Prop 123 could bring $115,000 to Williams schools next year

WILLIAMS, Ariz. - Residents of Arizona will be going to the polls May 17 to decide the fate of Proposition 123. The proposition adds education funding to K-12 schools and settles a lawsuit on K-12 funding between the state and the public schools.

The K-12 Education Funding Settlement Agreement would infuse $3.5 billion in additional education funding over the next 10 years and increase base per-pupil funding to $3,600 per year. According to Williams Unified School District Superintendent Rick Honsinger, the district would see an additional $115,000 next year and every year for the next 10 years if the measure is passed.

"It will bring more funding into our district," Honsinger said. "It would go directly into salaries. We are losing students, so we are losing funding for next year."

Honsinger said the district is facing a decline in enrollment and needs additional funding to maintain current teacher salaries.

"We have 20 fewer students this year than we did last year at this time," Honsinger said.

If passed, Prop 123 would draw funds from the state's land trust fund and its general fund over the next decade to increase funding for Arizona students by $173 per student throughout the state.

In 2010, school districts and charter schools alleged that during the recession in 2007, the state ignored Proposition 301, a ballot measure approved by voters in 2000. Prop 301 required automatic inflation adjustments in the state aid to education base level or other components of a school district's revenue control limit. The schools say they were not given the funding required under the measure.

In October 2015, the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives passed three legislative bills seeking to contribute approximately $3.5 billion for K - 12 grade students in public and charter schools over the next decade. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey then signed the bills into law.

Many Arizona educational organizations, law makers and state leaders are in support of Prop 123 including Arizona Charter Schools Association, Arizona Education Association (AEA), Governor Doug Ducey, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and the Navajo Nation.

Most supporters such as the AEA believe that approving the measure avoids a further drawn out court battle and will help today's students. Many law makers also believe this is the best settlement the schools will get from the lawsuit and that further negotiations could take a long time and won't be any better than the current offer.

Opponents of Prop 123 include Arizona's League of Women Voters and Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWitt. Some opponents, including Arizona's League of Women Voters, say the state land trust money in question already belongs to the state's schools and the school-funding measure shortchanges education while ignoring earlier voter interests.

According to the Vote No on Prop 123 campaign, opponents don't like the measure because it fails to hold the government accountable, denies the schools of at least a billion dollars they should be receiving, and the money comes from future educational money already designated for schools.