Less than 12 weeks after filing its initiative and launching a petition drive, the Quality Education and Jobs campaign has collected more than 175,000 signatures, exceeding the amount necessary to qualify for the November ballot.
“With the success of our petition drive, it is clear we have tapped into strong public support,” said Ann-Eve Pedersen, chairperson of the campaign.
In order to be placed on the ballot, the campaign must collect a minimum of 172,809 valid signatures of Arizona voters by July 5.
According to Pedersen, the Quality Education and Jobs initiative will provide dedicated, permanent revenue to fund education that the Legislature cannot cut. The ballot measure will support public education, from kindergarten through vocational education, community colleges, universities and GED programs.
For more information about the initiative and for a full list of endorsing organizations, go to www.qualityeducationandjobs.com.
chatmandu002 posted at 2:50 pm on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
I'm voting NO on this issue.
Engaged Voter posted at 2:58 pm on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
If all this measure will accomplish is to throw more tax dollars at the problem, count my vote NO as well.
VofReason posted at 4:16 pm on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
I didn't think there were 175,000 democrats in AZ. Hmmm. Count me a no there too. More money will setup another request for more money a few years from now and we will still be scratching our head as to why the system doesn't work.
tunnel_hair posted at 9:40 pm on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
The problem is that they just divert other money from education because this fills the gap. This tax is mandated to be spent on certain areas, one of which is education. However, it doesn't stop the legislature from taking money that had previously been allocated to education and moving it to something else. The worst part is it makes teachers and schools look like they are the greedy ones, coming back and asking for more. As a teacher, I don't want the money to disappear-it is one of a few dedicated sources of support. But, as a taxpayer, it is frustrating that the legislature can't fund education without outside groups fighting to renew a sales tax.
chuckles3 posted at 9:23 am on Wed, Jun 6, 2012.
So, if this passes, and test scores don't go up(which they won't-that of course is not the point of this money grab)-that must mean we need MORE money. Because, as we all know, more money for education means better education...just look at Washington DC and New York City..two places that spend the most per student.
What a joke.
davidflucier posted at 6:15 pm on Sun, Jun 10, 2012.
But one thing we do know is that over the past two years, the Legislature has cut in excess of $3 billion from the education budget and no one is better off for it. Test scores, spending on students, our poverty levels, our drop out rate, building maintenance (which has been zero fro quite some time) as well as other metrics for student achievement are rock bottom here in Arizona, so we know cutting funding is not the right answer.
davidflucier posted at 6:16 pm on Sun, Jun 10, 2012.
Typo...the legislature has cut in excess of $2 billion