BUSINESSES SHOULD STAND UP FOR SCHOOLS, OFFICIAL SAYS

posted by Michael Chihak

Arizona businesses got the Legislature to slow down on its continuing anti-immigration push by saying that it was hurting the business climate.

They should do the same for education, Chuck Essigs said. Essigs is governmental relations director for the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.

"Until the business community makes a stand for education, it has no chance of making a change," Essigs said in an interview for Friday's Arizona Week.

Essigs said he has been in touch with school officials from around the state and described them as "disappointed" over a third straight year of significant budget cuts. This year's reductions, signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday, total $183 million and bring the 3-year-total for all education to more than $1 billion.

Arizonans have shown a willingness to tax themselves for educational improvement, having done so last year in passing Proposition 100, which increased the sales tax for three years to bolster education funding, Essigs said.

Calvin Baker, superintendent of Vail School District in suburban Tucson, said in a separate interview for Arizona Week that the cuts represented a "bait and switch" pulled on voters who expected more funding for education.

Watch their interviews and commentary from a panel of journalists on Arizona Week Friday at 8:30 p.m. MST on KUAT-TV 6 in Tucson and at 10:30 p.m. MST on KAET-TV 8 in Phoenix. Or watch the program online at www.azweek.com