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Governor’s State of the State Address

Governor Ducey highlighted some bright spots for Arizona’s children in his State of the State address Monday, such as providing more support for foster children aging out of the system and doubling the stipend for kinship caregivers. He also said there are plans to restore district additional assistance to public schools, which pays for buses, textbooks, and other critical resources for classrooms – a move we commend and support.

We look forward to learning more about the Governor’s plans to support K-12 public schools in other ways, such as bringing up teacher salaries to stem the tide of the teacher exodus. We are more than halfway through the academic year and there are still 1,800 classrooms without a qualified teacher.

When the governor releases his budget, we hope to see funding for the child care subsidy program so low-income working families don’t have to choose between moving up the economic ladder and a safe, high-quality child care environment.

The Governor cautioned against the “spending lobby.” We firmly believe that children are not an expense, they are an investment. We encourage lawmakers to put the priorities of children and families first this session.

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Huge Win for AZ Child Care System-DES Provider Rate Adjustments!

On Friday, March 24th, the Department of Economic Security (DES) shared a message with early childhood educators throughout Arizona announcing new, exciting updates for the early childhood system statewide.  These improvements are important to continue to strengthen Arizona’s early childhood system….

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The Bills That Got Away

Every year, Arizona Legislators introduce hundreds of bills, and very few of them go through the entire process to end on the Governor’s Desk for a signature. And each year, many bills never get a hearing at all. There are many good proposals to help children and families in Arizona thrive that deserve…

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The Countdown Begins - AZ Students Need a Permanent Fix to the School Spending Limit

Arizona voters approved into law a limit on what public schools can spend in a year based on the needs in 1980. If schools exceed the limit in a school year, as they did last year and again this year, the law allows the legislature to provide an “expenditure override” to allow districts to spend…