Senator Pearce on Budget Cuts to Education

Dear family, friends and fellow citizens,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the proposed spending reductions to education. As a state senator in Arizona, I always appreciate hearing the concerns of the public, and as a father and grandfather, I can personally relate to the apprehension regarding the future of education in Arizona. Here is the '09 challenge: We just resolved a $1.6 billion deficit to fix, with only 5 months left, with only 50% of the budget to work with due to voter protected initiatives, and entitlement programs. Now, we are trying to solve a $2.5 to $3 billion deficit for fiscal 2010 that starts July 1st, again with only 50% of the budget on the table to work with. Tax increases are not the answer with families and businesses struggling to survive. Record foreclosures, a 26 year high in unemployment and many folks including myself that live on a fixed income. The attachment will clear up some of the misinformation on education funding in Arizona.

As you well know, the landscape of Arizona’s economic environment has changed. Families and businesses throughout the state have been forced to adapt to a faltering economy. In fact, it is the worst budgetary shortfall in our state’s history. In consideration of rising expenses that far outweigh declining revenue, Legislators are being forced to make the same difficult choices that face many American families. We are working to correct Arizona’s steep budget crisis during this economic downturn, but there are only three viable options: increasing taxes, borrowing money, or reducing spending. Times of recession call for conservation. Increasing taxes would likely prolong this recession, or, even worse, push it into a depression. Likewise, borrowing money would only delay the problem, hurt the overall financial health of our state and essentially mortgage our children’s future.

A significant portion of the proposed education “cuts” are really just rollbacks of spending increases that were made over recent years when our accounts were flush with money because of a strong housing market and a relatively prosperous economy. In fact, these increases illustrate the importance and value that Legislators have placed on education. Amidst this fiscal crisis, if we do not make reductions to education, which makes up almost 60% of the budget, or health/human services and public safety, which accounts for another 35%, we have only 5% left to work with—at a time when we are as much as 30% short! As difficult as these decisions may be, and as painful as they may feel in the short-term, reducing spending is necessary to preserve the long-term vitality of our education system.

I continue to fight for families and the taxpayers of this great state. One issue we continue to ignore and is the elephant in the middle of the room when it comes to crime, taxes, education, healthcare, is the illegal immigration issue. No one talks about it as we examine our budget shortfall. The failure of our local law enforcement and social service agencies to enforce our immigration laws costs the Arizona taxpayers significantly. The illegal immigration impact on our state is $2-$3 billion annually - $1 billion in K-12 alone plus lost jobs to Americans, lower wages and, according to FBI and local records, the huge crime wave including deaths and maimings that we are experiencing.

Remember, I did not create this deficit. I have continuously fought to hold down reckless spending while fighting for education, public safety and transportation as our priorities. Our former Governor with co-conspirators have created this mess by growing government by an average of 12% for the past 6 years, while inflation PLUS population has been 6%. It has been reckless spending by those who ignore the impact to the taxpayers in this state. We must protect working families while we address critical issues facing this state. No one said it would be easy.

God bless everyone and may God continue to bless America. I wish you and your family all the best during these difficult times.

Senator Russell Pearce, LD18, Mesa


Senator Pearce's Attachment

Education Funding (Sources are in parenthesis)

Per pupil funding (from all sources): $9700. (JLBC)
Education comprises nearly 60% of the state general fund. (JLBC)
Arizona ranks 21st in aggregate dollars spent on K-12. (NCES, NEA, ATRA)
Arizona ranks 21st in aggregate dollars spent on current K-12 operating expenses. (NCES, NEA, ATRA).

Teacher Salaries

Arizona ranks 11th for teacher salaries. (NCES, NEA, ATRA)
Arizona ranks 1st in the average salary of instructional staff on a per capita income basis. (NCES, NEA, ATRA

Test Scores

Arizona ranks 21st nationally for ACT composite scores. (ALEC)
Arizona ranks 27th for SAT Math and Critical Reading scores. (NCES)

Student Enrollment

Arizona ranks 13th in aggregate K-12 total student enrollment. (NEA)

Higher Education

Higher Education general fund monies have increased by 43% since 2004. (JLBC)
by 43% since 2004.

