Education inflation restoration

The Arizona Supreme Court last week issued a final ruling in a case that will permanently impact K-12 education funding in the state of Arizona. 

The justices unanimously found that the year 2000 voter-approved Proposition 301 requiring the Legislature to make annual inflation adjustments to the K-12 budget is constitutional. The Court also held that Proposition 301 is covered under the Voter Protection Act. This means that the Legislature must increase the base support level and transportation support level that it provides Arizona’s K-12 schools every year to account for inflation. 

For Arizona schools, this means an additional $80 million in funding next year. The legislature included $80 million in new education funding in this year’s budget as a contingency plan in case the Supreme Court held that it must make the inflation adjustments. An additional $77 million is expected in fiscal year 2015, which starts July 1, followed by $100 million in each of the following two years.