reduces retention, and directly affects the quality of teachers in your child’s
classroom. We must prioritize preK funding.
More money is not the only answer. Parts of our current funding system unreasonably restricts
funding priorities for school districts. More freedom for schools to allocate funds for local priorities is
important. Additionally, we must reduce waste and duplication of efforts. Our system should encourage district
cooperation, not competition. We need to promote equity in funding between different education delivery
systems and among rural, urban, and tribal districts.
No one system of education delivery is perfect and different systems may promote better results
for different students and different needs. However, education funding must be fairly allocated so that each
Arizona child has quality education choices and opportunities. Arizona must focus on incenting outcomes and
improvement at every level and in every school. Public funds require public accountability.
Funding for charters and private schools should be subject to the same transparency requirements as
public schools if they accept public funds.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
We need an educated citizenry who values and votes for leaders who support robust, quality, outcome-
driven education for all Arizona students. Voters must educate themselves by researching candidates and
considering candidate and legislative scorecards focused on education funding.
19

We need strong, education-supporting leadership at all levels of Arizona government. Arizona leaders
must enact policies that support their Arizona constitutional mandate to establish and maintain a uniform
public school system. Advocates will be more effective for education by demonstrating the return on the public
funding investment and not focus entirely on education as a public good.
We need to broaden the tax base to adequately support Arizona education funding. Excise and sales
taxes may present opportunities for increased education funding. Excise taxes, property taxes, toll roads,
grant funding, and other funding sources should be explored. Increasing existing funding sources should
also be explored. We should encourage schools to engage in entrepreneurial activities and in-house revenue
generation. All forms of revenue should be considered.
Education funding should be equitable for all education delivery systems. We need to reduce all costs
that do not lead to an outcome-driven education for every Arizona student. Every effort needs to be made to
eliminate red tape, duplicative expenses, ineffective or over-testing, and unfunded mandates. Districts should
engage in effective cooperation and competition to increase educational outcomes and local innovation.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to take
personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the East Valley - Mesa Community Town Hall.
Below are individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Contact the Mesa School Board to advocate to change funding to the K-3 years of school. Front load it
so that students can move on from there.
• Actively and intentionally volunteer and fundraise for candidates who support increasing the Arizona
General Fund, regardless of party.
• Work to help others in my neighborhood get more information about candidates who are serious about
restoring public education funding.
• Investigate legislative actions that are proposed to inform my choices as a voter and share my
knowledge with friends and family to inform their decisions as well.
• Work to keep myself and others I know educated on funding needs for education. I will be an informed
voter on all initiatives related to education funding.
• Vote for additional funding for PreK-12 education, sales tax, increasing graduated income tax, or
property tax.
• I will provide passionate focus on helping 17-year-old Jacob progress in his educational achievement.
• Support education through the Chamber Education Committee and our work with the City of Mesa.
• Contact my state legislator to speak on the importance in fully funding PreK-12.
• Become more educated about educational voting records of Arizona legislators. Share information
from report and today’s conversation with my communities.
• Work with business leadership organizations to elect more education friendly legislators.
• Work with the many educational partners to more clearly articulate funding needs in P-20 systems.
Talk to legislator about the need for consistent accountability for charter schools.
• Work to educate and advocate for pre-education legislators with the business community. Work to
have statewide tax base to fund special education. Raise “hell” at the legislature for these things and
advocate for extension and expansion of Proposition 301.
• Support my local override. Vote for elected officials who support education.
• Continue to be the face of grassroots. Working on campaigns for the state legislature and especially
the governor. #dg4AZ SOS Arizona!
20

• Support early childhood education by serving on Mesa Early Learning Network, the Chamber’s
Education Committee, and help our mayor and vice mayor implement a successful K-readiness
program free or low cost for families.
• Actively support and promote candidates who support education
• Continue to work with families in providing early intervention to children. I will strive to direct families to
resources that they need to help their children thrive.
• Participate and be more engaging to teachers, creating a strong bounding that about to empower to
vote and fight for teacher rights.
• Serve on the Mesa Chamber of Commerce Education Committee to advocate for additional PreK-12
education funding. And serve on Mesa’s Early Learning Network to promote options and tactics for a
better education system & citizenry.
• Support and vote for pro-education candidates; be a resource for factual information and outcomes
data for public education; promote the value of public education.
• Vote for David Schapira for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
• Post on social media about the need for more public education funding in Arizona.
• Help educate friends, neighbors, and public to help them understand the need to improve Arizona
state education.
• Educate my local community on the importance of understanding the current education issues.
• Take advantage of social media as an opportunity to educate the community about the importance of
supporting and funding education initiatives.
• Design an education model in partnership with EVIT, Mesa, and Chandler that works for all students
and begins next school year.
21

EAST VALLEY - MESA COMMUNITY
TOWN HALL SPONSORS
22

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Flagstaff, AZ – October 1, 2017
23

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Flagstaff Community Town Hall Report
October 1, 2017
Participants of the October 2017 Flagstaff Community Town Hall make the following findings and
recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by Community Town
Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
Arizona’s preK-12 Education system is designed to achieve many goals. It should be a nimble system
which helps to build a vibrant community. We want to maximize the potential of students in our preK-12
system, as well as prepare them from ages zero to five, by creating quality education that is flexible and meets
their unique needs, while ensuring that it serves the needs of ALL students. Our students should leave the
preK-12 system with a sense of achievement, ready to respond with passion to an unpredictable life that will
be full of changing technology and careers. It should be designed in a participatory way that engages students
themselves and ensures they come to school ready to learn and develop skills of lifelong learning.
In particular, our schools should:
• Create critical thinkers who are self-sufficient, productive members of society.
• Prepare students for post-secondary education–whether it is college or trade schools, or other post-
secondary pathways for success.
• Address the whole child and prepare students to be a whole person, providing important life skills–
including having a cooperative mindset, being able to work in an environment of diversity, a strong
work ethic and communication skills.
• Identify their strengths as an individual and engage students in the process.
• Create good citizens, who will be an educated electorate.
• Respond to the needs of industry and prepare students to be innovative contributors in the world of
work.
• Create critical thinkers and people with open minds.
• Teach strong math skills.
• Help students find their passion, giving them options, such as Career & Technical Education (CTE)
and other alternatives, to pursue their individual passions.
Our preK-12 system should offer incentives to teaching, including higher salaries, to keep and attract
the best possible professionals in our schools. It should contribute to a goal of reaching a 60% post-secondary
education attainment rate.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
In order to achieve the goals for preK-12 Schools outlined above, Arizona must identify and secure
the resources required to be successful. Overall, the preK-12 funding formula is too complex and creates
confusion which produces unnecessary challenges for schools. It does not address all rural and tribal schools,
and leads to inequities across the state. It also is not meeting all of the State’s needs for early childhood
education, and a sustainable source of funding should be provided for that part of the system. Local schools
should have more flexibility in how they spend funds–restrictions and unfunded mandates prevent them from
meeting local needs. Funding should be based upon different criteria than just test scores, and should address
issues such as how engaged students are and how much passion they leave the classroom with. It should
address the unique needs of students, and when the formula provides funding for specific needs, those dollars
should clearly address all of those needs, which doesn’t always happen today.
24

We need funding that addresses the poor pay and high stress levels now affecting our teachers. It
should include funding to pay adequately for supplies, appropriate class sizes, modern textbooks and other
supports required to prepare students for the 21st century. When funding for teachers is inadequate, it
discourages people from entering the profession and translates into stresses to students in their classrooms.
We should also be providing adequate funding to repair and maintain facilities. We need to address the funding
currently provided by Proposition 301, and ensure that funding solutions create a more equitable, sustainable
and understandable basis of support for long-term needs that can be joyfully supported by the State’s citizens.
Ultimately, we would benefit most from a clear definition of how much it costs to accomplish the goals we
described above, and then find a fair and sustainable system of funding that citizens can understand and
support.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
Many opportunities are available to address the methods and level of funding for Arizona’s preK-12
schools. First and foremost, the community needs to be actively engaged in understanding the funding system,
how it benefits individuals and communities, and translating its support for the goals into voting for lawmakers
who agree. The community needs to consistently make their voices heard at the legislature. We should actively
engage stakeholders in the community to make the case for the value and importance of investing in the
preK-12 system, especially including the business community which relies upon the system for its workforce
and which can be influential with lawmakers. We should consider ideas such as a marketing campaign to
educate people on the system and tools like a financial map that helps people understand the system. In our
campaign, we need to help people understand the return on our investments, and not just frame the discussion
around costs.
We should also evaluate the tax credit system to determine whether it is consistent with our other
preK-12 funding goals. Vouchers should be evaluated against these goals as well. An underlying principle that
should be considered in these examinations is the impact on equity.
We should launch a voter initiative to address the expiration of the Proposition 301 tax and address the
underlying tax base available to preK-12 schools, including the mix of sales and property taxes appropriate to
meet our goals. The tax base needs to be established in a way that does not produce inequities. We should
consider all elements of our economy, such as our reliance on tourism, as sources of revenue.
Our efforts to address the funding needs of our system need to be creative. We should look at best
practices in other states, and consider ideas that address puzzles, such as why we might be giving schools
more money who are already doing well instead of schools which need help. Another example of creative
approaches would involve businesses and people in the community directly in the classroom, through
internships, apprenticeships and new sponsorships, which could be a new way of expanding resources. We
need thinking out of the box: if what we have isn’t working, we need to find creative ways to build a system that
accomplishes our goals.
In order to advance the goals and recommendations above, Arizona and each of its communities, such
as Flagstaff, should create priorities for action which lead us to the day when our education system becomes a
bragging point, not a sore spot. Our top priorities should be to:
• Launch a community education campaign that informs citizens about preK-12 funding needs, how to
address them, and how citizens can become involved. This campaign should not be framed simply as
a request for “more money,” but instead make the case for what resources actually do and provide for
in our schools.
• Raise teacher pay to a level that makes it an attractive and respected profession, and which
addresses stress, class sizes, and keeps young teachers in the classroom.
• Involve more volunteers in the classroom to reduce pressures on teachers, and explore the possibility
of introducing more paraprofessionals as well.
• Launch a voter initiative to replace Proposition 301 with new stable funding sources that raise the
investment to a level necessary to achieve our goals.
25

• Evaluate the current testing regime and determine whether measures other than test scores can be
incorporated to demonstrate quality and achievement to the taxpayers.
• Review where current funding is allocated to determine if priorities can be shifted to more effectively
address our goals and ensure that we are educating the whole child.
• Research other states where funding is more robust and capture ideas which are relevant to Arizona.
• Identify what our community, including businesses, need from our system and involve them in
designing the funding system to meet their needs and build a quality of life that all residents expect.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to take
personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Flagstaff Community Town Hall. Below are
individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Work with my student council and my school administrators to help brainstorm solutions to our
problems with funding there
• Work to learn more about increasing teacher salaries at the local level.
• Share the Arizona Education Progress Meter on social media.
• Speak louder about the funding issues.
• Continue to work for students in our community and make them more aware of LAUNCH.
• Research community educational models that are successful.
• Incorporate the answer to #1 in our ParentEd night.
• I will become more involved in our local community on education.
• Support my fellow students in their education and push them to find a passion that leads them to an
improved and enjoyed life.
• Encourage and better the people around me to all our future generations a chance to make the world
even better, through education and leadership.
• Work to get an override for FUSD on the ballot and passed.
• Attend school board meetings and continue to advocate for students.
• Educate the current and younger generation of people of the problems in the Arizona education
systems face. As well as communicate the points that they are pieces in the change needed.
• Begin to educate my peers on the education system and how it works so our future generations are
given an exciting and passionate learning environment.
• Ask others to consider increasing funding and support for our schools as an investment in the future of
our students and the creation of thriving communities, state and democracy.
• Tirelessly hound my elected officials in support of education investment and its urgency.
• Tutor a student in math this week.
• Meet the legislators this year (in person).
• Host a parent education advocacy night.
• Participate with LAUNCH.
• Attend January 25, 2018 Legislative Day at the Capitol.
• Volunteer at CHS
• Attend FUSD PAC.
• Have a conversation about where our tax credit goes.
26

• Create an adult civics class for residents of Flagstaff to educate citizens so they can be involved in the
most effective way.
• Vote with education in mind.
• Advocate for increased education funding specifically for teachers.
• Continue to be an early childhood advocate.
• Engage in school board meetings.
• Work to engage educators and community members in promoting education as an investment not a
cost.
• Work for increased preK-12 access.
• Support and vote for candidates and initiatives that adopt a fair and sufficient funding formula.
• Advocate for increased teacher pay and support.
• Participate in LAUNCH Flagstaff.
• Inform others about what I’ve learned and how it affects everyone in the community.
• Advocate for education and increased funding.
• Continue to participate in LAUNCH and other community-level advocacy based efforts.
• Continue to advocate for the education pipeline.
• Attend the statewide Town Hall.
• Participate in LAUNCH.
• Work with LAUNCH to create increased public support of education.
• Organize a van pool for education day at the state legislature.
• Educate our parents/community about how amazing our school protocols are for students.
• Work to raise awareness among voters about the impact of public education.
• Study the funding formula for schools in Arizona.
• Contact my legislators.
• Work towards solutions.
• Continue to speak up for education, serve on boards and rally the troops.
• Work on getting out the vote through voter registration.
• Volunteer on campaigns of leaders I believe in.
• Celebrate what’s right in education and ask people to enhance education.
• Continue to push for an assessment system that aligns with what students, teachers, business/
industry sectors are asking for to be/measure success.
• Thank teachers daily for their service.
• Promote education to all of my community connections.
• Be a positive beam of light on education.
• Host Paper Tiger and American Teacher for teachers at my school.
• House party for pro-education candidates.
• Build LAUNCH’s relationship with Flagstaff Education Association.
27