Arizona ranks 11th in percentage of individuals 18-24 years old with a Bachelor's Degree (National Science Foundation)

Why it is INACCURATE to say Arizona ranks 49th in Education:
These rankings are based on the “per pupil” spending calculation which does not take into account the following:

- Uniformity as to what funding categories go into the calculation from state-to-state (for example, Arizona is highly ranked in terms of capital expenditures per pupil, but none of those dollars are factored into Arizona’s per pupil calculations)

- Actual dollars spent in the classroom from district-to-district or state-to-state
cost of living adjustments

- State constitutional requirements/limitations with regard to education funding
estimates and redundancies in student counts

- Calculation variances that occur because of rapid growth issues faced by states like Arizona, versus states experiencing little, no or negative growth

There are better gauges to education ranking that are outcome-based indicators, such as student achievement, test scores, etc.
This calculation looks at education spending in a vacuum. It makes absolutely no sense for public policy to be driven by one isolated apples-to-oranges statistic.

Fact vs. Fiction - The Budget Cuts and Education

The Goldwater Institute has published the top ten myths about the education budget cuts. This is eyeopening information and should be considered before lambasting our legislators for doing their job.

Top 10 Myths about Education Funding and Budget Reductions

Goldwater Institute separates budget myths from reality as lawmakers grapple with billion-dollar budget shortfall

Phoenix--Arizona faces one of the largest budget deficits in the nation and lawmakers are struggling to close the gap. Because half of all General Fund spending goes toward education, schools and universities will necessarily be affected by the state's across-the-board belt tightening. While some school administrators and special interest groups have referred to the potential budget cuts "slashing education" and "shortsighted and borderline malicious," the Goldwater Institute would like to separate the reality of education funding in Arizona from several often publicized myths.

Myth #1: Schools simply cannot afford the budget reductions being proposed by the legislature.

Fact: The budget cuts proposed by the State House leadership amounts to a 2.5 percent reduction. Over the last five years, K-12 funding has increased by 40 percent. Reducing funding by 2.5 percent will still leave schools with more money than they had in 2008 adjusted for inflation.

Myth #2: Schools have tightened their belts as much as possible. There's simply nothing left to cut.

Fact: Last year Tucson Unified School District lost track of millions of dollars in equipment. With similar highly publicized stories frequently surfacing, there's room to tighten up. In addition to implementing better controls on equipment and supplies, the Goldwater Institute recommends three more ways schools and school districts can cut their budgets without eliminating teaching positions: 1.) Ban teachers from having non-classroom assignments; 2.) Ban teacher's union employees from conducting union work on district payroll; 3.) Cut administrative bloat at the district level. Arizona has an unusually large share of non-teaching public school employees. Teachers make up slightly less than half of on-site staff in public schools, placing Arizona fourth worst among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in teachers as a share of on-site public school staff.

Myth #3: Arizona already ranks 49th in the nation in education funding and we don't want to be number 50.

Fact: When all of Arizona's funding streams are added up, Arizona school funding ranks in the middle of the states at more than $9,000 per student per year.

Myth #4: Suspending the tax credit for donations toward private school tuition will save money and mitigate the need for education budget cuts.

Fact: Getting children into private schools with $1,000 of foregone tax revenue costs less than the $9,000 spent on a child in the public school system. To save money, the legislature should expand the private school scholarship tax credit and move more children from public to private schools. Suspending it will disrupt these students' educations and increase costs to the state as children return to public schools.

Myth #5: Student success will suffer if budget cuts lead to increased class size.

Fact: Research shows that students would be much better off if schools did let their most ineffective teachers go, and redistributed the students to more effective instructors. Teacher quality has been found to be 10- to 20-times more important than class size in achieving student learning gains. Schools could thereby cut their spending and improve student learning simultaneously.

Myth #6: All-day kindergarten is essential to successful child development and should not be eliminated by budget cuts.

Fact: Studies have consistently shown that any benefit from all-day kindergarten disappears by the time a child reaches the third grade, a phenomenon termed "fade out." Also, all-day kindergarten was widespread in Arizona public schools before a specified state funding stream was created two years ago, districts can continue all-day kindergarten if it is a priority.

