At tomorrow’s meeting, the Tucson City Council is going to be chatting about a message they’d like to send Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Legislature: restore funding for Joint Technical Education districts…now, please.
The state’s budget cut about 7.5 percent of funding, or roughly $344, per student that enrolls in a JTED course, starting in 2016.
From the so-called memorial the council members are considering tomorrow evening:
Whereas, JTED students are able to earn more, pay income taxes sooner and have more disposable income than their peers…and the city believes Arizona must continue to serve and educate students and sustain, if not improve, the workforce development JTEDs currently provide…any monetary cut in JTEDs is an issue of regional concern and has a serious impact on the future integrity of our skilled workforce and future prospects for Arizona and its economic recovery.
In March, business leaders, heads of Pima County’s school districts and JTED leaders held a press conference as part of the joint efforts to make a case for the program. That, of course, did not work. The state Legislature went on to approve the budget, and Ducey signed it shortly after.
“JTED was a referendum approved by tax payers in Pima County, approved at over 70 percent across the board, a huge percentage of passing a bill that says ‘we want to raise our taxes because we want more money to go into career and technical education programs,'” said Pima County JTED superintendent Alan Storm at the time.
That same month, Tucson Unified School District students planned a walkout to protest the budget cuts, but the district ended up hosting a forum with hundreds of high school students. Among the speakers were U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva and TUSD board members.
“There is a choice, we can all sit and allow the Legislature in Phoenix to continue to fund prisons or to start funding you,” TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez said at the forum that took place at the Tucson High auditorium. “We could also do nothing, be uninformed and sit here and allow big companies that make billions of dollars a year get tax breaks, maybe that money can be redirected toward you. My personal preference is that you are supported, that you are educated, my personal preference for a better Arizona, a better Tucson is for you to take a hold of your state, it is your state, your future and your responsibility, thank you for being here. I want to tell you how many millions of dollars are going to companies for tax breaks, I want to tell you how many millions of dollars are going to prisons.”
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2015.
HT why don’t you offer to convince COT to drop sanctuary status in trade for the money they want?
The JTEDs are now essential to a skilled workforce in this State. The students are very successful and are learning state of the art technology, enhancing the economic development of Arizona. Plus, Speaker Gowan had three vehicles successfully repaired at a Pima JTED, satellite funded program in the Vail high school. Keep up the good work.
JUST AS SOON as the Council stops the $1 rents to its buddies, and NUMEROUS other BS Giveaways with OUR tax money.. THEN you can Ask for Money.. Irresponsible EFS.
AND lets nor forget the MONEY they give to/spend on illegal immigrants when there are hard working TAX PAYERS here Legally – who could sure use some stuff!! Tucson FIRST.. illegal blood-suckers, NEVER.
This is mystifying. If JTED was created from a Pima County referendum, why isn’t the funding coming from Pima County’s tax base? Why is this state-funded at all?
Lord, I’m glad I live outside city limits…
Would someone explain to Troy how AZ funding for education works? No AZ school district is only funded by local district funds, nor were they intended to be. The actions of the Legislature in cutting funding for JTED, PCC, MCCC, and the Universities are part and parcel of their actions in refusing to pay the owed funds to K12 which were also mandated by an initiative.
Cutting JTED and the community colleges was a stupid move from a legislature that is supposedly pro-jobs and pro business. These are the real AZ jobs producers, not those out of state corporations and CEOs who finance the Leg. campaigns. I guess I am bitter today.
JTED is a wonderful program, the kids truly bennifit from as does the community. Many other programs like shop construction do the same, however TUSD has cut these programs or just let them die out. These programs don’t fit Sanchez vision , it sickens me that Sanchez comments were used in this article, what a bigget , what if Sanchez didn’t take the massive raise and bonus that he and his cabinet took, what if that money went to the kids. I will stand and fight for these programs to be funded, but not with Sanchez , Grijalva or any of the other that have robbed our children . Sanchez and the rest are standing with Dicey and will not truly act unless it affects their pocket books. Shame on these people they are far worse than Dicey or the legislature, Sanchez, Grijalva, Foster, and Juarez can look these kids in the eye while they rob them blind , lie to them while smiling. This is sick, get the funding back, but get rid of these people first they will just squander it.
JTED needs to be fully funded.
Maybe Tucson needs more workers for call centers at $8 an hour or future inmates.
This is the absolute LAST program that should be short-changed.