I would have preferred a cleaner, clearer outcome, a two or three point spread on Prop 123 no matter whether it went up or down, but here we are, stuck in the middle. We’ll know, maybe by Friday, maybe next week, if it squeaked by or just fell short.

Meanwhile . . .

The next step begins. As the twitter hashtag says, #nowitstarts. The vote counting and the court battles which will inevitably follow mustn’t obscure the fact that Prop 123 is only about giving back the money for our children’s educations which voters demanded in 2000 and the Republican leadership took away illegally in 2009. It’s about trying to get back to Arizona’s previously lousy per student funding before the majority leadership used the recession as an excuse to make it even lousier. And if Prop 123 passes, then manages to jump over whatever legal hurdles are put in front of it, that won’t get us all the way back. That will only get us 70 percent of the way there. If it goes down, we’re back to the earlier unresolved court battles which, if they’re resolved in the schools’ favor, will bring us 100 percent of our previously lousy per student funding.

Either way, it’s not enough. Not nearly. We’re thousands of dollars per student below the national average. States lower than us on the economic ladder spend more than we do.

The next important step for us regular folks isn’t watching the vote counts ebb and flow or following the court fights. Those are spectator sports. Most of us can only watch passively, there’s not much we can do. The next important step is at the ballot box. Vote out the candidates who don’t support significant new funding for our children’s educations. Vote in candidates who do.

This is one of those times when a one issue state election makes sense. “Will you do everything you can to provide substantially more money for our children’s educations? If so, you’ve got my vote. If not, see ya’ later.” Because this one issue speaks volumes, not just about where the candidates stand on the improving the present and future of our children but where they stand on the general well being of all Arizona residents regardless of racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds. It tells us what the candidates think is more important: starving the budget and giving tax cuts to the wealthiest among us or making Arizona a better place for all of us to live.

This article appears in May 12-18, 2016.

24 replies on “With Prop 123 Hanging in the Balance, the Push For Education Funding Begins. #nowitstarts”

  2. “I would have preferred a cleaner, clearer outcome, a two or three point spread on Prop 123 no matter whether it went up or down.”

    I would have preferred a CLEANER outcome, too — one that wasn’t soiled by so many people who should be defending public education and the correct mechanisms for funding it yielding to blackmail and supporting Ducey’s big-money backed bought-and-purchased proposition. $4 million dollars raised to support it — most of it from a few VERY large donors — and still ALMOST 50% of the electorate got the message about what it really was and voted against it, thanks to some amazing advocates who will not be soon forgotten, including Morgan Abraham and the state-level leaders of the League of Women Voters, Shirley Sandelands and Anna Dolak.

    Kind of makes you wonder what would have happened if you and others like the TUSD Board majority and Superintendent hadn’t sold out and started promoting Prop 123, doesn’t it, David?

    “…if Prop 123 passes, then manages to jump over whatever legal hurdles are put in front of it, that won’t get us all the way back. That will only get us 70 percent of the way there.”

    No it won’t. A large proportion of that 70% will be coming from the wrong source, drawing down funds the schools already owned down in an unsustainable way, ensuring that when the proposition expires, the principal and the income from it will be lower than it would otherwise have been. This was set up so Ducey can give general funds that should properly belong to education to his corporate cronies in the form of tax breaks, no doubt, further forwarding his quest for an all-ALEC-Arizona.

    I will not be jumping on any bandwagons with people who backed this crap nor will I be joining the campaigns they’re putting together with their #nowitstarts twitter hashtags. I have zero trust, zero respect for those in my party who sold out. That’s what happens, David, when people catch you LYING, SPINNING bad deals that actually sell our schools and our children short, and OMITTING RELEVANT INFORMATION. Trust is destroyed. You might want to tell that to some of your friends in TUSD admin and governance. They have some of the same credibility problems you do. Wonder why…

  3. One more thing: I find it very grating when you use the term “our children.” You do not have children you are raising and educating in Arizona. I, and many others among your readers, do. My children are not “your” children, and in pulling punches in your reporting on TUSD governance and policy decisions, you have, from my perspective, been part of the problem: for the past three years, one of the most devoted apologists for irresponsible leadership that has been damaging the schools many of OUR children utilize (and when I say “our” I refer to myself and all others who actually have children OF THEIR OWN enrolled in these schools).

    Perhaps, if you intend to continue writing blog posts where you trying to convey the impression that you care about young people in Arizona’s public schools, you could say “Arizona’s children.” That would be more accurate and less offensive.

  4. 2/3 of the remaining uncounted votes (as should be) are from the Phoenix area. Polling experts conclude that it will pass. Expected results will be reported tomorrow morning.

    #lookslikeit’sover

  5. ” ‘ Will you do everything you can to provide substantially more money for our children’s educations? If so, you’ve got my vote. If not, see ya’ later.’ [The answer to this question will tell] us what the candidates think is more important: starving the budget and giving tax cuts to the wealthiest among us or making Arizona a better place for all of us to live.”