FLAGSTAFF COMMUNITY TOWN
HALL SPONSORS
WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM
28

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Scottsdale, AZ – August 24, 2017
29

“FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION”
Global Chamber Community Town Hall
August 24, 2017
Participants used the Arizona Town Hall process to create the following consensus report of their
discussions and recommendations for action on how best to fund preK-12 education.
PRINCIPAL GOALS FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM
The environment in which today’s children must function and compete is global in scope and subject
to rapid change. In that environment, there will be many individual pathways to success, and traditional
assumptions about education may no longer apply. Traditionally education has been depicted as a ladder,
which is narrow and competitive. We should reimagine education as a tree, which provides support through a
strong trunk with many branches and pathways from which students may choose according to their individual
interests and abilities.
The focus of education should be career readiness, which does not necessarily mean college
readiness. Instead of focusing on the “what”—the substantive facts that students need to know--schools should
teach them “how”. We should be teaching students how to learn and analyze, and develop their problem-
solving abilities, so that they can acquire the substantive knowledge that they need in a changing world. For
example, instead of teaching students to solve math problems in the abstract we should, use basic math
concepts to teach problem solving skills. Students should be helped to develop the soft skills they will need in
business and in live.
There is currently a dangerous atmosphere in which fear, prejudice and disunity are working against
student success in a global world. To counteract these factors students should be taught to see themselves
as members of a diverse and global community, and to understand their situation from a broader perspective.
Students also should be taught critical thinking, and encouraged to raise questions as well as learn answers.
Schools and teachers should have more freedom to develop curriculum to meet the diverse and changing
needs of students.
Successful education will do more than simply prepare students for their careers. Education is essential
to prepare students to become voters, to prepare for military service, and to function successfully in life.
Because students come from many different circumstances, and some do not arrive equipped to learn, schools
need to be prepared to address a wide spectrum of needs and abilities.
IMPACT OF CURRENT AMOUNT AND METHODS OF FUNDING PRE-K-12 EDUCATION ON
PRIORITY GOALS
Adequate funding of PreK-12 schools is critically important to Arizona’s future. We should address
funding for public education holistically. By some estimates current funding for Arizona’s K-12 schools provides
$1.5 billion per year less than is needed to adequately pay teachers and provide for Arizona students. Just
to catch up to Nevada would require an additional $1 billion per year. Inadequate funding leaves Arizona ill-
prepared to compete for business, economic development, and talent in a rapidly changing and competitive
world.
Arizona provides virtually no funding for preschool. Other than the First Things First program, which is
not a comprehensive system of public preschools, Arizona does not provide funding for preschool education.
Arizona’s teachers are underpaid relative to teachers in other states. Although taxpayer groups argue
that this is justified by the fact that Arizona is a relatively poor state and teacher pay is commensurate with
the low pay earned by other workers, that argument ignores the fact that labor is mobile, teachers are highly
educated professionals are they can and do move to other states or other professions to increase their
incomes. If we want to attract and retain good teachers we must pay them and treat them as professionals.
Using salary increases as a “carrot and stick” is tantamount to treating teachers more like retail sales
clerks than professionals. Public sentiment that disrespects teachers, from miniscule increase in teacher
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compensation to calling teachers “crybabies” for wanting competitive salaries, contribute to Arizona’s inability
to attract and retain qualified teachers.
The funding system for public education is not readily understood by the public. Discussion about
education funding often devolves into mumbo jumbo that does not move the needle on the question of how
public funds should be distributed. Although having a clear understanding of our common goals for public
education should help to guide investment of public funds so that they are spent more effectively, it cannot
make up for the overall significant shortage of funding for public schools. On the other hand, perhaps Arizona
should reexamine current assumptions about what schools should provide, and how the money is being spent
now. For example, some students may be ready to move on to postsecondary education a year or two sooner
than other students, yet we require all students to remain in school for the same length of time regardless of
need or ability. We should actively seek ways to assure that the funding we have is being spent appropriately.
The issue of school funding is highly political, which results in policies that are not ideal. For example,
Arizona is using the success of its high performing charter schools in response to concerns about the
underfunding and low performance of its public schools. However, charter schools do not serve the majority of
students. Furthermore, district schools do not operate on an even playing field, in terms of funding or student
populations. Although there are charter schools that serve special populations, many charter schools do not
proportionately serve students with special needs or low income students. Many students have no meaningful
access to charter schools. Charter schools are not necessarily required to follow the same policies and
standards that apply to district schools. On the other hand, district schools receive more funding, and different
sources of funding, than charter schools. In rural Arizona, there are relatively fewer opportunities for students
to attend charter schools. Charter schools do not address the needs of families for preschool education.
The issue of funding for and operation of preK schools is entirely different from the issues affecting
K-12 schools. PreK education is essential for both students and parents. Many children who have suffered
adverse life experiences are coming to school unprepared to learn, and they may never catch up with other
students. Although there is evidence that investment in preK education pays huge dividends, Arizona does not
fund preK education. Arizona should provide free public preK education for all students.
We should value public education no matter what building it is provided in. We need to critically
evaluate the real costs of education based on actual needs, and fund appropriately to meet those needs.
These costs include more than just the physical facilities and teacher salaries. The public education system
must cope with a large number of students who have special needs, different language abilities, refugees, and
other special populations, and addressing special needs have real costs.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE AMOUNT OR METHODS OF FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Apparently, Arizonans cannot depend upon the state legislature to adequately fund public education.
Arizona should look more broadly for monetary and other forms of support for public schools. Business entities
often claim to value and support public education; we should hold their feet to the fire and ask them to become
more involved in providing financial and other support for schools. We should consider how state agencies
other than the Department of Education might contribute to and support public education.
Voters do not have ready access to all information they want or need to make good decisions about
education funding. Although the information may be publicly available if you know where to look, the sheer
quantity of sources and the amount of data that must be analyzed can be overwhelming. Education funding
advocates should figure out how to package that information so that it is more accessible and digestible for the
average persons whose busy lives are not conducive to doing that work on an individual basis.
Arizona voters are not likely to increase education funding to the level required if they do not believe
and understand why overall funding is inadequate. It may be helpful to keep the message about funding clear
and simple: we need to pay for teachers, classrooms, computers, and other education costs, and all students
should have equal access to quality education. Instead of taking on too many complex issues and sub-issues,
which can distract from the need to provide funding for a general and uniform system of public education, we
should focus on the basic functions that must be funded if the system is to operate effectively.
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INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
At the conclusion of the Community Town Hall, participants committed to personal actions they would take as a
result of the discussions. Each participant completed a card beginning with the statement “I will...” Participants
retained the cards with their individual commitments. Those that were shared are listed below.
I WILL:
• Draft 3-4 sentences that might help communicate the problem, the needs and vision to the public.
• Consider champions in the business world that are committed to developing community
• Communicate it! And attend the November Town Hall.
32

GLOBAL CHAMBER
COMMUNITY TOWN HALL SPONSOR
33

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Phoenix, AZ – September 28, 2017
34

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Phoenix – South Mountain Community College Community Town Hall Report
September 28, 2017
Participants of the September 2017 Phoenix – South Mountain Community College Community Town
Hall make the following findings and recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through
group discussions by Community Town Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
Education should focus on promoting traditional and alternative learning, civic responsibility, critical
thinking, as well as, diversity of backgrounds and points of view. Education should prepare our students
for diverse futures, including higher education, trade schools, arts, etc. Our education system should help
integrate all students and avoid creating “outcasts.” Our children need to learn how interact among diverse
people and ideologies to be good global citizens. This goal could be realized by including a required ethic
civics class and other classes that emphasize the contributions of our diverse communities to our state.
Education should be the great equalizer among our children, creating an equitable playing field across
the state. Schools must go beyond traditional education and include such things as health services.
Encouragement of diverse learning styles is necessary because children learn differently. Education systems
outside of the US might offer models from which Arizona can learn. Including mentors and parents in the
process is necessary to foster these goals. Increased funding for education is also a necessary component.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
What Legislators can do:
• Testing results should not be a prime factor in determining funding.
• Don’t be scared to propose additional tax increases in order to fund K-12 education.
• Listen to the community, teachers and school administrators about what their true on the ground needs
are, rather than pouring money into things the schools do not really need.
• Invest more funds in education as opposed to prisons.
• Focus on equitable distribution of funds across all school districts.
• Share information among legislators to understand the positives/negatives of their respective school
districts in order to reach common ground on state funding policy for education.
• Revise the state public school funding formula to account for student income levels at the next
legislative session.
SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
The number one priority needs to be reallocation of tax funds from prisons to schools – particularly
given that Arizona is ranked 48th among all states for school funding. Equitable distribution of state education
funds across the state is needed. Existing funding formulas do not address existing needs because they are
based upon equal funding, not equitable funding. The formulas need to be reconsidered in order to provide
more equitable funding across all schools within the state.
Beyond funding of traditional educational programs, extracurricular activities are a critical component
of student development and learning. Funds must be allocated to extracurricular activities as well. Providing
incentives to recruit and retain teachers is a critical component of educational funding. Such incentives will
make it less burdensome for teachers to pursue a career in K-12 education. Parents also need to take the
initiative to better understand how funds are distributed and then how they are used by their child’s school
district and school. Educating people within the community who do not have children about the importance of
educational funding is important to foster support for educational funding goals.
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INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to take
personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Phoenix – South Mountain Community
College Community Town Hall. Below are individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Advocate on behalf of the importance of evaluating and revising our funding priorities for education.
• I will fight for a transparent school funding in Arizona
• Get involved in future Town Halls.
• Commit to spend more personal time finding out what public schools need to survive and subsequently
to flourish in Arizona.
• Tell elected officials to increase funding for education and donate more to schools in need.
• Continue to research the issues and use data to put all sides in perspective.
• Commit to spend more personal time finding out what public schools need to survive and subsequently
to flourish in Arizona.
• Continue to be involved in my community as a “millennial” and student.
• Contact my legislators to share my opinion and concerns.
• Continue support the Arizona Town Hall though membership and engagement.
• I will attend the Legislative Day on January 25, 2018.
• I will attend vote in my primary.
• Shall the Town Hall recommendations with my office, family, and neighbors
• To let more students at ASU to get involved with the Arizona Town Hall.
• Educate parents about the importance of uniformity themselves and being an active voice for
children’s education.
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PHOENIX - SOUTH MOUNTAIN
COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMMUNITY
TOWN HALL SPONSOR
37

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Prescott, AZ – October 17, 2017
38

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Quad City Community Town Hall Report
October 17, 2017
Participants of the October 2017 Quad City Community Town Hall make the following findings and
recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by Community Town
Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
Goals of Arizona’s preK-12 Education System include:
Outcome goals:
• Career preparation, college preparation, and development of technical skills.
• Personal and character development, including encouraging students to recognize and develop their
own personal passions.
• Development of life skills including general skills like critical thinking, collaboration, listening, problem
solving, and also more specific, practical skills such as budgeting.
• Development of an informed electorate and inclusive community.
Systemic goals:
• Equity in students’ access to opportunities.
• Proper school funding.
• An emphasis on preK education.
• Stronger business and family relationships.
• Improved student engagement.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
The current funding system creates “have and have-nots,” “winners and losers”—aka, the public school
hunger games. Lack of funding for preK creates inequity right off the bat. There is also a lack of equity between
charter, private, and public schools.
Overall, there is simply not enough money. Single use funding streams and limitations on how money
can be spent disconnect funds from the greatest needs. Temporary funding sources affect and limit long-
term planning. School financing is too confusing. Capital cuts affect buses and facilities; there is insufficient
funding for necessary tools such as textbooks and supplies, and teachers are not adequately prepared or
compensated. There is also a lack of local control, which inhibits local planning.
In the end, this equates to a lack of enthusiasm in teachers and lack of opportunities for students, rural
students in particular.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
We need to engage in a grassroots effort that has a plan, a vision, and a champion which will educate
the public—including students, teachers, business interests, and other members of the community. We need
to get all of those interests engaged and invested in change, and encourage students in particular to take on
leadership roles. We need to change the narrative: rephrase proposals from, for example, “we need money” to
we “need to invest in our children and our future.” Change “we will survive” to “we need to thrive.”
We need to mobilize the movement through the referendum and initiative processes and hold elected
officials accountable for their actions and inactions related to education.
39