Myth #7: Individual districts and schools are reluctant to cut their own budgets, so the legislature should direct where cuts will be made.

Fact: Individual districts and schools will be far more effective in determining how to cut their budgets while protecting their students and employees and should be given the flexibility to set their own budget priorities. To that point, Madison Elementary School District Superintendent Dr. Tim Ham said on January 26, 2009: "The Madison School District understands the crisis the State of Arizona is in economically and knows reductions in education funding will be required. We would ask that districts be allowed to use any of their funding sources to meet their obligations. This would require a temporary suspension of current legal requirements. However, it would provide flexibility, local control, and equality among districts."

Myth #8: Cuts in university funding will drive Arizona into "Third World" status.

Fact: Statewide, higher education budgets have increased by $332 million since 2004. If the full proposed FY 2009 cut of $80.5 million to ASU's budget were enacted, it would still receive more state funding than in 2006. Northern Arizona University would lose $31 million in FY 2009, but still receive more state funds than in 2007. The University of Arizona faces a proposed $103 million cut in FY 2009, which would take it back to 2004 state funding levels.

Myth #9: Investment in higher education is critical to the future success of Arizona's economy.

Fact: Comparing states' higher-education appropriations and gross state products yields no evidence that spending drives economic growth. From 1991 to 2000, none of the top 10 states in greatest higher-education appropriations were among the top 10 in economic growth.

Myth #10: Cuts to university budgets will make it necessary to double tuition thereby violating the Arizona Constitution's clause to make higher education "nearly as free as possible."

Fact: Legal precedent has determined that "nearly as free as possible" means tuition for Arizona public universities must remain in the bottom-third of the nation. Any increase in university tuition is required to meet that standard. As it stands, tuition at Arizona public universities is very low compared to national averages.

The Goldwater Institute is a nonprofit public policy research and litigation organization whose work is made possible by the generosity of its supporters.

For more information on the Goldwater Institute visit www.goldwaterinstitute.com

Protecting the defenseless

On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States issued their ruling in the Roe v. Wade case, essentially declaring that a woman's right to privacy outweighed the fundamental right of an unborn child to live. The result of this landmark decision: 52 million innocent lives lost over the past 36 years.

Earlier today I saw a great post on Sonoran Alliance about the steps being taken by the Obama administration and other Democrats to make abortions more readily available. Their decisions have far reaching consequences, and the videos shown on this post give a lot of food for thought.

As I was reviewing the videos and information on the post, three quotes came to mind that seemed to fit the debate on abortion:

"Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." - Abraham Lincoln

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Have you ever noticed that everyone who is pro-choice has already been born?" - Bumper Sticker

When the travesty of this malignant court decision is overturned, America will be on her way to a brighter future. I look forward to that day.

The Budget and the 49th Legislature

The first general session of the 49th State Legislature got off to a start this week with the official swearing in of the legislators and the governor's State of the State Address. The 800 pound gorilla in the room for this session is the $1.2 billion hole in the FY 2009 budget as well as similar forecasts for the 2010 and 2011 budgets.

The projected shortfalls in the state budget for the next few years are huge, and leave our legislators with a host of choices to make, none of which are going to be pain free. To help drive this point home, the House/Senate leadership convened a joint panel discussion with local business leaders/owners this morning, as well as a joint budget study session this afternoon.

During the panel discussion, each panelist explained how the current economic climate has affected their business, the tough decisions they have had to make, and the actions they have taken to position themselves for survival in the short term while keeping an eye on future opportunities. They also provided the legislature with their own thoughts on ways the business climate can be improved in Arizona. These suggestions mostly revolved around equalizing the tax codes and removing onerous regulations (which isn't a big surprise) but they drove their points home with specific examples of ways this could improve the economy in the long run. I saw that most of the legislators took notes - I hope they refer to them often during this session.

During the joint budget study session, the specific challenges of the current budget were reviewed in detail for the members. Several legislators seemed to realize the extent of the shortfall and how it would affect their pet programs during this presentation.

