Phoenix voters to decide override for high-school district

On Nov. 3, voters in the Phoenix Union High School District will decide whether the district will receive additional funding for its capital budget.

The district's capital budget has been cut by 85 percent by the Arizona Legislature since 2008, or more than $12 million, said state Rep. Lela Alston, D-Phoenix, in an interview. The override would be funded by a secondary property tax that would cost an extra $35.89 for a home valued at $100,000.

The override would raise the budget by $15.3 million annually.

The Phoenix Union governing board said the money would go toward library books, instruments, uniforms, classroom furniture, athletic equipment, fine-art supplies and campus maintenance, according to a district press release.

The main purpose of the new money, however, is technological improvement, Alston said.

"We need to get up to speed with the technology in all of our schools," said Alston, who also is president of the district's governing board. "What this override will do is bring us back up to par had the state not made those cuts."

Alston said that without passing the override the district will be able to "trickle along" but will be unable to update or improve any of its existing equipment.

Interim district Superintendent Chad Gestson said it is important to produce students with 21st-century skills.

"We live in a very digital society, we have to be very technologically rich. We also have to make sure we are producing technologically savvy students, and this is going to bring back a lot of the technology that should be in place," Gestson said.

Phoenix Union is looking at multiple ways to improve technology, from updating computers in computer labs, buying new laptop carts and supplying one-to-one devices for students like e-readers and Google Chromebooks, Gestson said.

"We are also looking into these 'MakerLabs' popping up across the country, schools now with 3-D printers, advanced computers, kids learning programming and robotics," he said, adding that all of that could be funded with an enhanced capital budget.

Phoenix Councilwoman Kate Gallego, who supports the override, said making sure school technology is up to date is crucial for keeping Phoenix a competitive market for employers.

"Before I was elected to the Phoenix City Council, I worked in economic development, and the education system is so important in attracting and keeping good jobs," Gallego said. "If we don't give our students the best technology, they won't be prepared for cutting-edge jobs. I often meet with employers, and they say what our market really needs is more computer skills, those are the jobs that are the hardest to fill."

But Jonathan Butcher, education director at the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based conservative public-policy think tank, believes the district has sufficient money to operate.

"They have a steady operating reserve, their per-student funding is close to the national average. They appear to have their finances handled, and they don't appear desperate from what I see," Butcher said. "Unless you have really excellent teachers, and a system that allows parents to make decisions about where and how their children are educated, it's not going to matter how many computers you have."

Butcher also said Phoenix Union spends $9,634 per student, $2,000 more than their peers in Arizona, citing the state auditor's 2014 spending report for Phoenix Union. The national average for funds spent per student in 2012 was $10,667, and the average Arizona school spent $7,578 per student in 2014, according to the spending report by the Arizona Auditor General's Office.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton supports the override and said Phoenix Union is one of the most important school districts in the state, serving more than 27,000 students.

"Demographically it represents the future of our city and the future of our state, so making sure it has the resources it needs to succeed is critically important to the future of the city of Phoenix," Stanton said. "The override isn't going to give them extra stuff, it's going to help get them basic needs. More technology in the classroom, classroom repairs, basic things we'd expect a great urban school district would need to succeed."