We need to train teachers and parents how to make their voices heard at the state and local levels and
to advocate and lobby on behalf of students. Trust can be built through transparency, demonstrating how this
money is an investment in education, and by working directly with the stakeholders who will be most impacted
by any proposed new or increased taxes.
The legislature should be held accountable. They could create a statewide salary schedule for a livable
wage for teachers to reduce competition between districts. The legislature also should eliminate funding
restrictions and restore local control; make realistic assessments of the funding needed for various programs
(such as special education); and, close tax loopholes.
If all else fails: we’ll hold a bake sale.
SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
Participants determined the most important priorities and goals for ensuring the best education future
for the Quad City community. The top priorities that will have the most beneficial impact on the future of
Yavapai County are:
• First: Increase revenue by:
• Informing, educating, and uniting everyone in the community (from students to legislators)
through a grassroots effort. Specifically, educate community members as to the specific benefits
of funding education and change the culture to emphasize the value of good teachers and the
importance of public education as a whole.
• Developing short and long-term plans for putting reliable and dedicated revenue streams in
place to benefit public education.
• Holding elected officials accountable.
• Second: Use additional revenue to recruit and retain qualified teachers who are not overburdened.
Also create and maintain a long-term and reliable funding stream for facilities, textbooks and other
resources without strings attached.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed
to take personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Quad City Community Town Hall.
Below are individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Continue to teach the disinvestment history and empower staff and parents and community members
to engage and hold accountable our legislators to create a rural Arizona voice.
• Continue to commit to educating our community (and beyond) to change the narrative about public
education and to fight for legislation that supports our students and our economy.
• Continue to stress to our legislators the importance of raising teacher pay and funding capital projects.
I will also work towards educating the public on the needs of the school system.
• Continue to be politically and civically engaged to support education.
• Recruit my staff to become better advocates and more involved in being vocal at the legislative level.
• Continue to advocate for and support candidates for public office that support public education.
• Contribute to the “positive narrative” for education by educating the pre-service teachers I work with,
which will lead to giving teachers a voice and tools to be a part of the systematic change.
• Create awareness for this issue by bringing it to my parents and pushing my school to make this
problem known to the students.
• Vote in every election touching on school funding or school boards, and make the effort to talk with
candidates out all levels about their views and plans for improving Arizona public school funding.
40

• Work through Prescott Indivisible’s education group to raise awareness of the needs of Arizona public
education by speaking to various civic groups.
• Reach out to the American Business and Education Coalition (ABEC) to volunteer to help their efforts.
• Use my voice more to advocate for what is lacking and necessary in the classroom rather than
parroting what is popular.
• Make a concerted effort to share the information discussed today with stakeholders in my district.
• Engage in more educated and passionate conversation with any contacts about the investment in
education—support candidates working to change the education system in Arizona.
• Discuss education funding issues with parents, parent groups and community stakeholders so we can
take our collective concerns to the legislators and beyond.
• Contact Arizona politicians, advocating the issues discussed today.
• Strive to increase public awareness on the issues surrounding my education as well as contacting
state legislators to make sure these concerns one heard and something is done about them.
• Promote future town halls and the ideas discussed in this Town Hall.
• Be a part of and help facilitate the organization of a grassroots group to advocate for increasing
revenue for public education.
• Communicate with the PUSD Education Foundation the goal of dedicated revenue streams and
possibilities of attaining that and see if anyone would volunteer with American Business and Education
Coalition (ABEC) or speak to other groups.
• Educate those around me, helping others see how the issue impacts them and participate in efforts to
change the way education is funded.
• Continue doing what I am already doing: work on bond and overrides.
• Notify general public of legislation impacting education.
• Act as an education ambassador.
• Register as an independent.
• Organize within Prescott Indivisible to educate and refer activists about investing in public education.
• Educate my stakeholders and people in the organization to which I belong.
• Change from my language from we need more money to this is an investment in our education and
future.
• Share information I have learned today with staff, family, and friends.
• Support a movement in Prescott.
• Become an Arizona Town Hall member and register as an Independent (I’ve been a democrat for 50
years).
• Start educating my school stakeholders on the movement of increasing school funding with changing
the verbiage.
• Start championing the movement at my level.
• Work to get a diverse group of people on board with the cause by spreading the word and convincing
people how they and their community specifically will benefit.
• Work to inform fellow students and adults alike.
• Continue to attend and engage and partner with Arizona Town Hall in full faith that working together,
we will affect change.
• Advocate for more transparency in the actual financial situation in public preK-12 education.
• Continue to help with the positive understanding of the education process in the Prescott Unified
School District (PUSD) schools in our community.
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• Be part of and help facilitate the organization of a grassroots group to advocate for increasing revenue
for public education.
• Change my language from “we need more money” to “this is an investment in our children and future.”
Share information I have learned today with staff, family and friends. Support a movement in Prescott.
• Plan to vote in the primaries as an Independent in the Republican side to vote for those politicians to
support increased funding for schools and continue voting in regular sessions for those whose priority
is education funding.
• Be willing to write and speak with groups about the issue of education and coordinate with local efforts.
Partner with other agencies who support education.
• Talk with the government teacher at Prescott High School about how to motivate students to register to
vote and vote at age 18.
• Contact my legislator—urge them to invest in education in significant ways. Ask media to emphasize
and focus upon the crisis facing Arizona in education—create public awareness.
• Vote to renew and expand proposition 301. Register as an Independent so that I can have flexibility to
vote for the most education-friendly candidates regardless of party affiliation.
• Write a column in the newspaper about Community Town Hall outcomes, take a crew to the statewide
Town Hall and push the Arizona Town Hall topics in our advocacy community.
• Volunteer and financially support my local public school district.
• Use my voice to bring awareness to the subject of education.
• Use my voice to help bring awareness about this major issue to my fellow students and community.
• Educate and inform community members about funding preK-12 education.
42

QUAD CITY
COMMUNITY TOWN HALL SPONSORS
Ray and Patty Newton
Family Foundation
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43

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Payson, AZ – October 11, 2017
44

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Rim Country Community Town Hall Report
October 11, 2017
Participants of the October 11, 2017 Rim Country Community Town Hall make the following findings
and recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by Community
Town Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
The goal of our preK-12 education system should be to develop students into citizens with strong
character and work ethic, who are prepared to contribute to society both as individuals and as part of the larger
group. Each student should receive all attention they need to achieve their maximum potential and prepare
them to succeed in an ever-changing world, to be successful lifelong learners who take personal responsibility
for their lives. Education should address the whole child, producing well-rounded learners who excel and are
prepared to think critically, use technology, and compete successfully in the world. There should be equal
opportunity for all students and equal standards for all providers. Providing and funding preK and all-day
kindergarten are critically important to the success of this system in meeting these objectives.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
Our education funding system is fundamentally flawed. In simple terms, the pie is too small and the
pieces of pie are not distributed equitably. In this Frankenstein of a system, money does not flow to the areas
of greatest need, such as teacher pay increases, with occasional surpluses in areas of lower need that have
dedicated funding. The way teachers are paid is archaic. Spending restrictions make it difficult for schools to
fund basic needs. Despite increasing student populations, the Arizona Legislature has diverted over $1 billion
from education budgets. This leads to a host of problems, including cutting of classes, lost opportunities for
students, inability to provide needed remediation, loss of qualified teachers, and a significant loss of skills
development for graduating students.
In rural and tribal areas, the transportation funding is inadequate and not appropriately adjusted for
the distances and requirements involved. Poorer districts cannot afford to provide extracurricular services and
elective classes. White flight is occurring as families with the ability to do so leave the district school system
to attend charter schools. Schools in poorer districts do not have adequate resources or the ability to provide
services that are comparable to the wealthier districts, and lack access to tax credit money on the same scale
as wealthier schools.
Public, charter and private schools should be held to the same standards, have the same opportunities
and be accountable for the same set of rules, including assessments, enrollment criteria, standards,
certification, how funding is spent, and the services that are provided to students.
Elected officials who do not support adequate funding for education should be publicly shamed and
voted out of office.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
Arizona should approach the issue of funding for education by first determining what it really costs
to educate a child, consider what other states are doing, and then determine how to provide the funding
that is truly needed. We should not under any circumstances shift the tax burden for education to lower
socioeconomic groups.
Arizona should think outside the box and look at all options for funding. More impact funding is needed,
for example to educate English learners. We should stop siphoning money from public schools and providing it
to private schools. We must increase teacher salaries and provide reimbursement for teacher expenses, such
as costs of obtaining fingerprints. We should eliminate unnecessary funding restrictions and allow schools
more freedom in spending according to their needs.
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Funding for schools should be equal across all types of schools and all regions.
Arizona’s tax base is smaller than it once was because of the amount of non-taxable federal and state
owned land. In addition, mines and utilities were able to secure significant reductions in their taxes; those
reductions are no longer justified and should be reexamined. We should consider increasing the sales tax
and dedicating it to education. Income taxes on the wealthy could be increased. Payments in lieu of taxes
should be reinstated, which will be particularly significant in rural counties with relatively small areas of private
lands. State trust lands should be leased and freed up for economic development, as the proceeds from such
activities are dedicated to education. To process the applications for such uses, more staff is needed.
If these and other measures to fund education are to be successful, citizens must educate themselves
about these issues, and about the position of elected officials in regard to education funding, and select
legislators who will adequately fund education
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to
take personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Rim Country Community Town Hall.
Below are individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Continue to be active in preK education learning to advocate for the needs of children.
• Try to educate the public about how funding solutions presented to us affect public education.
• Talk with students preparing to become teachers about the facts relating to education and education
funding.
• As a member of the board of directors of Aspire Arizona, I will continue to support the dual credit
program to help students earn college credit at a lower cost.
• Work with the local chamber to help students get experience outside the classroom.
• Continue to be an active community member who is concerned about seniors, students and the whole
community.
• Meet with state and federal elected and educate them on public school needs. Talk about a one-cent
tax on camping and fishing outdoor events with all money to go to public schools.
• Make my votes count and educate myself on how Arizona is spending our money.
• Continue to take proactive political advocacy on behalf of public education especially by calling
our state representatives and senators to fulfill their constitutional responsibility for funding public
education.
• Advocate for increased attention to be given to the goals of Arizona education in regards to life-skill
development. Further advocate for equal funding between public and charter schools and same
standards of accountability and transparency.
• Keep pressure on congress to give more money for education and teachers’ salaries.
• Seek additional funding opportunities through state, local and grant resources to meet the educational
needs of students.
• Continue to educate the public about the reality of funding for public education and the bias that we
see between public and charter schools.
• Continue to be a positive and active community member that cares about our youth, seniors, families
and whole community. Participate in opportunities such as the Arizona Town Halls to have my voice
heard.
• Spread the word.
• Better understand how Arizona funds education and how the funds are spent.
• Continue to advocate with legislature for adequate funding for preK-12 public education.
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• Talk to my students in my “Intro to Education” classes and prepare them for this topic. Share about the
facts that were shared at this program.
• Continue to: support programs at Payson Unified School District (PUSD) to promote graduating
students being productive citizens; support dual-credit programs allowing high school students to take
college classes free or low cost; support new mentoring programs; and create partnership between
Chamber and PUSD.
• Organize voters and write letters.
• Vote for education supportive legislators, talk more extensively to others about the needs of public
schools, and support public schools through tax credit.
• Continue to promote education funding in my realm of influence.
• Research grant opportunities to help our district.
• Continue to try to “flip” the state senate so that the toxic education legislation can stop before it gets to
the governor. I will also support organizations that litigate against inequity in school funding.
• Continue to research and become more educated regarding state legislative candidates.
• Continue to serve on school board and encourage the wealthy to consider education in their estate
plan.
• Continue to reach out to our state elected officials to advocate for public education adequate funding,
equity for public vs private institutions and allow local control over funds.
• Continue to visit every part of Arizona–listening to the different challenges of all schools so I can help
develop solution to these challenges.
• Talk to staff, community and family members about Town Halls and funding for Arizona schools.
• Research “successful school districts” across the United States to see how they perceive funding and
from whom.
• Continue to educate myself on our public-school funding. I will also be active in learning about
politicians’ beliefs on education so that I can make the best decision for my community.
47

RIM COUNTRY COMMUNITY
TOWN HALL SPONSORS
Gila County Board of Supervisors,
Gila County School District and MHA Foundation
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48

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Sierra Vista, AZ – September 23, 2017
49

