PHOENIX — As state lawmakers prepare to release a proposal that would cut educator pay raises and block reforms to Arizona’s bloated and scandal-plagued voucher program, the Arizona Education Association released new polling today showing that Arizona voters prefer the state’s existing Proposition 123 model, which allows school districts to provide raises for teachers and support staff, fund building maintenance, and support other educational needs with money from the state land trust.
“Education is the number-one issue for Arizona voters because we all know that great public schools are key to our state’s future,” said Marisol Garcia, President of the Arizona Education Association. “Today’s polling makes it clear: Arizona voters want a clean renewal of Prop 123 with pay raises for all educators so that our schools can be fully staffed. Any proposal that holds our schools hostage to protect Arizona’s broken voucher system should be dead on arrival.”
Initial reporting indicates that the legislative proposal to dramatically narrow Proposition 123 would force voters to permanently enshrine the right to an ESA voucher into the Arizona Constitution or lose approximately $300 million in annual education funding from the state land trust. Election results from 2018 demonstrate that Arizona voters reject voucher expansion by a 2-1 margin when the issue is not tied to state education funding.
The expected proposal would also exacerbate the staffing crisis in Arizona’s schools by excluding a wide range of educators from statewide pay raises, including special education teachers, school counselors, bus drivers, and teachers’ aides.
The AEA polling released today shows that Arizona voters strongly support a clean renewal of Proposition 123 and reject the proposal to limit pay raises for educators. The survey of 800 voters, conducted March 26-30, 2025, shows that sixty-two percent of voters are more likely to reelect a state legislator who voted for a clean renewal that keeps funding for both teachers and support staff, compared to just 9 percent who would be more likely to reelect someone who supported a version that cuts funding for support staff.