As a guest of Sen. Pearce, today I had the opportunity to sit in on these meetings as well as listen in on the conversations he had with other legislators and members of leadership. It was eye opening to see the amount of work that goes into preparing all of the options for members to consider, as well as the realities of making tough choices with the budget. I also got to see the opportunities that this budget crisis presents for our legislature. Without minimizing the difficulty of the decisions that will be made on programs and departments, the shortfalls in the budget actually present the legislature with a golden opportunity to streamline, reduce costs, and create efficiencies. The overall effect can be a government that better serves the people of our state.

Unfortunately there are going to be human costs to these decisions. In spite of this, our legislators and governor are just going to have to make the tough calls and deal with the consequences. The option of continuing to fund everything and not make cuts is just not tenable, and we are ill served by elected officials who won't "cowboy up" and make the hard choices. Families can't live beyond their means and neither can businesses, so why should government get away with it? In this climate cuts have to be made by everyone.

This creates a dilemma for politicians who will eventually incur the wrath of people affected by the cuts they decide to make. People are going to be unhappy with them and it may cost them later on, but it is the right thing to do. It will be interesting to see which legislators do the right thing and which ones do the "expedient" thing. From what I have seen of Sen. Pearce and several of the other legislators I spoke with today, I have high expectations. Time will tell.

A special "Thank You!" to Sen. Pearce for allowing me to be his shadow today and answering my questions. I also want to acknowledge the unsung heroes of our state legislators. Their executive assistants do a tremendous job keeping the legislators schedules, managing the traffic in and out of their offices, answering phone calls, keeping track of their paperwork and making the contacts our legislators need to do their job. Sen. Pearce's assistant, Karen, is a superhero, and has made each of my visits to Sen. Pearce's office a productive and enlightening experience. Thanks Karen!

The Arizona Outlook

Despite the national beating Republicans took this year, the news in Arizona is actually pretty good. Yes, we lost two seats on the Corporation Commission and one of our Congressional Seats, but the bloodbath that was predicted for us did not occur at all. Consider this:

• McCain won Arizona (I know, a fine lot of good this does us, but it is still comforting)
• In spite of being outspent anywhere from 5/1 to 20/1 in the most cometitive legislative districts, the Republicans held onto and expanded their majority with two new seats in the House and 1 new seat in the Senate.
• Congressman John Shaddegg held off a tough competitor, winning by a double-digit margin. (Congressmen Flake and Franks buried their opposition with an average of over 60% of the vote)
• 15 of the legislative races won by Republicans were for open seats
• The Republican candidates for Maricopa County offices won in commanding majorities.

There is other good news in all of this. With the replacement of moderate Republicans like Sen. Tom O'Halleran and Rep. Pete Hershberger we not only have a stronger majority, we have a more conservative one. (With any luck their defeat will also help keep remaining moderates, like Rep. Bill Konopnicki, in line with the conservative agenda.)

The icing on the cake for us this year would be for Governor Napolitano to accept a cabinet post in the Obama administration. (Man it hurts to say those last two words!) This would give us a Republican governor that would work with the legislature to get us out of the financial mess we are in as a state.

Moving forward I see three main items for Republicans to focus on for this next election cycle. Getting our budget crisis resolved, repairing the Republican brand, and finding a new standard bearer for our party that we can put in the Governor's office in 2010.

The party's over people, let's get back to work!

Taking a hard left turn...

This post will probably sound like a whole lot of weeping over spilled milk, but now that the election is over - I am free to say several things that have been eating at me for some time now.

