Arizona students deserve better than Proposition 320

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OPINION — As a future voter attending Arizona public schools since kindergarten and seeing, firsthand, the same slew of complaints, I know the biggest problem for students and me isn't a lack of curriculum resources or field trips; it’s the support systems students’ success depends on.

Prop. 320 would require major districts, including SUSD, to restructure already tight budgets to spend 60% on “direct instruction.” On the surface, this is great: put more money toward students; but in reality, Prop. 320 cuts millions of dollars from real pressure points. SUSD currently spends 54% on instruction — requiring a $14,900,000 reduction towards the backbone of education: counselors, teacher training and security. The counselor-to-student ratios are stretched to their max; how can Arizona schools compete with private schools that provide the most intensive counseling support in the United States?

And the thought of school security being expendable under this prop is terrifying. Students should never be forced to trade safety and security for a spreadsheet percentage.

If Prop. 320 improves Arizona education on paper, but is treacherous for students, then it has utterly failed. Arizona students deserve better, and we will not back down in this fight. 

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