Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/879719
AEA is committed to finding creative and meaningful ways to address the teacher shortage crisis and keep the promise of quality public education for all Arizona children and youth. Because an educator's working environment IS a child's learning environment, we must invest in our public schools so that our children have strong, healthy, and productive spaces to learn and grow. Our future depends on it. Please share this report card with friends, family, and colleagues and start having conversations about making education a priority in Arizona. To stay informed during the legislative session, subscribe to the AEA Legislative Update at arizonaea.org/legislativeupdate. AEA Bills AEA wrote two pieces of legislation this past session to address the current teacher shortage crisis: • HB 2370 – Ensure school employees are paid in a timely manner, especially at the beginning of the school year. Signed into law. • SB 1209 – A reduction in the impact of high-stakes testing in teacher evaluations. Vetoed by Governor Ducey. AEA Opposed Bills AEA lobbied against passage of these bills because they will harm our students and the teaching profession by making cuts to school funding and lowering professional teaching standards: • SB 1042 – Replaces "teacher" with "person" in state statute and lowers the bar for those who are allowed to teach our students in Arizona classrooms. • HB 2404 & 2244 – An attack on Arizona citizens' constitutional right to the ballot initiative process, making the renewal and potential expansion of Prop 301 more heavily dependent on the legislature and governor rather than Arizona voters and educators. • SB 1431 – Expands Arizona's private school voucher program, which has been cited for numerous cases of fraud, waste, and abuse, diverting millions of taxpayer dollars from our public school students to private and religious schools without accountability. • SB 1522 – A state budget that does not reflect a significant investment education, nor provide a permanent salary increase for teachers. • HB 2545 – An education funding model that supports high-stakes testing over learning. • SB 1416 – Provides even more tax breaks for wealthy, multinational corporations at the expense of funding for our students and resources for teachers. Extra Credit AEA would also like to thank and recognize legislators who helped AEA advance our legislative priorities in the following ways: • Access to Members – Thank you to legislators who attended AEA Lobbying Days at the Capitol and met with AEA members. • AEA Priorities – Thank you to legislators who championed AEA issues, helped AEA behind the scenes, and met with AEA Lobbyist Stephanie Parra regularly. • AEA Bill Sponsorship – Thank you to Representative Doug Coleman and Senator Steve Smith for sponsoring AEA's bills, HB 2370 and SB 1209. FALL 2017 | ADVOCATE 11 AT THE CAPITOL