Education tax likely to be on Nov. ballot

The Tempe & West Chandler Wrangler News reported that the “Invest in Education Campaign” announced that more than 270,000 signatures—almost double the number needed— were gathered over the summer to qualify for the Nov. 6 ballot.

The measure proposes to increase income taxes by 3.46 percent on households who earn more than $500,000 or more than $250,000 as individuals. Supporters say the tax would raise $690 million in additional education funding. Those against the proposal say it would severely impact small businesses. Still, it’s the next goal in the grassroots effort to keep education front and center of public discussion.

Improved public discourse is good news to Joseph Garcia from Morrison Institute for Public Policy, a part of ASU, which serves as a research group and think tank for the state’s policy makers at all levels of government. They have built their reputation as researchers who are dedicated to digging into thorny problems, like funding education and retaining teachers—issues that have a significant impact on all residents’ quality of life, but for which there is no easy answer.

A recent study completed by Morrison Institute looks at Finding & Keeping Educators for Arizona’s Classrooms because, in addition to teacher pay, the public now needs to seek solutions to keep teachers in the profession.

“We’re not really about offering solutions, but providing data for a non-partisan public discussion that can lead to resolving problems in new ways and creating better public policy, “ said Garcia.

READ: Education movement continues to increase visibility of public school funding issues