Hundreds of parents, students and teachers attended a rally Saturday afternoon at the state capitol, pleading with legislators to preserve state funding for K-12 public schools in 2010.
The demonstrators, who included members of the ASU Young Democrats, wrote letters to legislators in the form of heart-shaped valentines.
Many of the letters protested the $133 million in cuts to K-12 education in the 2009 fiscal year and urged legislatures not to make such dramatic cuts.
Arizona School Administrators lobbyist Mike Smith said the rally was the result of efforts by several educational organizations, including the Arizona School Boards Association and the Arizona Education Association.
Smith said he hoped the rally would influence legislators to find other means of balancing the budget shortfall in 2010.
“We’d like them to look at some other [options] that they haven’t been willing to look at,” Smith said. “For example, [the option] of revenue enhancements, rather than just cuts.”
Demonstrators held numerous signs referencing Valentine’s Day and the stimulus package passed in Congress on Friday, with slogans like, “Have a heart for education,” and “Don’t bail out banks, bail out our schools.”
Tempe High School fine arts teacher Russ Cannizzaro held a sign reading, “Do the math: Wall Street greed + Corporate Incompetence + Inept government = Education cuts for our children.”
Cannizzaro said he chose to reference the economic crisis because he feels students are paying too high a price for the mistakes of their parents.
“I think we’re all responsible for [the economic crisis],” Cannizzaro said. “But to take down our children also? It just seems too much.”
The rally featured speeches from teachers, parents, administrators and students, including architecture sophomore André Zannis, who attended public elementary and high schools in the Valley.
Zannis said further cuts in funding would keep high-quality teachers, which he said are a key element to a good education, from seeking out work in Arizona public schools.
“Better teachers produce smarter students who in turn become successful adults,” he said. “Educators need to be supported and given the means to educate future generations.”
At the annual State of Education Address on Thursday, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, blamed low standards and expectations for poor performance in Arizona public schools.
Allen said parents and administrators are too quick to blame problems in public schools on funding. Students in other countries who have consistently outperformed students in the US academically do not have as much funding as their American counterparts, Allen said.
“We have for too long made money the center of why our education isn’t working,” Allen said. “And that allows parents, teachers and school districts to think … ‘This is why we’re having such problems with education.’”
Smith dismissed Allen’s assessment of the education system, and said that a lack of funding leads to low-quality teachers and few resources.
“The lack of funding does impact education,” Smith said. “We have bigger class sizes than [other states, and] we have a much harder time recruiting teachers. When you don’t have the bucks to hire the best, you’re not going to get the best.”
Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.
