Desert Messenger

8 www.DesertMessenger.com January 19, 2022 Local Schools need your help Carpentry, Electrical, Plumbing, Light Mechanical, Tree and Brush Clearing, etc. HOUSE ~ MOBILE ~ RV Call Wade today! (712) 363-3512 WADE'S HANDYMAN Have tools, will travel! $30 per billable hour RAY'S BARGAIN BARN NOW OPEN! NOW OPEN! USED FURNITURE APPLIANCES Housewares, Tools, Lots of Misc. & More! OPEN DAILY 9AM-5PM 928-382-7073 775 N. CENTRAL BLVD. (HWY. 95) QUARTZSITE, AZ Housewares, Tools, Quartzsite Area Chmaber of Com- merce & Tourism held Education Advocacy Forum was held January 14th at Community Center featur- ing Featuring Devin Del Palacio, Arizona School Board Association Advocacy and Strategic Initiatives Consultant and local public school offi cials. Arizona school offi cials are warning they may be forced to impose mas- sive staff layoffs and possibly even close schools unless lawmakers lift a spending cap that would otherwise require a large cut in their budgets this year. Local Cuts: • Bicentennial High School District: $283,930! • Quartzsite Elementary School Dis- trict (QES): $288,464! How much is $288,464 to QES? How much is $288,464 to QES? 18% of the current Maintenance & Operation Budget; or Over 230% of the current Capital Budget; or 10.5 Total School Employees; or 16 Classifi ed Employees; or 35% of the Current Staff; or $2,003.22 per stu- dent; or 5.5 Teachers! • QES July 1, 2021 Budget =$1,699,763 • January 13, 2022 Budget = $1,586,044. • Will QES April 1, 2022 Budget be $1,297,580? Lawmakers have until March 1 to vote on whether to lift the spending limit, or else the state Constitu- tion requires districts to cut their budgets 16% by April 1. Save Our Schools Arizona (SOS) states, "this is a true emergency that can only be addressed with legislation." A number of Republican lawmak- ers have said they won't consider a waiver until Proposition 208, an education-funding matter approved by voters and tied up in the courts, is eliminated. They are hoping the judge handling the case will rule soon, or, alternatively, the educa- tion and civic groups that sponsored Proposition 208 will drop their on- going legal challenge. In a document handed out at the forum , SOS states, "1.The AZ Legislature must ap- prove a one-time exemption to the spending limit. This requires a two-thirds super-majority vote. The Constitution requires cuts on or before march 1, so this exemption must pass early in the 2022 legisla- tive session. "2. The AZ Legislature must also put a measure on the November 2022 ballot asking voters to perma- nently repeal the limit. The reason is simple: Schools shouldn't live in fear each year of losing nearly 1/5 of their budget - and it's impossible to fund 21st century classrooms using a 1980 formula. What can you do? What can you do? Contact your State Representative, Senate President Karen Fann 602- 926-5874 / kfann@azleg.gov And House Speaker Rusty Bowers 602- 926-3128 / rbowers@azleg.gov to- day. Ask them to pass a one year waiver of the constitutional spend- ing limit, then allow voters to repeal it for good."

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