Arizona Education Network

The Arizona Education Network urges Arizonans who care about the economic future of the state to pass the 1% temporary sales tax.  The tax, which will automatically repeal on July 1, 2013, will dedicate two-thirds of proceeds to education and one-third to health and public safety.  These are areas which have already experienced major budget  Continue Reading >

In our February 19, 2010 newsletter and here on our website, we solicited your stories on how cuts to public education funding are affecting you. Here you’ll find some of the responses we’ve received.

The Arizona Legislature is asking voters to temporarily raise the sales tax by 1%, until May 31, 2013. The election will take place on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. The following is information that will explain the proposition’s potential impact.

Welcome to AEN’s 2010 Voter Guide: Resources you need for the August 24, 2010 Primary and the November 2, 2010 General Elections!

Here you will find important dates, voter registration links, and a listing of county voter registration and election information.

The Arizona Republic is running a series about the next decade in Arizona called Arizona 2020, A Framework for the Next Decade. The article focuses on six categories: Education, the Budget, the Border, the Government, the Economy and the Vision of AZ. Two of these categories are of great interest to the Arizona Education Network.

In another blow to fiscal responsibility in AZ, four bills have successfully passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee in recent weeks, which would expand the private school tax-credit program if adopted. Three of these bills would increase private school tax-credit contributions allowing an approximate loss of $60 million to Arizona’s general fund, and would require nearly 8,000 students to transfer from a public school to a private school in order for these programs to be, at best, budget neutral.

The Arizona Legislature finally agreed to refer the decision to the voters on Tuesday, May 18, 2010.

Arizona Education Network takes a closer look at the private school tax credit program and its history in order to understand the evolution of the program, the issues that have been raised and the potential changes in the future.

As the Arizona budget continues to increase, legislators have been busy finding ways to further diminish the general fund. Several bills are making their way through the legislature under the guise of private school tax credit reform that would drastically increase the amount of the tax credit deductions for private school tuition.

On Monday, February 1st, Governor Brewer issued a proclamation, calling for a sixth Special Session to run concurrent with the regular session. Voting began in the Senate Tuesday, where legislation passed and has been transmitted to the House and was later assigned to the House Committee on Rules.