Legislative Priorities

Each year, ASA develops a summary of its legislative positions through a collaborative process with its members and its legislative committee.  Here are ASA's Legislative Priorities for the 2025 legislative session.  Click HERE to download a PDF.

  
School Funding
Arizona schools need additional funding for building new schools and maintaining existing facilities, as well as additional funding to keep classrooms up to date with current technologies and instructional materials for students and teachers. ASA recognizes that economically disadvantaged students often require additional resources to reach their academic potential. Additionally, the cost of providing special education services to students exceeds the funds the statutory formula allocates to schools. Services to students with special educational needs are mandated by both state and federal law. ASA supports policies and funding mechanisms that provide additional dollars to schools.

• Appropriate $37M to poverty funding (FRPL Group-B weight) as ongoing.
• Appropriate $23M to District Additional Assistance (DAA) funding as ongoing.
• Index District Additional Assistance to inflation.
• Adequately fund the cost of Group B weights in the funding formula.
• Restore funding for full-day kindergarten.

 
Aggregate Expenditure Limit
The AEL is an outdated spending limit for school districts based on the aggregate expenditure of all districts statewide. It is based on 1980 spending and needs to be repealed or seriously reformed.

• Waive the AEL for the 2025-2026 school year in the budget deal.
• Pass an AEL repeal or a modernization of the AEL calculation that more accurately reflects school spending across the state.

 
Proposition 123
Proposition 123 was passed in 2016 to provide $360 million to schools for basic school maintenance and operations by raising the distribution to schools from the Land Trust and appropriating additional general fund dollars. It expires at the end of this year.

• Develop a renewal proposal for Prop 123 that both continues the $360 million in funding and provides additional funding to schools.
• Reform the triggers that allow the Legislature to cut base-level funding by either repealing them or requiring a 2/3rds vote of the Legislature to cut base-level funding or suspend inflationary increases.

 
Educator Recruitment and Retention

• Support increased funding for meaningful professional development and teacher recruitment.
• Support increased funding for teacher salaries.
• Support increased funding to increase classified staff pay and cover mandatory minimum wage increases.
• Oppose burdensome and unfunded mandates on educators and school staff.

  
Accountability for Public Funds

• Require financial and academic transparency for all institutions and individuals that accept public funds.
• Require classroom spending reports for all institutions that accept public funds.
• Broaden the definition of classroom spending to encompass all school district expenses that contribute to classroom success.

 
Local Control and Governance
District and school leaders should be given flexibility to determine how to best serve their students. Arizona’s public education system is founded on the principle that schools, governed by representatives from the local community, can determine how best to deliver an educational program that optimizes the potential for success of all students.

• Support actions that provide flexibility in managing district resources and programs.
• Support actions that eliminate or suspend costly or redundant statutory requirements.