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Sierra Vista Community Town Hall Report
September 23, 2017
Participants of the September 2017 Sierra Vista Community Town Hall make the following findings and
recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by Community Town
Hall participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
Arizona’s education system must prepare students for effective citizenship so students may fully
participate in and contribute to an informed democracy. Our education system knits us together as a people,
and creates a State that is unique and sustainable. Arizona’s education system must foster students that are
well rounded and prepared to be thoughtful, curious, critical thinkers that care about community. Arizona’s
education system should help a child and motivate them, and should help students actualize their potential
within any career cluster. Arizona’s education system must also help parents, who are the first educators, to
make sure students do not slip through the cracks.
Arizona’s education system must involve quality with measurable outcomes and academic rigor. This
includes programs such as CTE (career and technical education) that provide students with skills to make
them college and career ready. Arizona’s education system must also address those students with disabilities
to make sure they have skills for the job market and are prepared for life.
Moving forward, because of the importance of education funding, Arizona should focus on important
practical and economic effects of an exceptional educational system. For example, when a family looks to
relocate, parents often first look to the quality of the schools to help with their decision.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
Funding for Arizona’s education system is wholly inadequate. Arizona’s schools are in crisis. Arizona
must change its mindset: education is not an expense but an investment. Funding education in Arizona is often
the result of competing ideas about the types and forms of education and how it is delivered. Our legislators
are not invested in public education and often seek to dismantle public education.
The current rate of funding for our schools does not allow Arizona’s education system to adequately
pay our teachers. For example, the starting salary of Sierra Vista teachers makes it difficult to pay bills
including student loans. At the current rate of funding for our schools, the pay provided to teachers provides a
low standard of living that barely meets minimum wage. If this continues, our school system will not exist as we
know it.
We must make sure our community and the legislators we elect support traditional public schools. We
should look at best practices of other school districts to help stretch funding, but we must also address funding
inadequacies by establishing priorities. We tolerate legislators who do not prioritize education and we need to
change this or we will lose jobs to other states such as Virginia whose schools are better funded.
Across Arizona three fourths of schools operate on budget overrides for additional funding. Recently,
Sierra Vista supported a $28 million capital bond, which will make a big difference but cannot be used to pay
salaries. Schools must help themselves because schools are not receiving the support from the State.
The current tax credit system takes money out of public education funding and is inequitable. Public
schools must use tax credits for nonessentials whereas private schools may use tax credits for teacher
salaries. The diversion of education funding through tax credits must stop.
We cannot approach the issue of education funding based on generalizations about political party or
views. We must all work together to change the culture and approach to funding education in Arizona.
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IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
There are a number of steps Arizona must take to improve education funding. First, Arizona must
change the culture of education funding with every adult—including parents and childless adults—and
within communities of interest to understand how education matters. We must promote civic engagement to
encourage leaders who prioritize education or we will not see improvement.
Second, we can assist voters to enroll in the RTS (request to speak system), which is a tool used to
communicate with the legislature.
Third, we must change how we view our students. Our views are skewed. The student next door may
be our next mayor or doctor.
Fourth, we must renew Proposition 301. If Proposition 301 is not renewed or permanently extended,
education will suffer a $640 million loss annually, with $500 million loss alone to K-12 education. We need to
begin the discussion now about what we can do to support this measure.
Fifth, we should think outside the box and develop other funding sources including the involvement of
the private sector, the use of tax credits, tax rebates, and we should stop using the large percentage of federal
lands in Arizona as an excuse for inadequate funding of our education system.
Sixth, we need to change the tax credit laws to address the inequities and inadequacies in public
schools.
Finally, we need to make systemic changes to how education is funded. We need predicable sources
of funding. Currently, planning for education funding in Arizona is like planning in quick sand—it’s always a
moving target.
This hard work must begin with all of us. We must engage the governor, the legislators, and other civic
leaders to make these changes and ensure these steps are accomplished. We are at a crossroads. There is no
time for excuses.
SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
Participants first determined the most important priorities and goals for ensuring the best education
future for the Sierra Vista community. The top priorities that will have the most beneficial impact on Sierra
Vista’s future are:
• We must recruit and retain quality education staff, we must value our education staff as professionals,
and we must recognize the important place our education staff holds in our community.
• We must shift the paradigm in Arizona: education is an investment and not an expense. Arizona must
recognize education as a driver of economic development.
• We must increase civic engagement and advocacy to elect civic leaders who understand the
importance of investing in public education.
• We must reform education funding policy to address inequities and inadequacies in public school
funding.
• We must invest in our schools to keep young adults and families from leaving communities.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed
to take personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Sierra Vista Community Town Hall.
Below are individual actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Make the conscience effort to educate others about education funding (example current year funding,
trends, spending power, etc.) This includes one-to-one conversations with random strangers. You have
to make change one person at a time!
• Ask deeper questions of candidates from the municipal, county, and state level.
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• Invite speakers to bring education issues to organization members.
• Vote and advocate for stopping expansion of ESA’s and prop 301 renewal/permanence.
• Challenge misinformation about education funding.
• Let my voice be heard in a positive way.
• Be aware of what legislators are discussing that affect education and our students.
• Take advantage of RTS opportunities so that I am part of the community voice and will be heard a
state committee meetings.
• Think globally and act locally to find solutions for my community, for students, and for my staff.
• Vote for and advocate for civic leaders who support and value public education.
• Continue to build a large, engaged network of Sierra Vista residents so that we are able to teach how
to advocate for our public education district No. 68 and its students on a local, state, and federal level.
• Complete my doctorate dissertation and continue working toward opening my own high school geared
to help steer our students to the next chapter of their lives.
• Enroll in request to speak.
• Continue to encourage people to join our Sierra Vista network.
• Communicate the importance of voting for legislators who support education.
• Vote for education friendly leaders in our state.
• Spread the word that education impacts everyone’s quality of life.
• Support efforts that close the achievement gap in our State.
• Attend board meetings for my district.
• Become more active for votes (for public education).
• Vote for renewal of Prop 301 and against expansion of voucher program.
• Brief LFSA on this town hall topic and conversation.
• Vote for legislators who support education.
• Vote for governor who values K-12.
• Organize a County roundtable to continue to discuss these issues and concerns.
• Brief the organization with which I am associated.
• Praise the teachers and support them by attending the school board meetings.
• Find ways to increase teacher and volunteer morale.
• Continue to support (education) by challenging legislators.
• Vote!
• Encourage advocacy to be organized and to be more efficient and effective.
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SIERRA VISTA COMMUNITY TOWN
HALL SPONSORS
53

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Tucson, AZ – September 12, 2017
54

FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Tucson Community Town Hall Report
September 12, 2017
Participants of the September 2017 Tucson Community Town Hall, make the following findings and
recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by Town Hall
participants.
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM GOALS
Arizona’s preK-12 education system needs to create citizens who have the creativity, skills and
understanding of the available opportunities that are necessary for them to add value to our community by
being good citizens and by adding to the talent of our state.
Our students must be ready to contribute – to both the community and to the workforce – and must
be prepared to pursue whatever career path they choose. Career paths include technical school, college and
other careers. College readiness and job readiness entail the same skill set. To prepare students to pursue a
career path, we should emphasize not just STEM, but Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math, giving
students individualized educational plans, and encouraging participation in extracurricular activities.
In addition, we need to provide support for parents to help their students move forward in education
and careers. Parents are a critical component in helping their students learn, develop life skills, hone critical
thinking abilities, and acquire technical skills. Helping parents to help students requires us to tackle broader
issues of poverty, parental literacy and challenges to the young adults in our communities. Education is an
economic issue, and ultimately our educational system needs to support our citizens’ ability to earn a living
wage.
We are trying to create better, more responsible, more engaged citizens who will serve the state as its
next generation of critical thinkers and problem-solvers.
IMPACT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
Funding from the legislature for all levels of education, from preschool up, is woefully inadequate. This
is critical because the method Arizona uses to allocate public funds for preK-12 schools, and the amount of
funds we provide, both directly affect Arizona’s ability to achieve our preK-12 education goals. We simply do
not adequately fund education in Arizona: The pie is just too small to meet our needs. At the least, Arizona’s
education funding should be raised to the national median.
Cutting taxes has removed state revenues that could otherwise address disparities in school funding.
Inadequate budgets have hurt our ability to meet Arizona’s needs for school facilities maintenance and have
improperly shifted the demands for providing school supplies and the costs of extracurricular activities to
families and teachers. This problem calls for sweeping changes. It also calls for citizens and political leaders
who recognize that increased funding for Arizona’s schools is a wise investment: It strengthens families and
our future workforce.
Arizona’s current education funding system has regressed through the past 40 years into a
complicated patchwork. The current funding system is difficult to understand and endangers the underlying
goal of equalizing funding across school districts statewide. The funding system is not outcome-driven at
any administrative level and uniformly fails to assess what financial resources are needed to achieve the
educational goals we seek to attain.
Our current funding model does not adequately address the disparities between urban and rural
areas or between poorer and more affluent neighborhoods. If anything, the model exacerbates the budgetary
disadvantages that poor and rural districts already face. School choice may provide additional options for
Arizona students, but some communities have fewer choices than others. Disparities in access to school
choices, and the challenges presented by transportation, particularly in rural areas, must be addressed.
Similarly, tax credits tend to disadvantage those areas already at a disadvantage – credits tend to flow to more
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affluent districts instead of those districts that need them most.
In addition, results-based funding has questionable utility: The assessment system is still evolving, and
there is simply not enough money to adequately reward successful schools.
Lastly, the imposition of additional regulatory and administrative requirements on schools has further
challenged school districts’ ability to stretch their limited budgets to meet their needs. These issues all impact
Arizona’s ability to attract and maintain highly effective educators.
IMPROVING FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
All Arizonans are responsible for acting to bring about an increase in education funding which includes
expanding existing and creating new education funding sources: all options must be on the table. First,
Proposition 301 should be renewed and expanded to one cent. Legislators should be encouraged by voters
and by Arizona’s business community to explore ways to increase tax revenue through tax reforms, including
closing loopholes and eliminating tax exemptions and corporate tax credits.
Voters are Arizona’s most powerful constituency, and they must make their voices heard. First, voters
should demand that the legislature fully fund public education. Voters should also use ballot initiatives to
improve funding and create new revenue streams. Such revenue streams should emphasize luxury, bed and
export taxes that allow Arizona to tax out-of-state buyers rather than just shifting a heavier burden to Arizona’s
citizens. But we must also consider funding sources such as new excise taxes, increasing income taxes and
statewide property taxes. The initiative process should also be used to oppose any expansion of vouchers
beyond 2016 levels and to create a revenue stream for high quality early childhood education. Any new tax
funds or funding sources allocated for education need to be dedicated to education only and protected against
being swept or diverted.
Arizona’s voters should be targeted through marketing and outreach campaigns to help everyone
understand why education funding is important for all of Arizona’s citizens, including people without kids in
Arizona schools. Legislators and voters need to hear and understand that education funding will improve
Arizona’s economy. Voter participation and engagement can be improved if voters appreciate the benefits that
can flow from improving our education system.
A key to improving our education system is to increase teacher wages and benefits to help districts
recruit and retain talented teachers. Teacher pay should be at a level that allows it to be marketed to
businesses seeking to expand or relocate. Teacher pay should become a feature that boosts Arizona’s
competitiveness in the global economy. The Arizona legislature should also institute a program to forgive the
student loan debt of education graduates who become and remain teachers in Arizona. This benefit would
boost the profile of Arizona and help our schools attract and retain highly qualified educators.
Lastly, neighborhood coalitions of businesses, non-profits and other organizations should develop
relationships with schools to help not only with funding but also to provide services. Importantly, though, these
partnerships must augment, but not replace, full government funding for schools.
SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
Participants first determined the most important priorities and goals for ensuring the best education
future for the Tucson Community. The areas identified (in no particular order) are: early childhood education,
support teachers through improved recruitment, retention and pay; voter engagement and legislative change;
messaging and communication, and funding. Participants then self-selected into groups to develop outlines of
action plans for accomplishing the identified goals. The action plans are set forth below.
• Early childhood education:
1. Educate parents and the public about the value of preK and kindergarten education.
Organizations like First Things First can help engage with people through county health
departments, community health centers and schools.
2. Determine the feasibility of an initiative to require kindergarten attendance and funding.
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3. Unfreeze childcare subsidies with help of organizations like Children’s Action Alliance, and Build
AZ.
4. Make preK-12 funding the first priority for the state budget.
• Support teachers through improved recruitment, retention and pay:
1. Use media such as documentary film to show what the teaching profession actually is and does.
2. Seek partnerships with higher education to help prepare teachers in training.
3. Publish op-eds about how education funding impacts teachers.
4. Examine state and local benefits systems to determine if benefits for teachers and their
dependents can be improved by placing them in the state benefits pool.
5. Campaign for renewal of Proposition 301, because a significant amount of that money is
earmarked for teacher pay.
• Voter Engagement and legislative changes:
1. Support political action:
• Support the campaigns of legislators and candidates who support education by
volunteering, such as knocking on doors, engaging on social media, raising funds, and
hosting in home events;
• Get involved in local political party activities, such as recruiting precinct committee
members;
• Recruit new candidates for statewide office
2. Craft key bullet points tailored to specific constituencies (e.g. retirees, busy parents) to convey
simply and succinctly messages about why public education is important to each group. This
will allow individuals to take talking points out to groups to educate voters/potential voters and
candidates and to begin conversations, get people registered to vote, and get them out to vote.
3. Attempt to influence sitting legislators by creating or seeking out opportunities for individuals to
speak one-on-one with legislators on a non-partisan and non-lobbying basis.
4. Using a scalable and successful model, help organize and promote workplace group meetings
with sitting legislators.
• Messaging and communications:
1. The overarching message is that education is an economic development issue. The Arizona
Legislature has cut taxes 22 years in a row – do you have the Arizona you want?
2. Engage with voters and non-voters for whom education funding is not a priority.
3. Identify partners and coalitions (faith-based groups, non-profit and community groups, etc.) to
help with messaging and “de-silo” this issue.
4. Promote civic engagement more generally.
5. Tailor messages for legislative districts.
• System-wide funding increases:
1. Renew funding currently provided under Proposition 301. Without action, this funding will
disappear in 2021. Funding should be renewed by legislative action. Enlist a broad coalition
(including education groups, chambers of commerce, faith-communities, non-profits and local
government) to lobby the Legislature and to explain to voters what the consequences of inaction
will be statewide. Work to elect Legislators who support renewal, and seek to replace those who
do not.
2. Promote tax-credit reform to close tax loopholes and increase General Fund revenues. We need
more data about the size, scope and effect of current tax credits, and an estimate of how closing
loopholes would increase funding for education.
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INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to take
personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Community Town Hall. Below are individual
actions that were shared.
I WILL…
• Send letters to local business and Industry associations with information and a call to action from the
Tucson Community Town Hall on Funding preK-12 Education. It is an economic development priority.
• Write an op-ed to help increase discussion about respecting and valuing teachers; recruit teachers to
share their stories through op-eds and blogs.
• Put focus on the 50 percent of children who are not ready to succeed when they start kindergarten;
work to fund preschool of quality.
• Help to educate my community on how the school finance system works and the impact of voter
issues/legislative changes on our preK-12 system.
• Work on involving college students with Arizona Town Hall.
• Work on convincing the legislature to create loan forgiveness programs for people who want to
become teachers and teach in Arizona.
• Put focus on the 50% of children who are not ready to succeed when they start kindergarten.
• Work to fund quality preschool.
• Encourage participation of students at the Tucson Future Leaders Town Hall.
• Advocate for increasing investment in education.
• Continue to advocate for uniting the community (education, government, healthcare, business) to drive
data driven action through the cradle to career partnership. 1.) Kindergarten readiness; 2.) Grade level
reading; 3.) Middle school math; 4.) High school education; and 5.) Post-secondary attainment.
• Consider champions in the business world that are committed to developing community.
• Continue to talk and engage in these heated and passionate discussions with a focus in providing
solutions and using facts not anecdotal evidence while still honoring an individual’s personal
experience and view.
• Continue as part of the discussion to adequately fund preK-12 education.
• Work to educate others of the challenges schools face with lack of funding.
• Support public education.
• Advance messages about equity in education from a critical moral perspective.
• Work on bringing more global perspectives into k12 schools.
• Talk to influencers about these issues.
• Donate more.
• Try to work out more funding and help getting more resources which keeps motivation.
• Communicate it!
• Consider champions in the business world that are committed to developing community.
58

