How to Write Letters to Legislative Reps
Please DO NOT send form letters to the Legislature!
Instead, call, write an original letter or e-mail.
Better yet, make an appointment to meet directly with your representatives. Remember, they work FOR YOU!
It is VERY important that your representatives know...
Are you a TAXPAYER? A VOTER?
Click here for Legislative Reps Contact Page
Talking Points for Letters to the Legislature AND Governor Brewer:
If we are going to pay taxes on the debt for the stimulus package, we certainly should accept every dollar offered (some legislators do not support taking all of the money due to strings attached, pushing our 'problem' out, etc.) If we believe our budget problem is temporary, we should be OK with a temporary solution to get us through this crisis.
Even with the stimulus package, most of the money will go to public schools with a large percentage of students with free and reduced lunch. Districts like Cave Creek Unified will get very little if any help. Therefore, as a state, we cannot merely rely on federal stimulus money to make up for state spending cuts to education.
In the outer suburbs such as Cave Creek and more rural parts of the state, much of the population works for school districts. Higher unemployment in these areas will devastate the local economies.
State approved funding for public schools has lagged inflation in 14 of the last 19 years (through 08/09) creating a compounded deficit of 23%. In effect the state provided portion of our budget has been reduced by 23% since 1990.
Our schools have lost significant ground in funding, contributing heavily to the budgetary problems our schools face. Further budget cuts by the state will make this bad situation worse. (copy/paste the chart below into your letter)
So according to the GNP Price Deflator (inflation), expenses of $1 in 1990 now cost $1.62 however we only have $1.38.
Equalize the rules between Public, Charter and Private Schools so they can compete and in the process make each other even better. There is an uneven playing field in the areas of teacher tenure, retirement plans, funding options, tax credits, etc.
Over 80% of school budgets are for people. People that will be added to the unemployment lines and subtracted from retail store checkout lines! (ie: no spending, no sales tax revenue)
Add a temporary override to enable communities to vote to assist local school districts during the current economic crisis.
Reinstate the Spring election option for school ballot initiatives. The current November requirement does not mesh with the July to June fiscal years and causes an inordinate amount of time to pass between realizing a need, calling for an election, conducting the election and actually getting funds into the classroom.
Allow public schools to charge tuition and/or fees to parents to offset costs of programs like full-day kindergarten.
Add language to the 09/10 budget to exempt override formulas from any approved reductions in the Revenue Control Limit.
Arizona is the 5th youngest state in the nation in terms of demographics. It is not just a state of retirees. If we don’t support public education and our public education system continues to disintegrate, we will no longer attract new companies to the state who will look at education as a key factor in moving here. We will drive population flight from the state and our housing market/economy will further deteriorate.
Arizona’s future depends on strong schools.
Businesses and government depend on having access to skilled, productive workers.
We depend on population growth to fuel our housing market.
Population growth is driven at least in part by access to good schools.
We depend on our residents to buy goods, driving sales tax revenues.
A growing population, gainfully employed, spends money and drives tax revenue.
Helpful Documents:
AZ K-12 Examination of the FACTS - Response to Senate Majority Documents Presented
by Lisa Hawkins
Catalina Foothills School District/Tucson