From the Green Party website:
The state committee for the Arizona Green Party (AZGP) recommends a NO vote on Proposition 123, the education finance constitutional amendment which will be on the ballot for the May 17, 2016 Special Election. There are several reasons the AZGP State Committee is opposed to Proposition 123, including:
The proposition is not necessary, since there is a $600 million budget surplus in the state treasury to properly fund K-12 public education
Qualifiers in the proposition that pull money from public education: a recession, a rise in unemployment, lower tax revenues, and a 49% cap on K-12 education funding from the state general fund
It pulls from the principal of the state land trust, negatively impacting the future value of the trust
The majority of Arizona state legislators want to use the $600 million budget surplus for more corporate tax cuts, as opposed to properly funding K-12 public education
It amends the Arizona Constitution, changing the way K-12 public education is funded.
Maritza Broce, AZGP state co-chair, said, “We have the necessary funds to properly fund K-12 education here in Arizona. Unfortunately, what is lacking is the political will with the majority of our state legislators. Instead of performing their constitutional duty to properly fund public education, our state legislators decided to put the unnecessary and confusing Proposition 123 on the ballot during a special election, when voter turnout is expected to be very low. We need to send a message to our state representatives/senators by voting No on Proposition 123!”
The Green Party believes that the funding of public education (K-12 and colleges/universities) needs to be at the top of our social and economic agenda, and that effective schools need sufficient resources. The Green Party is strongly opposed to the dismantling of public education, the privatization of education, and the attacks on teachers’ unions.
AZGP state co-chair and Teamsters Local 104 member, Angel Torres, said, “As a union member, I empathize with our K-12 teachers. Many of them are overworked, underpaid, and starved of the classroom basic necessities. However, we need to hold our state legislators accountable, and make sure they are properly funding K-12 public education. It is hypocritical that a majority of our state legislators will not use the state budget surplus to support K-12 public education, while at the same time introducing bills that use public tax dollars to support private and parochial schools. We need to defeat Proposition 123 by voting No on May 17, 2016! Then, in this year’s Primary and General Election, we need to elect candidates that will use the state budget surplus to properly fund K-12 public education.”
The Arizona Green Party (AZGP) has recruited several candidates to run for the Arizona State Legislature in this year’s Primary Election (August 30, 2016). More information will be available on these candidates once they have filed the necessary paperwork and nominating signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Elections Office. Please visit our website, http://www.azgp.org, for updated information.
The mission of the Arizona Green Party (AZGP) is to build and sustain an alternative, progressive political party that promotes and practices the Ten Key Values. We do not accept corporate donations and uniquely rely on the generosity of individual donors and volunteers. The four pillars of the Green Party are: Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice, Ecological Wisdom, and Non-violence.