TUCSON COMMUNITY TOWN
HALL SPONSORS
59

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Rimrock, AZ – September 8-9, 2017
60

Verde Valley Forum for Public Affairs
Strengthening PreK-12 Education in the Verde Valley Region
September 8 and 9, 2017
Participants from across the Verde Valley gathered at the Beaver Creek School in Rimrock, Arizona to
consider how best to strengthen preK-12 education in the Verde Valley. Participants developed consensus on
the state of education in the region and the action steps that need to be taken to ensure a strong system for
the future. The report of their recommendations and action plans is set forth below.
THE STATE OF PREK-12 EDUCATION IN THE VERDE VALLEY REGION
The staff and educators in the Verde Valley region are accomplishing remarkable things with the
insufficient resources allocated to them. However, the system is under stress, and the Arizona legislature
needs to understand the very different education realities faced by districts outside of the State of Maricopa.
We are at a breaking point. Doing more with less is simply not a viable long-term solution to the problems we
face and the outcomes we seek.
There is a disconnect between legislators and the electorate regarding education prioritization. The
current funding system in our region, and statewide, is broken—even imploding on itself. There is an outdated
paradigm, really a one-size-fits-all mentality, which must be modernized and overhauled. Sadly, educators are
often in a perpetual state of crisis management.
Education funding in our region is wholly insufficient, whether it be capital funding or otherwise. The
state legislature must allocate sufficient resources with particular focus on the special needs of rural and
smaller-district communities. More paperwork and unfunded or underfunded mandates do nothing to increase
student achievement.
There is a lack of quality pre-K opportunities, often leading to long waiting lists. While options for these
young students have increased, they are still insufficient. In particular, pre-K educational opportunities are
critical for all children, not just children from families with the capacity to pay.
Increasing assessment of students is often burdensome and ineffective. While assessment of student
achievement is important, we must be concerned with the holistic development of each individual child while
recognizing that much of that development cannot be accurately measured or quantified.
Teacher retention due to low pay, stresses of the job, and unrealistic expectations, is a critical issue
that must be addressed. Other issues, especially problematic in rural and low-income communities, include
transient student populations, high percentage of ESL students, and insufficient scale to provide needed
educational opportunities and options for all students. There is a growing special education population without
sufficient funding or teacher training to assist these students. With the increasing diversity of our student
population, we should strive to have educators mirror that diversity. A diverse student population benefits from
diverse teachers.
Cooperation between districts should continue to improve. Consolidation may be considered. At a
minimum, Districts should create more opportunities to connect or support in cooperation and coordination to
share services and funding. Additionally, cooperation with families will be critical moving forward. Educators
cannot bear the entire burden.
BUILDING ON EXISTING STRENGTHS TO ENHANCE PREK-12 EDUCATION
The region should continue to tap into the strength and talents of the entire community and focus on
all generations, including the retired generation. We must change any perception of “their kids” and make it
all about “our kids.” We must focus on and communicate the benefits of educating each student for the whole
community. We need to strategize and find ways to create intergenerational connections with our schools. We
pay for it one way or the other. We can educate them now or incarcerate them later. We are each invested in
the success of every student.
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The region should work to break down any sense of isolation through more effective networking
between schools. Communication should be about collaboration and sharing, not competition. Shared
resources create opportunities for our kids and allows us to more fully leverage our limited resources. We need
to speak with a more unified voice about the priority of education in the region. Unified technology sharing will
help make this process efficient and manageable.
The region should work to build even stronger relationships with our community resources. We should
work with municipal and other services, while being mindful that many unincorporated areas do not have this
option and should not be left behind. Memorandums of understanding and intergovernmental agreements are
in place and can be enhanced. We need to work hard to integrate our business community more fully in the
educational process and make sure they know exactly how they can help us in ways besides funding. Work
release programs to increase volunteerism would be particularly effective.
The region must continue to focus on teacher recruiting and retention. In addition to prioritizing political
action, we should pursue grant opportunities and other funding mechanisms.
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION
We need to build strong community relationships. We need to create safe social networking spaces
for kids and the public to interact and recognize the successes of our schools and our kids’ achievements.
We need to increase our educational public relations and social media presence and efforts to accomplish
this. Specific training for schools in how best to accomplish public awareness campaigns will increase their
effectiveness. Sharing resources and staff will not only increase campaign effectiveness, but will allow us to
promote the entire Verde Valley. We can change the conversation. We can raise expectations.
We must recruit and retain teachers through increasing salaries. We need to create a culture of
appreciation and gratitude that recognizes all of the good our qualified and passionate teachers do for our kids
and our overall community. We should work together to increase salaries fairly and across the board so Verde
Valley schools are not competing with each other for highly effective teachers.
We should increase diversity in our education staff and faculty to more fully represent and embrace the
diverse communities we serve. We should also work to increase engagement of diverse and underrepresented
communities in our schools. We need to consider how to change the way these communities view and interact
with our schools. We must declare and convince our communities that we embrace and value the education
of all kids. Increased diversity in education has the potential to also increase diversity in all aspects of civic
engagement.
We must encourage lifelong learning and bring community members into our schools to increase
their overall engagement. We should utilize and leverage the talents of our community and create additional
volunteer opportunities. A dedicated but shared volunteer/outreach coordinator could effectively identify
volunteer talents and connect them with volunteer opportunities. We can do much more to unleash the
untapped potential of our community for increased mentorship, volunteerism, and involvement in our schools.
We should support opportunities for after school programs, STEM programs, all summer programs,
high school to college programs, College for Kids, career/vocational training, and others. We should partner
with pathway programs, mentoring programs, and post-secondary programs, business partners, and other
non-profits in any way to increase the benefit to our kids.
We should encourage our legislators and other elected leaders to regularly visit and spend time in
our local schools so they can directly see what is working and what must be improved. We should encourage
school leaders to more aggressively reach out to our legislators and elected leaders for the same reasons. We
should lobby to decrease unfunded and underfunded mandates. We should ensure that we give our children
voice in the process.
FUNDING
• To improve the amount or methods of funding for Arizona’s preK-12 schools, the following actions
should be taken:
62

• Encourage an educated citizenry who understands the issues and takes advantage of the opportunity
to vote.
• Find ways to communicate effectively and simply about the issues surrounding education funding.
• More frequently and more effectively communicate with the community—especially with residents who
do not have any other connection to our schools.
• Educate our community about how to make their vote count in primary elections.
• Educate and train local parents to become education advocates and then connect them to our
legislators.
• Ensure that urban families are not the only families heard and ensure that rural families are perceived
as a majority, and not perceived as some insignificant special interest which may occur when
legislators only hear from administrators.
• Identify candidates for public office who support education the way we want education to be
supported. If they will not fund our priorities, we should pursue ballot initiatives.
• Each participant of this forum should individually engage their elected leaders on this subject. We must
promote both political intelligence and political action.
• Ensure that education funding on a per kid basis is equal throughout the state without regarding for
inequitable bonding capacity of various communities.
• Earmark a funding source for PreK-12 public schools that cannot be swept by the legislature.
• Implement a specific dedicated excise tax to support education, with appropriate protections for low-
income families.
• Renew and expand Proposition 301 to specifically support education.
• Increase the threshold for the individual and marital tax credits contributions for education. Allow
schools to use those funds more broadly.
• Eliminate waste or redundancy collaboratively and cooperatively with other Verde Valley schools.
SETTING PRIORITIES AND TAKING ACTION
Participants first determined the most important priorities and goals for ensuring the best education
future for the Verde Valley community. The areas identified (in no particular order) are: teacher recruitment,
retention and pay; funding; collaboration; public relations; and civic engagement. Participants then self-
selected into groups to develop outlines of action plans for accomplishing the identified goals. The action plans
are set forth below.
Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Pay
Create a 2018 citizen’s ballot initiative to have a $00.0175 excise tax on per kilowatt hour energy
generation. Eliminate Proposition 301.
Funding
Create a 2018 citizen’s ballot initiative for an excise tax on energy with the money to go to a classroom
fund. Matt Kelley, Stephanie Orbe, Jamie Woodard, Ruth Wicks, and Jessica Williamson will meet in October
2017 to begin this process. Matt Kelley will take the lead.
Learn about what Tempe did to fund their Prek-12 programs and see if the Verde Valley can adopt a
similar program. Ruth will accomplish by January 1, 2018.
Collaboration
Verde Valley Education Consortium will be structured as an umbrella organization to encourage
collaboration, look for common ground, share resources and services, coordinate schedules and
transportation, and design and implement briefs to present to all stakeholders with separate action groups
representing: (a) public, private, and charter school representatives; (b) business leaders; (c) parents and
citizens; and (d) students.
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District, private and charter school leaders will develop an inventory of resources across districts and
schools including (1) what your school/district can share, (2) what your school/district needs, and (2) areas of
current collaboration.
Leverage Verde Valley Education Consortium to get stakeholders including business and community
leaders, government, Valley Academy for Career and Technology Education, and Yavapai College to create
centralized Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs in the Verde Valley.
Public Relations
Gioia Quisumbing will immediately join an education consortium and research existing public relations
positions within other Arizona schools.
The education consortium will seek grant funding for Verde Valley public relations position with the
Verde Valley education consortium.
Gioia Quisumbing will provide a list of resources to schools for positive public relations in the meantime
prior to the end of 2017.
Civic Engagement
Jessica Williamson will continue to cooperate with the League of Women voters to increase voter
registration and turnout to elect education committed political representatives in the 2018 election cycle.
Nikki Bagley will establish a bipartisan stakeholder coalition to endorse and advance the campaigns of
education committed political representatives in the 2018 election cycle.
Sebra Choe will establish a regional youth council focusing on civic engagement and will have
convened the first regional meeting by the end of 2017.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
Recognizing that the power to change the future begins with each individual, participants committed to take
personal actions based on their experience and discussions at the Forum. Below are individual actions that
were shared
I WILL…
• Follow the Town Hall discussions from their website and continue to develop an understanding of
political action in regard to the implementation of an excise tax.
• Work toward an initiative to place an excise tax on the ballot to go toward a classroom fund by
November 2018.
• Share information gained this weekend with my school and parent population.
• Offer my services to Verde Valley Education Consortium.
• Work with Matt Kelley and advocate on an initiative with the energy excise effort to increase public
education funding long term in Arizona.
• Join the energy excise effort to increase public education funding long term in Arizona.
• Support the efforts of the “We Value Teachers Foundation,” which works to support teachers financially
with food gift cards and begin tutoring at our local library.
• Share knowledge on building connected learning communities using digital learning platforms.
Mentoring, coaching, and co-curricular learning.
• Work with parents and citizens to address needs of teachers and schools and help them see and
commit to how they can use their talents to help the students and teachers.
• Help collaborate with schools, community and businesses.
• Organize and educations action committee and develop a questionnaire to vet and endorse legislative
candidates for 2018.
• Use my influence and connections with young adults (18-24) to promote voter registration and
participation in primary and general elections (initiative, issue and candidate study sessions).
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• Talk to some friends about the proposed excise tax and the benefits to our public school system and
communities.
• Educate myself further on the implications of continuing or modifying corporate tax credits.
• Facilitate starting Regional Youth Council, hosting the first meeting this semester and identify goals/
vision for second semester.
• Partner with League of Women Voters and Nikki Bagley’s Education Action group.
• Register to vote for 2018, get education on the issues and candidates and vote for education.
• Continue to advocate for school choice especially private schools.
• Facilitate forming of Camp Verde Youth Commission.
• Personally talk with every school board member, the superintendent, and every principal in my district
(Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District) about meaningfully participating in regional cooperation
and collaboration.
• Work with the collaboration team in bringing groups together to better serve the Verde Valley in
regards to education.
• Act as a community ally to schools, teachers, students and all parties involved to collaborate in
improving preK-12 education in the Verde Valley through the Camp Verde Community Library.
• Change my personal dialogue to reflect my positive support of the quality educational opportunities
that exist in the Verde Valley and remind others of the positive contributions of parents, teachers and
volunteers in Verde Valley.
• Increase awareness of private school funding by working with DOP to involve participation at future
Town Halls.
• Participate in the formulation of our initiative petition and the circulation of said petition to get the
excise tax for the classroom site fund on the ballot.
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“Strengthening PreK-12 Education in the
Verde Valley Region” Forum Sponsors
66

