PHOENIX — Today, Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia released the following statement on HCR 2040, a ballot referral that would restrict the freedom of Arizona educators to organize for better learning conditions for their students and limit how education unions can use public services that are widely available to corporations and advocacy groups:
“As educators, we know that our working conditions are our students' learning conditions. When something isn’t right, we come together and use our collective voices to push for the change that our students need. HCR 2040 is a direct attack on our freedom to do just that. This bill would ask voters to restrict our basic rights as Americans. It would block educators from meeting in their own schools to discuss workplace issues, override existing agreements between school districts and employees, and ban payroll deduction for union dues, while keeping it for insurance companies and other outside groups.
“In poll after poll, we see that voters strongly support our state’s teachers. HCR 2040 is a direct response to lobbying from out-of-state groups like the deceptively named ‘Freedom Foundation’ that do not care about our schools. We are asking lawmakers to focus on what our schools and our students actually need — more funding, more resources, and an end to the constant political battles over our schools.
“No matter what we do for a living or where we live, most of us believe that people deserve the freedom to stick together and speak up for ourselves and the communities we serve. HCR 2040 protects nobody except the out-of-state special interests who want to silence the power of everyday Arizonans.
“In recent years, as funding cuts have forced districts to pull back on professional development programs, unions like ours have stepped in to fill the gap. Over the next month alone, AEA is holding free training sessions to help educators prepare to pass the state’s K-5 Literacy Endorsement. We are holding nearly a dozen virtual cohort meetings to help educators across all subjects share best practices with their colleagues. Day and night, educators can access our online learning platform with dozens of classes to help them hone their craft. These are all things that help educators feel supported — and they are part of the ecosystem of resources provided by our union that make it sustainable for educators to stay in the classroom long-term. If this bill passes, we could lose the ability to provide those services — and our schools and our students would be worse off as a result.”
Among other provisions, HCR 2040 would ban payroll deductions by education unions while permitting them to remain in place for corporations and other outside groups. A full list of organizations that utilize payroll deductions in Arizona is available here.
During committee consideration of HCR 2040, Anna Andrews, a classroom teacher in the Madison Elementary School District, testified before the legislature in opposition to HCR 2040. A recording of her testimony can be accessed here.