The budget: a disaster in our midst
A week ago I had an interview with the interim Principal Elizabeth Moll at University High School to discuss our current budget situation. To sum it up, it didn’t look good for the kids at UHS. For starters the UHS Budget Committee had to deal with balancing the budget this year, luckily there were no major teacher cuts. Unfortunately our teacher supply budget is slowly dwindling (ask your parents to bring in supplies kids!) and our school is starting to cut to bare bones where there isn’t very much else to cut. There is more unfortunate news, if the one-cent sales tax in Arizona isn’t passed TUSD could face cuts of up to $50 million in cuts and there are still even more cuts that could take place.
This is very bad news. As a member of the UHS Site Council and UHS Budget Committee, I can assure you that the following is a fact, there is nowhere left to cut. What this potentially means is that there are fewer AP offerings, fewer teachers, no budget for fine arts which translates into cutting fine arts if not eliminating it completely. Many aspects of our school will be demolished if the sales tax does not go through. I asked Ms. Moll in our interview about the prospects for UHS without a sales tax (which would bring in $1 billion a year into the education budget) and she admitted our prospects looked dim.
There is some good news however, if the 1-cent sales tax goes through our lives here at UHS will remain relatively unchanged. A little less money for supplies, larger freshman class sizes but in general, at least for upper classman, our school is remaining relatively the same. Also Ms. Moll who has been a great help this year as interim Principal in helping with our budget and in general running our school is going to apply for the position next year for permanent principal. If she is rehired this would mean stability and continuity through the next year when we might need it most.
Now to this reporter, with the current budget situation and the political climate in Arizona, the one cent sales tax seems very unlikely and my glass seems to be looking half empty a lot more as the May 18 special election draws near. What that might mean for UHS is: no fine arts, fewer AP offerings, humongous class sizes and decreased standards; in essence the complete breakdown of what makes UHS what it is. Parents and others can speculate all they want about how UHS is the jewel of TUSD and it won’t be touched, but what they don’t understand is that it already has and there is not much left. There is something that the reader sitting at the computer right now reading this article can do. There is something that every single person in Arizona can do. Any person, who cares at all about education and what it means for America’s future, can do this one thing. That one thing is tell your relatives, your friends, your acquaintances, your coworkers, even strangers, to vote for Proposition 100. If they don’t, our future goes down the toilet.
Samuel Williams
Sophomore reporter/editorial writer,
member of UHS Site Council, SAB, and Band
For questions please email samster712@yahoo.com
Short URL: http://www.uhsperspective.org/?p=280
Critical Thinking assignment:
Problems with this solution are: (1) a sales tax is regressive, in an economy where the poorer people who will bear it are losing jobs and homes; (2) sales taxes are passed using a popular cause for leverage, but are quickly diverted to other governmental purposes; (3) Arizona has already demonstrated that education has a very low priority.
We propose to give this money to people whose fiscal record is abysmal. [Right now, we are set to embark on a horrendously expensive constitutional attack, almost surely unwinnable. Regardless of merit, this is a pointless expercise, as it is already being tested by more than a dozen other states...Arizona's participation adds nothing. Yet all the money Arizona can glean, including this, may be applied to that.]
We are putting ourselves on the line to give state administrators more of the limited money of families, particularly low-income families, because without it “bad things will happen.” I suggest that WITH it, bad things will happen. Without some kind of guarantee, some earmarks, I see little hope that this good faith people’s campaign will protect our school.
ummm who is “we” that you are referring to…first off the bill (proposition 100 for those of you who don’t know) specifically designates the funds for education and public safety…second off the bill expires after 3 years which is not enough time for the money to be diverted. and 3rd off its not a question of if bad things will happen its a question of when because like it or not without this sales tax UHS is dead…that is a fact whether you believe it or not. this tax is nto a pointless exercise and 1 cent per item is not going to hurt the low income families in fact you can drop a penny on the street and you don’t feel any poorer for it. SO no its not horribly expensive we are not giving it to the people it is going to public education it won’t be diverted because there isn’t time for it to be diverted and three obviously if the arizona government is trying to put this prop forward then obviously it cares about education. The problem is people like you won’t vote for the bill because they don’t believe anything bad will come with it. WELL IT WILL DEAL WITH IT AND VOTE FOR THE STUPID BILL OR YOU MAY NOT BE IN SCHOOL IN 2 YEARS CAUSE ALL OF THEM WILL BE SHUT DOWN
I am very concerned about the impending one cent sales tax not being passed. It is no secret that the legislators in Phoenix are not one whit interested in our youth nor in funding their educations.
On the other hand there is no shortage of folks over 60 (of which I am one) who feel that they’ve already raised their families, paid for their educations and are now looking at the shrinking dollar and even the dubious future of social security; so why should they be continually asked to sacrifice?
Yes, it’s the future of America, however, those facing that future should support these concerns just like the graying generation did with their families, and step up with some sort of “tuition” to cover what is increasingly less of a “free” education in America.
After all, one could argue that those who can afford future ivy-league tuitions, should also be able to afford getting to those hollowed halls.
Sorry, but there don’t seem to be any quick, easy and painless fixes for this one.
To the first commenter: I’ve spoken with several people who reject the tax because it’s regressive, that it hits the poorest hardest, etc. That’s all true.
But to me, opposing Prop. 100 for that reason is a case of ideology getting in the way of practicality. We all disapprove of ideologues when they disagree with what we approve of, to the point that often we’re blind to the fact that we can be ideological, too. And that’s where you are with this argument.
So you prefer to oppose the proposition, let the schools go to heck, let the kids suffer… all in the name of your ideology. Sure, a progressive tax would be better, but in this state, that ain’t going to happen. Prop. 100 is simply the best of a bunch of bad (but possible) alternatives.