Senate bill would track how schools spend money from Prop 123

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A GOP bill approved by a House committee on Monday would make public schools account for the money they get from Proposition 123.

Amid uproar over a proposed teacher pay raise in Gov. Doug Ducey’s budget — a pay bump that some teachers have described as so small, it’s demoralizing — Republican lawmakers have consistently pointed to the billions of dollars provided by Prop. 123 as a source for salary increases.

Though school officials note that there were no strings attached to the $3.5 billion Prop. 123 will provide over a decade, Republicans on the House Education Committee argued that promises for higher pay are what convinced voters to approve the proposition.

Sen. Debbie Lesko’s SB1178 will make clear how school districts and charter schools spent those dollars.

The Peoria Republican told the committee that when voters complain about Ducey’s proposal — a 2 percent raise for teachers phased in over five years — “what people don’t realize is that we just passed Prop. 123.”
Her bill would require school districts and charter schools to file reports with the Auditor General detailing how those dollars were spent. Crucially, she said it would show which schools give teachers raises, and which do not.