Contact your legislator and see how they voted on the last

On Nov. 23, the Arizona Legislature cut $144million in basic state aid for K-12 education for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.The cuts, to districts across the state, were in “soft capital,” which is used mostly to buy classroom supplies, books, technology and school buses.

The vote, in the fourth special session of the state Legislature this year, was along party lines in both the House and the Senate, with Republicans voting in the majority.

Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill the day it was passed, in effect reversing spending she had given back to schools when she vetoed similar “devastating” cuts, as she called them, in late summer.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee has estimated that the state still has a deficit of $1.6 billion for the rest of this fiscal year, and about twice that much for fiscal 2010-2011, which begins July 1. That being the case, a fifth special session is anticipated before Christmas – and educators fear even deeper cuts.

            Increasing state revenue through a possible tax increase may be the topic on the fifth session. Gov. Brewer has advocated a 1-cent-per-dollar temporary sales tax increase for months now, saying it would raise about $1 billion annually.

            Meanwhile,the state – in an action not duplicated since the Great Depression – will issue treasurer’s warrants to borrow at least $700 million to make payments,including a $300 million to $350 million payment to K-12 schools, which was due at the start of this month. Loans will be made by Bank of America, through the purchase of warrants issued by the Arizona Treasurer’s Office. The loans will cost the state between $3 million and $5 million in interest payments.

            Critics caution that when people read or hear about budget problems they automatically assume they are the result of overspending. But in a recession, people’s needs increase at the same time that resources they need are dwindling. So the budget gap, critics say, is the result of the problem, not the problem itself.

Voices for Education believes these already enacted education cuts-and the looming even more drastic outlook for next year's education funding-will have a disastrous effect on Arizona's economy for many years to come.  Our children are our future -we cannot, and should not, balance the state budget at their expense.