There is no denying it - on a national level we Republicans got our butts handed to us last night. As sad as that makes me, I have to say that we deserved it and will continue to deserve it until we get some true leadership in our party. The main factors in our defeat (as I see it) were as follows:

John McCain

First and foremost - we were ill-served by John McCain as our party's nominee for president. Last night he claimed sole responsibility for the loss of this election and he was dead right for once. Over the past 8 years he has consistently fought against the party and the wishes of his constituents on key issues: immigration, campaign finance reform, judicial nominees, the marriage amendment, etc. He may have made a few conservative votes over the past several years, but his liberal forays during the same time period (McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, the Gang of 14, fighting the Bush tax-cuts, and so on) pretty much shredded his credentials as a conservative for many of us and alienated the Republican base. News flash to future Republican candidates - If the base isn't excited about your candidacy you don't have a snowball's chance in Phoenix of getting to the White House. (How McCain became the party's nominee is a whole other topic for a different time)

Republicans in Congress

Second - The majority of the Republicans that have served in Congress for the last 8 years have sold us down the river. Government spending and growth surpassed all kinds of records on their watch. We have new entitlement programs, a new government agency, and a further intrusion on state's rights thanks to these bozos. Huge violations of our rights have not only been allowed, they've been legislated into law: No Child Left Behind, McCain Feingold, Sarbanes-Oxley, the Patriot Act, TSA in the Airports, etc. And let's not forget earmarks. Not only are these little spending appropriations unconstitutional, they are the gateway to all kinds of corruption. And we have reaped what we have sown. Republicans have been taking earmarks like flapjacks on a Sunday morning, and we have the indictments and convictions to prove it. This has cost us big, because Republicans (well, Conservatives anyway) are deeply offended by lawbreaking and ethics violations. Unlike Democrats we throw the bums out and good riddance.

President George W. Bush

Third - President Bush. While I appreciate many of the things he has done to keep us safe over the past 8 years, the man has shown no spine when it comes to Congress. He as vetoed only a small handful of bills, even when he has publicly disagreed with them. When he signed McCain-Feingold into law he said, in essence: "This is probably an unconstitutional piece of legislation, but I am going to sign it anyway and let the courts sort it out." What part of "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States" didn't he get?
The War on Terror has been another issue. I agree that it is better to fight them there than fight them here, but he should have had a better plan to get in and exhibited more agility in responding to the political and tactical realities once we were there. Bluntly speaking, he should have hit those fundamentalist nuts with overwhelming force and pursued their extinction, not surrender.

The Media

Fourth - The mainstream media was in President-Elect Obama's hip pocket from the word "Go". This isn't a surprise, it is a fact we have known for a long time. Nonetheless, it has its effect, and it needs to be acknowledged. They have long ceased to be a credible source for news and information and are, instead, the "unofficial" organ of every liberal group and view in this broad country. Perhaps a loss of more subscribers will help them recognize their bias for what it is, but I'm not holding my breath. At least we will have the entertainment of contrasting their fawning reports on our new president with the snide remarks and vicious accusations leveled at our last president.

Abandoning Constitutional Principles

Last, but not least, the Republicans have abandoned the proven Constitutional principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility. Constitutionalism is the true essence of Conservatism and, while it is always the most difficult road to follow, it is ultimately the most successful. The Republicans have left this road for the easier road of expediency. We have not articulated the value of conservatism in word or deed, and this is the crux of my whole argument about this election. Those results and the pickle our country is now in, are directly attributable to a falling away from conservatism. Every time conservatism/constitutionalism is given an honest try it works and wins. We have lost because we left it behind. The Republicans have pursued liberal policies for the past 8 years and have created a mess for the country. An uninformed, sound-bite driven electorate responded to the message of "Change" and so now we will get more of the "Same". We are now exposed to liberalism's full force, and there aren't enough conservative Republicans left in the national government to do anything about it. Only when things fall apart and liberalism is exposed for the farce it is will we get the "Change" we really need - a return to conservatism. I hope it won't be too late.

Man I could sure use a shot of vintage Reagan right about now.

Exercise your rights - VOTE!!!

This is going to be short, sweet, and straight to the point. GO VOTE TODAY!!!

If you have moved and didn't bother to change your registration, you will need to go vote in your old precinct.

To find your precinct click here.

And just in case you've missed it from my earlier posts:

VOTE JOHN MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT

VOTE FOR YOUR REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES IN ALL OTHER RACES

VOTE YES ON PROPOSITIONS 100,101, and 102

VOTE NO ON PROPOSITIONS 105, 200, 201, 202

Stay tuned for my "editorial" on the results and my feelings about the entire process - after the results are in.