    You just backed a proposition, Safier, that was put together by business interests in part to “give tax cuts to the wealthiest among us.” It looks like it will pass, and you’re part of the team that brought that about, right? Where’s your credibility as an effective opponent of those who want to starve the schools and fill the corporate coffers? Nowhere. It no longer exists.

  6. I count 4 distinct occurrences of “our children” in this piece:
    “Prop 123 is […]about giving back the money for OUR CHILDREN’s educations”
    “the candidates who don’t support significant new funding for OUR CHILDREN’s educations”
    “Will you do everything you can to provide substantially more money for OUR CHILDREN’s educations?”
    “where the candidates stand on the improving the present and future of OUR CHILDREN”

    As a commenter above points out, this kind of language has a hollow ring to it when you know Safier does not have — and has never had — children enrolled in AZ schools.

    Then there’s the smarmy “The next important step FOR US REGULAR FOLKS”
    …and the folksy “If not, see ya’ later.”

    It seems to be the verbal equivalent of a sheepdog trying to herd sheep he thinks are not too bright into the pasture where he wants them, the #nowitstarts pasture where the black sheep who opposed Prop 123 will work together earnestly with the white sheep who supported Prop 123 and all will elect Democratic candidates and there will be rainbows in the sky and perhaps even pots of gold at the end of them.

    Problem is, the black sheep are smarter than this disingenuous blogger thinks they are, and in the several months leading up to this debacle they learned to know the voices of the honest shepherds from the wolves in shepherds’ guise pretty well.

  7. Whether you go with Arizona being the Spanish interpretation of the Aztec word “arizuma” meaning silver-bearing or being based on the Pima word “arizonac” meaning little spring place, I’m afraid Governor Ducey, his fan boys in the legislature and all the dark money brokers are giving the state a new image and a new slogan: Ignorance may be bliss but in Arizona it’s the law.

  8. To sum it up, a lot of us are mad, sad, and expecting bad things to follow from people we can’t trust.

  9. I opposed Prop 123 but am alarmed by many of the comments above. I know David Safier & while we were on opposite sides of Prop 123, he is a thoughtful & passionate supporter of public education, which I am too. I have linked to the statement put out by the No Prop 123 committee which proudly points out what success we achieved for our efforts & what we should do in the future. I urge all of us who opposed Prop 123 to read the statement because I think it gives us reasons to be hopeful for the future.
    http://us12.campaign-archive1.com/?u=54871…

  10. I think, David, that you HAVE received a clean and clear message. The overwhelming majority of people don’t like Prop 123. MANY that voted ‘yes’ have said they didn’t like the proposition. The fact that a $5million dollar campaign finds itself in a dead-heat with a campaign that spent $16,000 is a fairly good indication that people don’t buy the message of Prop 123.

  11. Brian Clymer:

    I am alarmed by people who see nothing wrong with discussing the Proposition in misleading ways, as Safier has repeatedly done, more than once publishing in his blog the inaccurate statement that Prop 123 will “put 70% of what is owed to the schools back.” That money will not be “put back” by the proposition. Instead, the proposition substitutes money from the wrong source for money that is available from the right source, illegally disenfranchising all those who voted in support of Prop 301, as the League of Women Voters has correctly pointed out.

    Here is something Morgan Abraham wrote before the Proposition went to a vote about misleading statements made by othe supporters of Prop123:

    “As Chair of the Opposition to Proposition 123 I have tried my best to stay out of the opinion section of papers. I have been able to have my say in the campaign’s video “Triggers, Trusts and Tax Cuts”. However, I was so disheartened by yesterday’s Republic editorial on Prop123 I felt I had to respond. Why now? Because IT IS DANGEROUS TO PRETEND THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH PROP 123 […] Unlike what the Republic Editorial Board believes, opposition to Prop123 has nothing to do with a referendum on our Governor nor is it a group of angry liberals and conservatives wanting to get even with the political establishment. Opposition against Prop123 has to do with the attachments to the proposition.”

    What we have dealt with throughout this campaign is a contrast between people who want to get correct, complete information to the public and assume that the public is smart enough, if they have correct and complete information, to know the right way to vote, and people who want to mislead, soft-peddle, propagandize, make excuses, omit relevant information, etc. Independently of this particular campaign, behaving this way with the electorate is not respectable behavior: not respectable when it relates to Sanchez and the board majority in TUSD, another topic where readers have seen Safier soft-peddle bad decisions in his blog and omit information relevant to assessing the quality of leadership decisions, a subject voters need to understand very clearly if they are going to make decisions that will support the well being of this public institution when they vote.

    In sum: you have your opinion based on your experience with Safier (both of you, I think are Precinct Committee people for the Pima County Democratic Party, yes?) Others have their opinions, based on different experiences. You write that you think “he is a thoughtful & passionate supporter of public education.” Thanks for sharing. That doesn’t alter the fact that there have consistently, over the course of several years now, been issues with his coverage of education that damage many people’s trust in the validity of his advice.