“Funding preK-12 Education”
Community Town Hall Report
Show Low, AZ – June 9, 2017
67

White Mountains Community Town Hall
“Funding preK-12 Education”
June 9, 2017
Participants used the Arizona Town Hall process to create the following consensus report of their
discussions and recommendations for action on how best to fund preK-12 education.
PRINCIPAL GOALS FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM
On a broad scale, Arizona’s education system should be giving Arizona students the tools they need
to think critically, ask questions, understand how to learn, engage productively with others, understand their
bodies, use technology appropriately, advocate for themselves and for others, and exhibit compassion.
To realize these goals, the education system itself must be comprehensive and equal. A comprehensive
system begins with integrating early childhood education as a fundamental component as Arizona’s education
system because early childhood education is the foundation of all subsequent learning. To maintain that
foundation, students must also have continuous access to interventions and tutoring to fill any gaps that
develop as their education progresses past the early childhood years. Providing parents with additional
resources and training would also supplement these goals.
As students reach higher grade levels, they should also receive aptitude testing and be presented with
options, including vocational education, continued academic education, and remedial education. One size does
not fit all. This type of model has been successful in European countries.
For these goals to succeed, Arizona’s education system needs fundamental structural reform. Early
childhood education, technology training, educational training, parent education, and the arts all require
adequate funding to succeed. Additional funding will be necessary to attract highly qualified teachers who are
adequately training in child development. Funding and other resources must be distributed in an equal matter
that would provide students in all districts and all schools with access to the same high quality educational
opportunities.
Beyond funding, these goals must be supported by regulatory reform. Regulatory reform should give
districts and schools more local control over standards with less political intervention. Local control would
provide more flexibility to implement consistent educational standards from year to year. Regulatory reform
should also provide increased access to grant funding, and should provide increased accountability for voucher
and home schooling programs.
These structural reform goals would allow for the student outcomes described above: students who
become confident, productive citizens, have a sense of purpose, and are prepared for a global economy.
IMPACT OF CURRENT AMOUNT AND METHODS OF FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION ON
PRIORITY GOALS
You get what you pay for. The methods of funding and amount of funds available to Arizona’s preK-12
schools eliminate the ability to achieve the goals discussed in question one.
The methods of funding schools in Arizona are fundamentally unequal with charter and private schools
benefiting in many direct and incidental ways that public schools do not share. For example, unequal tax credit
policies provide more funding to private schools, private and charter schools have more fundraising options,
such as selling real estate, from which public schools cannot benefit, and public schools bear the burden of
higher expenses that private and charter schools do not bear, such as paying for school lunch programs and
transportation needs. This unequal funding structure makes it impossible to reach the goals of creating equal,
quality, and comprehensive opportunities to all students in the state.
The overall amount of funding available for all Arizona’s schools, meanwhile, is inadequate. Facilities
are in need of repairs. To the extent money comes available, the roof over students’ heads must be addressed
first, which leaves little to no money to expand facilities and reduce class sizes, to improve technology, to
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attract and retain qualified teachers and staff, to invest in new equipment, or to keep or expand arts, music,
and elective programs (including vocational programs), as a few examples.
Secondary effects of the lack of funds include economic impacts. Businesses do not want to remain in
or relocate to an area where there is not a qualified work force. Lower levels of education and graduation rates
also lead to increased use of welfare systems and a rise in the prison population. This also impacts the morale
of education professionals, including teachers, staff, and local communities at large.
Finally, Arizona’s current school funding system is punitive. It is designed to punish underperforming
schools based on proficiency rather than growth. This inevitably and directly punishes the students themselves
by making it harder to learn, depriving students of opportunities, and forcing schools to shift costs (such as
those for extracurricular activities). As a result, students are less likely to become proficient, which leads to
additional punitive funding reductions. This is an endless cycle that makes it impossible to reach the above-
stated policy goals.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE AMOUNT OR METHODS OF FUNDING PRE-K-12 EDUCATION
Business Actions
• Encourage local businesses to sponsor classrooms
Legislative Actions
Budget / Funding Related
• Create a state education budget that works effectively and productively
• For all increases in schools, there must be an increase in funding so that the overall funding does
not drop
• The legislature and/or voters need to increase sources of revenue
• The legislature and/or the voters need to protect sources of revenue (e.g., lottery money marked
for education was diverted)
Tax Related
• Eliminate tax credits for private schools or change the way the tax credits operate to promote
equality between private, charter, and traditional public schools
• Legalize marijuana and put the money to education (modeled after Colorado)
• Impose a sugar tax to fund schools (modeled after Philadelphia)
• Close all sales tax exemptions and not bring them back until renegotiated (as suggested by a
Tucson lawmaker)
• Tourism tax to fund education
• Legislators and/or voters should review and reevaluate tax cuts and sales taxes exemptions
• Halt automatic 20% tax credits for private school tuitions
Accountability Related
• All educational entities receiving public funds should be equally accountable and subject to the
same requirements and regulations (through legislation)
• The legislature and/or voters need to impose strong conflict of interest provisions for public
officials
• Localize control over funding
• Communication/Media Actions
• Educate the public and state lawmakers on the needs and benefits of a successful public school
system
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Local Civic Action/Personal Commitments
Fund Raising
• Hold a state-wide car wash (tongue-in-cheek … but perhaps a bit of satire is necessary to help
boost public support and get the ball rolling)
State and Local Election Related
• Elect legislators who support and prioritize education
• Hold public officials accountable through elections
• Pay attention to school board actions and attend school board meetings – be more involved and
supportive
• Encourage parents, schools, and school boards to form community alliances that can work with
and influence the legislature
• Create rural coalitions to support rural public school issues
• Make individual voices heard through elections and contacting lawmakers directly
• Individuals can study issues (such as candidates’ positions on school funding) before voting
• Be willing to pay higher taxes
• Be involved—run for office
Legislation Related
• Lobby existing legislators to support and prioritize education
• Pay attention, personally, to legislation as it moves through
• Renew the penny sales tax
• Stop the legislature from gutting citizen initiatives—many of the above suggestions are far more
likely to pass through initiative than through the legislature.
• Establish a non-partisan pro-education campaign to bring to light issues about public education
and to advocate for public education
• Have this campaign profile all office holders regarding their positions on public education and
acceptance of donations / relationships to lobbyists and publicize these profiles
• Advocate for Proposition 301
Public/Private Partnership Actions
• Create public/private partnerships and community partnerships as possible to help with shortfalls
Public Schools Action
• Make changes to public schools that attract more students back from private and charter schools
• Model and validate the funding system to ensure that it works and provides equal funding
• Solicit community feedback
INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
At the conclusion of the Community Town Hall, participants committed to personal actions they would take as a
result of the discussions. Each participant completed a card beginning with the statement “I will...” Participants
retained the cards with their individual commitments. Some of those that were shared are listed below.
I WILL:
Take Personal Actions with Local Impact
• Educate local community members about school needs and concerns
• Volunteer in local schools and donate to local schools
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• Support local bonds and overrides
• Stay informed about school issues and pending legislation
Take Personal Actions with Statewide Impact
• Write to Arizona congress people regarding increasing the maximum tax credit for public schools,
other methods of funding education, and conflict of interest laws
• Vote in state elections for politicians that support local schools
• Support renewal of Proposition 301
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Education
Investing in our future
OCTOBER 2017 SEARCH
FINAL REPORT
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Southwest Arizona Town Hall
FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION
Town Hall Report
October 5, 2017
Participants of the October 5, 2017 Southwest Arizona Town Hall in Yuma make the following findings
and recommendations. This report reflects the consensus achieved through group discussions by Town Hall
participants.
PRINCIPAL GOALS FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM
The overriding goal of Arizona’s education system is to develop a foundation of skills for students to
advance to post-secondary education and careers. Schools must cultivate basic skills and abilities for success
in academics and life, including the ability to effectively communicate and interact, and the ability to acquire
and apply knowledge. By developing students’ competencies in problem-solving, critical thinking, and social
skills, the preK-12 education system positions students to succeed in a range of potential careers, including
some careers that may not yet exist. Highly qualified and motivated educators are essential for realizing this
goal, but to attract and retain such teachers, compensation must be more competitive with other states.
In addition to teaching academic skills and knowledge, schools should expose students to potential
career pathways. Schools should equip students with enough knowledge about future options to determine
a path beyond high school, with a focus on postsecondary education and training. Partnerships between
education and business can introduce children to the diversity of career options. This should include options
besides college, for those who may wish to pursue skilled and technical-based careers.
Stability is key to children’s success in school, and since proficiency in core subjects translates into
future success, schools must be places where every student has the structure and opportunities to excel. For
students whose home life is characterized by uncertainty, stability at school is all the more important. Stability
in teaching staff is an essential piece of this picture. With fair compensation, passionate teachers are more
committed to their school and students, and more likely to remain in their positions for several years. This
stability in staffing should be a priority for schools, and helps to provide structure to students. Ideally, some
of this structure is also supplied by parents, and schools must engage parents as partners in their children’s
education. However, schools must also be attuned to the unique needs of children with difficult family situations
and more challenging economic circumstances; for these children, school may be one of few places with
assured structure and stability.
The preK-12 education system plays a vital role in the personal development of children: their self-
motivation, interest in life-long learning, and engagement in the community as informed citizens. Teachers
provide leadership and motivation to students, underpinning their academic as well as personal development.
Attracting quality, long-term teachers is contingent on competitive salaries. Teachers need not only better pay,
but also support to advance their education and obtain master’s degrees, avoid burn-out, and participate in
professional development. Professionally supported and involved teachers translate into student engagement,
which in turn is taken home and builds stronger, more civic-minded communities.
THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND THE METHODS OF USE OF THE SAME IN ACHIEVING
ARIZONA’S PREK-12 EDUCATIONAL GOALS
The amount of funds provided to Arizona’s preK-12 schools, along with the methods for the use of the
same, greatly impact the ability to achieve principal goals of Arizona’s educational system. Current funding
levels are inadequate—and often inequitable, too. For example, wealthier districts, where the per student
public funding is similar to lower income districts, have additional district and parent resources to fill gaps, while
other districts do not have such local resources available. The end result is that zip codes still determine the
quality of funding.
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As such, at this time there is not enough money being funneled into the education system to support
the students’ and Arizona’s educational goals. Some of this inadequacy is a sourcing issue, and available fund
sources currently are being ignored or dismissed. For example, education relies heavily on property taxes,
which is detrimental to Yuma County’s ability to source funds, as there is a minimal amount of taxable property
(approximately 8%). One alternative would be to instead focus on utilizing a sales tax, especially since Arizona
is a tourism and vacation destination. Other alternatives include food taxes, local taxes earmarked for schools,
or excise taxes on electricity and other commodities.
In short, Arizona schools need a dedicated public funding source that must be used for public education
and cannot be swept for use in other budget measures. Other traditional methods are demonstrably not as
effective. For example, bonds are a double-edged sword. When a district passes a bond, it can lead voters to
believe that these bonds are now adequately funding school operations, which they often are not. Additionally,
there are also issues with other funding sources which must be allocated to a specific purpose. With these
“strings-attached” funds, there often are no resources allocated for the underlying infrastructure required to
implement those purposes that receive the “strings-attached” funding resources. When the funds sit unspent, it
makes school districts appear to have unused funds, but the district literally cannot spend the money because
it does not have the resources to implement the programs to then spend the additional money on the students.
This is often the case with federal funds provided for education.
For schools, the use of public money is just as important as the availability of public money. For
example, in the abovementioned federal funds dilemma, if the state adequately funded the districts in order to
support infrastructure, it could increase its investment, as the districts could now spend the available federal
funding as intended. As it is now, shrinking state budgets are requiring districts to choose between competing
essential needs, putting tires on the bus or fixing air conditioners. When bathrooms in school buildings need
repair, sometimes the whole wing needs to be shut down. Employees are being asked to work double duty,
with administrators going back to the classrooms to teach and doing the administrative jobs after hours. Doing
more with less is the norm in Arizona schools, but it has reached new extremes—now districts are being asked
to fulfill increasing demands with almost no funding.
Effective use of the public funding available is critical to achieving local and state educational goals.
Currently, increased class size and the elimination of librarians, arts education, music programs, physical
education, and other programs all are the adverse effects of inadequate funding. The “pot of public money”
for education must be divided so many ways, including salaries, facilities maintenance, and special programs,
that there simply is not any left for real, demonstrable needs of the school districts. Foremost among these
needs is an increase in teacher salaries, as Arizona is losing quality teachers to other, more competitive salary
environments.
The current political climate and system makes it difficult to address these issues. Top-down decision-
making has reduced local influence and the resultant willingness of local population to tax themselves as a
bottom-up countermeasure. Apart from low teachers’ salaries and turnover, the State is also seeing unfunded
educational mandates, reduced secondary undergraduate education programs in Arizona public universities,
expiring and unstable revenue sources, teacher shortages, slow implementation of technology, a lack of
funding to incentivize experienced teachers to remain in their careers, and an inability to fund extracurricular
activities such as sports, arts, and student government. While funding has shrunk, it has also focused on
improving metrics on required tests rather than, arguably, the true needs of students and districts.
A disconnect has emerged between politicians’ focus on performance metrics and local understanding
of where funds should be prioritized for the greatest impact on educational success. When schools must
devote educational and administrative resources to measuring and capturing data for metrics, this comes at
the cost of allocating resources on the basis of local community interests and true student and teacher needs.
And, once “metrics” are achieved, revenue sources tied to such achievement are withdrawn from schools.
Furthermore, the focus on performance measures creates special challenges for obtaining infrastructure
funding, with its indirect link to outcomes data.
Instead, public monies should be used to hire more teachers—and not just stop there. Funding should
focus on retaining teachers, which rests heavily on salary and benefits. Indeed, a standardized statewide
salary structure should be considered. Funds should also expand teacher days without students in order to
allow professional development such that teachers can better reach students and help them to become more
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engaged and achieve their individual potential. Additionally, the State should fully fund JTED. Resources
should also be utilized to increase job skills programs and certifications, which will provide practical job
experience and assist students to make informed life choices.
In additional to public monies, schools should consider partnering with private businesses to employ
teachers during the summer and keep them in the area, as well as to obtain additional resources for schools
and assist with vocational programs. Engaging the business community to more effectively address and fund
education issues is critical for local success in education. This was demonstrated when recent proposed
JTED funding cuts were considered, and business leaders, speaking out against the cuts because they would
adversely affect the ability to provide a trained technical workforce, stopped the proposal from advancing.
Further, various educational organizations need to provide specific, real economic and tax data to communities
to justify and explain education spending methods and legislative bills, such that funding is not seen as a “black
hole” but rather a concrete, data-supported plan with a strong return on investment. And lastly, a continued
push for parental involvement is necessary to achieve goals, as it takes understanding and involvement to
change the system that affects all Arizona children.
THE FUNDING IMPACT OF SCHOOL CHOICE, IMPACT OF VOUCHERS, AND GEOGRAPHICAL
DIFFERENCES
In Arizona, education funding is fragmented by the variation in types of schools (public, charter, and
private), vouchers and tax credits, and the right to school choice. Public dollars not only fund public schools,
but also charter schools, even though charter schools can be for-profit. While private schools rely on private
funding sources, Arizona’s voucher and tax credit systems position private schools to siphon tax dollars (both
individual and corporate) from the public purse and into private schools.
There is a common perception in Arizona that charter and private schools inevitably provide students
with a better education than public schools. However, private schools are not held accountable for standards
and outputs in the same ways as public and charter schools. For example, mandated state tests that students
at public and charter schools must take are not requirements for private schools. This makes real comparison
of outcomes between private, public, and charter schools unobtainable. An additional confounding factor in
such a comparison would be the income level of families with the resources—whether those resources are
