Arizona ballot initiative could restrict how teachers unions organize
March 12
An Arizona House bill proposal could ban school districts from using public money and restrict how educator unions organize.
The Arizona House passed House Concurrent Resolution 2040, which will now head to the Senate. Republicans spearheaded the bill and are the majority party at the Arizona Legislature, giving them the ability to pass ballot proposals without Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ approval.
If the Senate passes HCR 2040, then it would head straight to the ballot in November, leaving it up to Arizona voters to pass.
Republican Representative Justin Olson, of District 25, spoke during a House floor session in support of the bill. “The union should be able to sustain themselves without public support and that’s all that this bill does. This bill merely says we’re not going to use public funds to support a private entity and that’s good policy,” Olson said during a hearing.
“We’re giving the voters the opportunity to decide. Should public fines be allowed to be used to sustain a private entity or not?,” he said.
The bill is geared specifically toward educator unions and would prohibit teachers from meeting or communicating to discuss union efforts during school hours. One of the key changes in the initiative is that it would prevent teachers from having their union dues automatically withdrawn from their paychecks.
How would the bill proposal affect teachers unions?
Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association (AEA), said the measure is an attack on educators and this bill would make it harder for teachers to support and join a union.
“Just like their insurance gets taken out, if they want to donate somewhere, it (union dues) gets taken out. It’s just an easier thing to do. It doesn’t get rid of us, but it’s just an unnecessary hurdle that they’re trying to throw in front of us,” Garcia said.
AEA is the largest teachers union in the state. The group helps teachers improve their working conditions, while providing professional development courses and support.
Garcia’s group, AEA and Save Our Schools are behind a ballot initiative to place more guidelines and accountability around the Republican-led Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) voucher program, which has cost the state a billion dollars in taxpayer funds.
AEA and Save Our Schools must collect nearly 256,000 signatures by July 2 to get the initiative on the November ballot. Garcia and education advocates said Republican legislators have refused to stop or prevent the fraud, waste and abuse within the program, as public schools face shrinking budgets.
“We want to talk to voters about it, since you’re not going to do something about it; Arizona legislature. And it just so happens that all of a sudden a ‘strike everything’ bill shows up, that says we want to try to cut any power that teachers have a voice in,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the bill aimed at the teachers union is in retaliation for their efforts to have more accountability around the ESA program.
“We have serious problems and instead of spending time on those issues, healthcare, affordability, what is happening to our people who are unhoused, transportation, the funding that goes into education,” Garcia said. “They are spending time with political games like this that do no service to people in Arizona.”
Reporting by “Arizona Horizon” Education Solutions Reporter Roxanne De La Rosa. Her role is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund and Report for America.