  12. There are some honest, constructive people committed to the right things within the Pima County Dems. The county party took the right position on 123 and they deserve credit for that. But there are also people who seem to believe that the role of the party (and its elected representatives) is to make decisions about what needs to happen and then “sell” the program they have decided on behind closed doors to the voters. This latter party seems to have lost track of the fact that democracy cannot work unless voters are told the TRUTH. Things go badly wrong when cynicism takes over and people with access to media outlets and money for advertising deliberately mislead voters and try to herd them like sheep in a pre-determined direction, believing that party “players” with their inside information know better than “regular folks,” in Safier’s sickeningly manipulative phrase in this piece.

    Safier is not a member of “us regular folks,” and he knows it damn well. He is a member of the group of Democratic Party insiders who decided at a certain point this spring that having the money NOW was more important that standing up for the principles that should govern public education funding. They made that decision behind closed doors and then turned around and started trying to soft-peddle all the things that were wrong with Prop 123: “Prop 123 is […] about giving back the money for our children’s educations” as Safier misleadingly wrote in this piece, and in other, similar pieces not worthy of anyone’s respect.

    What is flat amazing is that the very people who refused to prevent the disenfranchisement of all of us who supported Prop 301 are now turning to us to say, “You’ll help us make sure they deliver on Prop 123, won’t you?” No, we won’t. It wasn’t the right way to fund public education before the vote took place, and it isn’t the right way to fund it subsequently. We want it fought in court and defeated. We want the voters’ will, as expressed in Prop 301 honored. One effect of all this in Pima County, which voted against Prop 123 by a good solid margin, may be that candidates who supported Prop123 will be defeated in their bids for election or re-election in November and replaced with people who know how to tell voters the truth and stand up for progressive principles.

    http://threesonorans.com/2016/05/17/vote-no-prop-123-kristel-foster-cannot-defend-rationally-radio-interview-video/

  13. This is a real feather in the hat of our current Governor, Doug Ducey, and it is the feather of an albatross.

  14. This is a real feather in the hat of our current Governor, Doug Ducey, and it is the feather of an albatross.

  16. 123 passes. Money starts to flow to public schools. Students will not need to hack computers to change grades. Teachers will teach better and birds will chirp again.

  17. Via Twitter
    The votes are in. The results are clear. #Prop123 has passed. #AZ teachers & kids have won! pic.twitter.com/XyeXI44wTf
    — Doug Ducey (@dougducey) May 20, 2016

    THE RESULTS ARE CLEAR! What is clear is that once again this governor and his like-minded legislators – along with their dark money puppet and pay masters – have hijacked the democratic process to transmogrify the law to suit their nefarious purposes, which in this case have very little to do with increasing money to education and more to do with getting out from under a court order to return ALL the money they misappropriated and to ensure that the education land trust goes under sooner than later, which in turn will allow them to come after the few of us who do pay taxes with further threats to the educational future of children in Arizona. In Arizona this is what passes for politics as usual, but in most criminal codes it is called extortion!

  18. Yes, and there are those in the NO camp who are as committed to tying this proposition up in court and defeating it that way as Ducey was committed to failing to disburse the funds the courts said were owed to the state’s schools.

    This is the right outcome: tie 123 up in litigation with the goal of getting it overturned or having it declared illegal and then vote the people who put together this blackmail scheme (and those so-called “Democrats” who went over to their side) out of office.

    This would be exactly the wrong outcome: give up the NO advocacy and make Ducey disburse the 123 funds. Unsurprisingly, it is the outcome Safier and his dishonest, unprincipled friends in TUSD, AEA, etc. are pushing for. It is their betrayal and capitulation that tipped the balance on this Proposition, and their morallly rotten take on “progressivism”, if it cannot be stopped, will strike the death blows to our public school system in this state.

  19. Morally rotten progressives? Democrats are now torn three ways and they won’t survive Donald Trump. Hillary may destroy the party before she loses. Support teachers and implement 123.

  20. There you have it, Tucson. The Word from Rat T: “Democrats…won’t survive Donald Trump. Hillary may destroy the party before she loses,” and the cherry on top: “Support teachers and implement 123.”

    Looks like Rat T, David Safier, the TUSD Board majority, and HT Sanchez are all agreed that on their messaging RE Prop 123.

    What does that tell you?

  21. You guys are too funny. Thanks.

    There were 17 articles run through the Weekly about voting against it. Yet today there is nothing that it passed. No wonder you are so ill informed.

  22. Yup, they’re all united behind the MONEY NOW FROM THE LAND TRUST!!! agenda: the Grijalvas and their two flunkies on the TUSD Board Foster & Juarez, their extremely expensive administrative servant HT Sanchez, their media lapdog David Safier, Farley, Duval: all coming into alignment with Ducey, Gowan, Biggs, Rat T, David W, et al.

    It’s been sick fun watching this unholy alliance come into being. Well done, David Safier. Keep up the good work.

  23. That’s right. Don’t forget the group meets again tomorrow at 2 PM.

    You know where.

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