As longtime teachers, parents and advocates for public education, year after year we come to the legislature to fight for desperately needed investments in our children and their teachers.

In recent years, Democrats have proposed dozens of practical solutions that support the vital work of our fellow educators and provide business leaders with the strong, educated workforce they need.

But, Republican lawmakers won’t even give these popular ideas the time of day.

The current Republican majority would rather focus on attacking teachers and school boards. In just the past year they’ve sponsored legislation that threatened teachers and attacked them as “educational terrorists.” They have driven many of Arizona’s best teachers from their classrooms into other careers or to other states.

No matter where we fall on the political spectrum, Arizonans agree that we want better investment in K-12 public schools and our teachers. Great teachers are vital to children’s education, yet over a third of students in Arizona no longer have a permanent, qualified teacher. This is a disaster for all of us even if we don’t have children in school. We all need a strong, educated population if we want to live in a safe and thriving community with a strong economy. That starts with a certified teacher leading the way.

If legislative candidates are serious about education, the very first thing that they must do is urge Gov. Ducey to call a special session now to lift the 1980-era school spending cap that led Arizona to be nearly last in the nation for per pupil spending. Any education proposal that doesn’t start here is an automatic fail.

From there, we have to increase teacher and staff pay, reduce class sizes, which are currently among the highest in the nation, stop voucher expansion, and fulfill the promised, but long-neglected, capital investments needed to replace outdated school facilities and resources.

That’s why for years we Democrats have proposed legislation like Sen. Marsh’s bill to cap class sizes, Rep. Pawlik’s bill to fund full-day kindergarten, Rep. Schwiebert’s bill to increase our annual investment in teachers, counselors, and public schools, and Rep. Epstein’s bill to close tax loopholes so that everyone pays their fair share and our state revenue is adequate to fully fund public education.

As teachers and parents, we have taken our extensive experience to develop solutions to the toughest challenges facing Arizona students. We’ve led the way on investments in career and technical education. For higher education, we’ve proposed investing in community colleges and universities to reduce tuition for students.

Yet the Republican majority has refused to even consider nearly every single one of these bills, content to leave Arizona’s investment in our children and public education in the national basement.

It was encouraging to see both sides of the aisle join together earlier this year to approve a bipartisan proposal that included an increase in next year’s budget for our teachers and public schools. It was one small step in the right direction, but Arizona’s education investment is in a deep hole. It is the work of spreadsheets and many conversations, not grandiose campaign promises or political stunts. Frankly, this is work that does not just take place during campaign season.

If members of the Republican majority wanted to fix educational outcomes for children in our state — they would have been on board years ago with these broadly supported solutions we have been championing.

As teachers, parents and Democrats, we have shown our work. We’re ready to make sure that every student and family gets their chance to thrive.

About the authors

Sen. Christine Marsh is a Democratic candidate for the Arizona Senate representing Legislative District 4. Reps. Judy Schwiebert, Mitzi Epstein and Jennifer Pawlik are Democratic candidates for the Arizona House representing LD2, LD12 and LD13 respectively.