financial or knowledge of system navigation—to send their children to private schools. The perception of higher
quality in private schools nonetheless supports the trend of diverting funding from public schools, thereby
weakening the funding base necessary for public school systems to succeed.
Charter schools have been a central component of the “school choice” concept, and charter schools
enjoy unique advantages in funding. With limited enrollment, sometimes specific curriculum, and a smaller
population of students with disabilities than public schools, charter school students are often less expensive,
per student, to educate than the general student population. Charter schools, for instance, can push students
with emotional or discipline challenges back into the public school system. Charter schools additionally benefit
from public school tax credits, which can offset costs for extracurricular and enrichment activities. Furthermore,
charter schools can exercise more flexibility in the use of their funding than public schools can. They also do
not share some of the administrative costs that public schools bear, such as costs related to open meeting
laws, student transportation, and employment of certified teachers.
Vouchers—or more precisely Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, for which students with special
needs and circumstances are eligible—disproportionately benefit private schools and negatively impact the
funding of public schools. For public schools, vouchers compound the uncertainty inherent in school choice:
both force districts to assume the burden of unpredictable class sizes and student volume from year to year.
Vouchers exacerbate the challenges of Arizona’s already-low investment in the public preK-12 education
system. Proponents of vouchers, however, emphasize the possibilities they open for students with disabilities;
vouchers may provide educational opportunities and true choice to those who cannot otherwise afford or
access it.
In assessing the funding impact of school choice, geographical variation between urban, rural,
and tribal areas must be taken into consideration. Indeed, geography significantly impacts the range of
choices available in a given zip code. In urban areas, schools have access to a larger supply of teachers
for recruitment, whereas rural schools do not enjoy this selection. Rural and tribal areas often struggle
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with recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of qualified teachers. A potential measure is offering salary
differentials to help recruit more teachers to rural and tribal areas. Tribal students most often attend public
schools, but often in rural areas where choice is limited.
While the option for parents to exercise school choice is valued in Arizona, the concept underpins
inequities in the current funding system. This leads to an uneven playing field in which not all schools—or
students—enjoy the same opportunities. School choice also leads to the diversion of funds from a family’s local
school district, which contributes to severing the traditional ties between a public school and the surrounding
neighborhood. The impact of this can be cyclical: local parents are less likely to pass a bond or levy to raise
funds for the local schools that their child may never attend. Furthermore, school choice is only an operational
principle when there are multiple schools in the area for parents to choose among. In rural and tribal areas
with only one school, school choice can be meaningless. For instance, this is the case in East Yuma County,
in Dateland and Wellton. In these rural areas, additionally, schools struggle to attract qualified teachers. Even
in more populated areas, school choice is still limited by the availability of transportation. These factors all
contribute to the school choice concept applying more in urban areas than rural ones, and more to resourceful
families that tend to have more choices beyond the selection of school.
In short, fragmentation characterizes the current education system in Arizona. With school choice,
schools are competing for the same education dollars; this pits public schools not only against private and
charter schools, but also against each other. School choice allows for some parents to move children who are
underperforming between schools, which can lead to a vicious cycle of poor accountability and passing on
blame. The school choice system is an element of the increasing privatization of the education system, which
has accompanied market-like evaluations of schools as successes or failures based on student performance.
In such calculations, however, public schools are disadvantaged in their accountability to state testing and
performance measures, which do not apply to private schools. Despite the fragmentation of funding, public
schools are mandated to accommodate students of all circumstances and abilities. Yet more resourceful
families gravitate toward charter and private schools, depleting public schools of both per-student funding as
well the social capital these parents bring. With steady or declining overall education funding in Arizona—and a
portion of that funding going toward charters, tax credits, and vouchers—public schools are put in a position in
which they must do more with fewer resources.
IMPROVING THE AMOUNT OR METHODS OF FUNDING FOR ARIZONA’S PREK-12 SCHOOLS
There is much that can be done by various stakeholders to improve the amount and methods of funding
Arizona’s preK-12 schools. Mainly, however, stakeholders should focus on tax solutions or reforms, and
education of the voting populace.
First and foremost, solidifying the public’s knowledge of all sides of the issues is critical. Without
understanding, support for additional resources—and certainly support for additional taxes—is difficult to
achieve. Various stakeholders may hold the responsibility for educating the populace including educators,
governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and political action committees. This education should
supplement their work of lobbying and advocacy to the government for funding. With education to better grasp
the issues, the voting public can and will support pro-education candidates and initiatives. An educated voting
populace can then elect public officials who truly reflect the community’s interest in improving education. This
movement starts early by motivating students to register to vote when they reach voting age, and teaching
them the reasons why their votes are important. Stakeholders should encourage younger, politically active
members of the community to focus on education to benefit their families. Since educations has such broad
stakeholders, grassroots movements must energize discussions on improving education. Education then
allows stakeholders to maximize the spirit of collaboration to improve education with elected officials and the
business community.
By understanding the history of funding public education, from local funding to state funding, and the
societal reasons for those changes, voters can then understand the current challenges and options. Citizens
must understand that public education is worth it. Spending money on education now can save spending
money on criminal justice later on. Educational attainment is an economic resource that serves the public
good.
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Apart from education, obtaining funds through a variety of taxes seems the most tenable option.
Cooperation and involvement of the legislature is the easiest answer. However, the issues with education
funding seem to be created by the legislature, and a sense of urgency to fix the problems created needs to be
fostered within the legislature. The legislature exacerbated the educational funding problems during the great
recession. In the time of falling revenues, the legislature cut funding in education to balance the budget and the
public had little say in the matter. Now is the legislature’s opportunity to incorporate new tax solutions to fix the
funding problem.
As discussed earlier in this report, there are a variety of potential funding sources that the legislature
could explore, such as a sales tax, a food tax, excise taxes, and partnership with local businesses, by
reference. Further, there currently is a disparity between the amount one can donate to a private school and
the amount one can donate to a public school for tax credits. If the State is going to proceed with the tax
credits model, the ability to donate needs to be equitable across all schools. Indeed, certain tax credits may
need to be reduced or eliminated.
The State should continue to foster and fully fund JTED, as it provides access to resources for students
in all local schools and in a variety of programs. More sources of funding, or greater portions of those sources
(such as an increased amount from Proposition 301), need to be earmarked strictly for educational use,
protecting them from being subsumed into the general fund. We need to set regulations to prevent shifting of
funds from one purpose to another, such as from capital to facilities, within the education system.
Additionally, when tax breaks for businesses are passed, many times there is no plan to make up for
this lost revenue. Unintended consequences of tax breaks/credits, such as the Scottsdale Art Gallery sales tax
exemption to address online sales, create education funding issues. Other times, focus on the source of taxes
affects areas outside of Maricopa County. For example, Yuma is disadvantaged due to relatively low assessed
property value and fewer large businesses than metro areas like Phoenix, resulting in a higher (secondary)
tax rate. Areas like Yuma need another outside dedicated funding source to compensate for this inequality. In
other states, developer fees on new homes and requirements to provide land for schools provide revenue and
also good, new schools; such an approach may work here, as well. In situations such as this, local taxes may
alleviate local concerns and supplement State allocations.
But, again, when it comes to taxes, education is key. While many Arizonans moved from other states
where education is a portion of their taxes, and may expect it here, others do not want to see a penny more in
taxes. There is also a perception that a portion of population believes it does not need to pay for schools now
that their kids are grown.
Because of the political sensitivity of raising taxes, total reliance on the legislature may not be the best
way to go about funding schools. Arizona may want to consider an option for private funding of education
that would allow the individual to be responsible for their children’s education, although protections must be
in place for those who are economically disadvantaged. Schools may also benefit from private sponsorship
and support, as well as community resources beyond financial support. Businesses and public/private
partnerships can provide outside funding sources, as in the case of Gowan Company’s assistance to Crane
School District in Yuma. Schools need to determine how to better utilize the resources they have access to,
such as community resources and knowledge and existing infrastructure, in order to save money and expand
opportunities. The “Community School” concept currently being implemented at O.C. Johnson Elementary
School in Yuma is a case in point. Alternative income sources, such as in-house businesses at schools or the
use of students to handle certain tasks may also defray costs.
FUNDING CHALLENGES FACING YUMA AREA SCHOOLS, AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS AND
SOURCES OF LOCAL SUPPORT
A number of funding challenges face Yuma-area schools; with competing priorities and limited
funds, sacrifices can jeopardize the ability of schools to fulfill their many obligations. Funding challenges for
Yuma schools include financing the soft capital expenses of classroom furniture and supplies, the costs of
maintenance and operations for school facilities, and the costs of purchasing and maintaining vehicles for
school transportation. Funding should also support the acquisition of new forms of classroom equipment and
technologies to support various learning styles, and to support the many English Language Acquisition learners
in Yuma County.
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Funding shortfalls in Yuma County can in some respects be attributed to geography. A unique challenge
is our location on the border with Mexico; Yuma County schools educate students who cross the border from
Mexico each day, but education dollars for these students are not accompanied by the typical property tax
investment of parents. The geography of Yuma also means isolation from policymakers whose priorities in
education funding are often informed by the more densely-populated areas of the state. Within the sizable
landmass of Yuma County, an additional challenge is the minimal amount of taxable property, and the large
portion of agricultural land that is taxed at a lower rate.
Despite these current limitations to Yuma’s property tax revenues for education, this is also an area of
opportunity. With strategic community development, in-fill of areas with commercial properties can increase the
tax base for school districts. Other new tax revenues, such as sales taxes and excise taxes on electricity and
other commodities, as mentioned previously, could further supplement education funding.
Tax credits are mostly considered for their impact on private education, but are not limited to private
schools. Tax credits could provide a more equitable revenue source; currently, there is a disparity between the
amount one can donate to a private school and the amount one can donate to a public school for tax credits,
by more than twofold. The community should create more awareness of the ability to donate to public schools
via their tax returns, and advocate to policymakers so that tax credits can more significantly benefit the public
educational system.
This lack of funding has material consequences for public schools. Teachers often pay for supplies
out of pocket, or must independently seek outside funding for basic teaching resources. There are, however,
creative efforts that also mobilize parents and the broader community to address funding challenges. At a
grassroots level, fundraising opportunities for education include Box Tops for Education, which can help defray
field trip costs, Target grants for field trips, and websites such as zigaty.com and DonorsChoose.org. Other
local efforts in the Yuma area include drives for school supplies and Operation School Bell, which helps low-
income families with school uniforms. Additionally, some foundations offer grants to support the purchase
technology and consumable supplies, such as the Staples Foundation. To pursue such opportunities, some
schools are investing more resources in grant writing, but it must be underscored that no one grant is a
sustainable solution to funding shortfalls.
Creative opportunities also include collaborations, such as locating kindergartens in senior facilities
to share facility costs and provide the mutual benefits of cross-generational social interaction. Schools also
have resources that could be shared, such as buses that could serve the public as well as the educational
system. Other potential funding opportunities include taxation targeted at tourists and the seasonal visitors who
otherwise are not substantially investing in Yuma’s education.
The value of education must be better recognized and valued outside of the education sector.
Given the importance of an educated populace in all sectors, the education sector must be at the table in
discussions regarding economic development, business, and healthcare. With such representation of the
education sector, Yuma can differentiate itself in a positive way, highlighting the importance of education and
our students’ work ethic to attract new businesses to the area. Forging stronger ties between education and
economic development is most effective with mutual support. Local industry can be recruited to invest in
extracurricular activities at early stages of education, and to develop mentorship programs for local students.
These investments not only enhance educational opportunities in the school setting, but also open the eyes of
students to future career opportunities.
Human capital is an essential—if not the essential—asset in any organization, and in schools, the
importance of teachers cannot be underestimated. Yet with poor compensation and recognition, public school
teachers are not properly valued, leading to dissatisfaction and turnover. To build local support for education
and educators, Yuma must continue to foster appreciation for teachers. Schools should reach out to local
businesses to expand the opportunities for teachers to find short-term employment during the summer, which
helps keep them in the area. Additionally, schools must identify internal pathways for professional development
for teachers; this incentivizes teachers to remain in the profession, and in the community.
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COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADER SUPPORT TO YUMA AREA SCHOOLS
There are many ways in which our community and business leaders can and do support Yuma area
schools. For example, local business leaders can mentor students, volunteer for speaking engagements,
provide resume and interview training and practice, offer career experience programs (with a stipend to the
student), sponsor field trips or other programs, and invite students to conferences and other events. By coming
into the schools, leaders can introduce students to various professions and encourage pathways to success.
This includes teaching as a profession, as recruitment for this field can start early. Creative ways to encourage
students to consider teaching as a profession include clubs, meetings, stories, and publicity. Involvement in the
classroom has the added benefit of raising awareness of businesses that allow their employees to spend some
of their time in the classroom. Collaboration between public schools for special events, such as science fairs,
continues this mutually beneficial relationship.
Schools are the heart of the community, and this should be reflected in community partnerships. Right
now, there is collaboration and partnership in certain industries that provide information to assist in developing
education curriculums based on those industries’ needs. It can get better. Many companies are starting to
explore continuing education scenarios, such as shadowing opportunities for students, preceptor opportunities
to satisfy program requirements, and internships for students to gain experience. These are available to
traditional and non-traditional students alike. These students will facilitate learning opportunities for students
to improving their communication and soft skills, and will help them cultivate interviewing skills. Many students
need to know how to foster those skills to continue to the next level, and in this way companies could provide a
substantial resource to schools with only a small increase in their participation.
In particular, there is room for such partnerships to grow within Yuma’s key sectors: agriculture and
the military. Yuma County is fortunate in that it has a huge resource in the agriculture and fertilizer industry.
They also have a significant political presence that can influence our legislature. Since the military also has a
significant presence in this area, the voices of these sectors can be amplified by joining together in advocacy.
By way of example, Future Farmers of America (FFA) receives a great deal of support from companies
through scholarships, sponsor drives, job shadowing, and other experiences that help students learn about
careers. Companies located across the border in Mexico could also provide support for education and learning
experiences at their facilities.
Unfortunately, vocational education is dwindling with decreasing budgets. As such, students may not
know about the available opportunities right now. Many students may not have ever been exposed to industry
and may have only seen a real scientist on television. The fact that there may be a real scientist around the
corner could provide inspiration for students to continue with education and seize available opportunities, such
as continuing education. Students may not see the light at the end of the tunnel without a local leader showing
them that their hard work pays off. Through involvement of local industry, the creation of field-based learning
opportunities could translate into school credits and real-life experiences. Teachers need this help from local
role models to assist in exposing students to future options and real success stories. These must demonstrate
that success is not always about the money; it is also about opportunity.
Education is a life-long endeavor that needs continuous inspiration. Everyone understands that
funding is lackluster, to say the least, but the proposed solutions focus on what to do with the education that
local students do receive and what is available without the need for more money. To facilitate these solutions,
community residents, and leaders in particular, should take the opportunity to tour public schools and observe
teachers and students in action, such that they better understand the challenges and opportunities first-hand.
Elected officials should be included in invitations to schools so that politicians are educated on what is really
going on in public education, rather than drawing conclusions based on anecdotes.
In the end, schools and interested citizens should continue to advocate for the positions discussed
herein, through positive messages on social media, continued communication with the legislature, and
education to the voting public. Education and collaboration is crucial between all stakeholders, from parents
to businesses to legislatures, in order to ensure workable solutions in funding sources, funding adequacy, and
maximization of available resources.
79

“FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION”
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA TOWN HALL
FORUM SPONSORS
Nelson Charitable
Family Trust
Yuma County Service
Agency, ESA
80

SPONSORS OF THE 110th STATEWIDE ARIZONA
TOWN HALL “FUNDING PREK-12 EDUCATION”
PREMIER PARTNER
CATALYST PARTNER
CONSENSUS PARTNER
COLLABORATOR PARTNER CONTRIBUTOR PARTNERS
SUPPORTER PARTNER ASSOCIATE PARTNER
ARIZONA WATER COMPANY HUFFORD HORSTMAN MONGINI
PARNELL & TUCKER PC
81

Arizona Town Hall
(602) 252-9600
(602) 252-6189 Fax
townhall@aztownhall.org
www.aztownhall.org

110th Arizona Town Hall “Funding preK-12 Education” Media
Community Town Halls on “Funding preK-12 Education”
• Education funding Town Hall, Teresa McQuerry, Payson Round Up, August 1, 2017.
• 2017 Verde Valley Forum set for Sept. 8-9, Verde Independent, August 7, 2017.
• Town Hall on school funding, Teresa McQuerrey, Payson Roundup, August 18, 2017.
• Tucson town hall seeks solution to K-12 education funding issue, Hank Stephenson, Arizona Daily
Star, September 7, 2017.
• Around the Town: Launch Flagstaff hosting community events, Arizona Daily Sun, September 13,
2017.
• Chicanos Por La Causa, Arizona Town Hall to host bilingual forum on public education, Yolanda
Garcia-Espinoza, KPNX, September 26, 2017.
• Leaders Emphasize Education for Arizona's Economic Health, Ray Newton, Quad Cities Business
News, October 2017.
• Flagstaff town hall backs higher school taxes, Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa, Arizona Daily Sun, October
3, 2017.
• Town Hall Focuses on Education Funding, Chino Valley Review, Chino Valley in Brief: Week of
October 4, 2017.
• Chino Valley in Brief: Week of Oct. 4, Chino Calley Review, October 4, 2017.
• Forum calls for action on education funding in Arizona, Amy Crawford, Yuma Sun, October 7, 2017.
• Prescott Valley in Brief: Week of October 11, 2017, Prescott Valley Tribune, October 11, 2017.
• Town Hall on education funding set for Oct. 17, The Daily Courier, October 16, 2017.
• School officials: State forces them to compete for few funds; Welcome to Arizona's 'Hunger
Games', Nanci Hutson, The Daily Courier, October 19, 2017.
• Rants & Raves: Oct. 22, 2017. – mention of Arizona Town Hall, The Daily Courier, October 22, 2017.
• John Kitagawa: How to better invest in Arizona's education system, John E. Kitagawa, Arizona Daily
Star, November 17, 2017.
Future Leaders Town Hall on “Funding preK-12 Education”
• Youth address education funding woes, Amy Crawford, Yuma Sun, October 22, 2017.
Statewide Town Hall on “Funding preK-12 Education”
• Arizonans gather to remodel PreK through 12 education funding infrastructure, Rhonda Bannard,
Arizona Education News, September 13, 2017.
• Need a cybersecurity expert? Do you want entrepreneurs to locate in your city?, Arizona
Education News Service, October 24, 2017.
• Money Radio Interview (Interview with Mary Grier is about 14 minutes into the show), Sinclair Noe,
KFNN-Phoenix at 1510 AM and 105.3 FM, November 8, 2017.
• Arizona education: Where are our tax dollars going?, (Direct link to episode), Mike O'Neil/The
Think Tank, November 10, 2017.
• How can Arizona fund a better education system? Town Hall gathering seeks answers, Alia Beard
Rau, The Republic, Nov. 11, 2017.

• Superintendent's Report: Remembering Ken Walker, Joe Howard, Special to The Daily Courier,
November 13, 2017.
• Arizona Town Hall harsh on state leaders, calls for school tax hike, more pay for teachers, Alia
Beard Rau, The Republic, Nov. 15, 2017.
• Arizona Horizon interview with Zoe Richmond and Nikki Bagley, Arizona PBS, November 16, 2017.
• What we're following: vouchers don't cover specialized school costs and AZ needs to nearly
double education funding, Lisa Irish, Arizona Education News Service, November 16, 2017.
• What’s it going to take to build strong businesses and a strong future workforce in Arizona?, Hank
Peck, Tucson Local Media, November 19, 2017.
• Newsletter: Refugee students build new dreams in AZ public schools PLUS Arizonans say preK-12
education system is in crisis, Arizona Education News, November 22, 2017.
• Mayor Monica Gates attends a town hall in Mesa: ‘We must repair and maintain our failing
facilities’, Hubble Ray Smith, Daily Minor, November 22, 2017.
• Arizonans say preK-12 education system is in crisis: , Recommendation Release posted on AZ
Education News, November 22, 2017.
• What’s it going to take to build strong businesses and a strong future workforce in Arizona?, Hank
Peck Guest Opinion, Tucson Weekly, November 23, 2017.
• What’s it going to take to build strong businesses and a strong future workforce in Arizona?, Hank
Peck, Special to Inside Tucson Business, November 24, 2017.
• Arizona Town Hall calls for $15,000 raise for teachers, Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa, Arizona Daily Sun,
November 26, 2017.
• Arizona Town Hall Offers Suggestions On How To Increase K-12 Funding, Steve Goldstein, KJZZ,
November 27, 2017.
• Our View: Will Doug Ducey finally step up for Arizona teachers?, Editorial board, The Republic |
azcentral.com, November 27, 2017.
• Study: Arizona students get less money now than in 2008, Ricardo Cano, Arizona Republic,
November 30, 2017.
• Should voters continue or expand sales tax for schools?, Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa, Arizona Daily
Sun, December 2, 2017.
• Casuga: Arizona Town Hall drafts roadmap to keep state’s education system from falling off cliff,
Evelyn Casuga, Pinal Central, December 6, 2017.
• Schools face funding 'crisis', Peter Aleshire, Payson Roundup, December 15, 2017.
• Guest Column: More funding needed for Arizona's Schools, Tom Tyree, Shelley Mellon, John
Courtis, and Linda Elliott-Nelson, Yuma Sun, December 16, 2017.
• Arizona Town Hall recommends urgency and action on education funding, Paul Kulpinski, Grand
Canyon News, January 2, 2018.
• Arizona education funding needs urgent action, Jose Pombo, Phoenix Business Journal, January 14,
2018.
• Maxwell and McFarlin: Education reform begins with all of us, Suzanne McFarlin and Ted Maxwell,
Arizona Daily Star, January 24, 2018.
• A Radical-Sounding Education Funding Proposal From an Un-Radical Source: Arizona Town Hall,
David Safier, Tucson Weekly, February 8, 2018.
This list is updated weekly.