Press Releases

On June 14, 2022, the Arizona Education Association joined a coalition of labor unions in announcing our endorsement of Secretary of State Katie Hobbs for Governor of Arizona in the 2022 election:

On April 21, 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against Prop 307 and protecting funding for public schools and instead sided with wealthy corporate interests. Despite the clear and strong language of the Arizona Constitution granting the people a co-equal right to legislate, Governor Ducey, Legislative Leadership, and the Ducey-packed Supreme Court have stripped the people of their rights. They are doing it openly, contrary to longstanding precedent, and to help the rich, not everyday Arizonans.

In the ruling issued on March 11, 2022, Superior Court Judge Hannah declared Prop 208 unconstitutional thereby denying hundreds of millions of dollars to Arizona’s public schools.

On, January 10, 2022, Governor Ducey had an opportunity in his state of the state address to outline a plan for safely keeping our public schools open during rising cases of COVID-19 due to the Omicron surge. Instead, he ignored the effects the pandemic is having on educators and parents and focused on private school voucher schemes that drain money from our already strained public education infrastructures.

On November 2, 2021, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously upheld the lower court ruling that found portions of the K-12 education budget – including bans on mask mandates, vaccines, and controversial topics in the classroom – passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed into law by Governor Ducey to be unconstitutional.

Halting Ducey’s Efforts to Undercut INVESTinED and His Gift to the Wealthy at the Expense of Schools

Today, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper found portions of the K-12 education budget – including bans on mask mandates, vaccines, and controversial topics in the classroom – passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed into law by Governor Ducey to be unconstitutional.

If we as Arizonans really believe, as AEA does, that our schools, colleges, and universities must be the safest places in the community for every student, educator, and family, we must take strong, clear steps to make it so. And that is why AEA is calling for Safe Arizona Schools Now, a plan of eight district level expectations to ensure safe in-person learning for Arizona students and school staff.

The Arizona Education Association and a coalition of education organizations and supporters has filed a lawsuit against the state over the constitutionality of the ban on mask mandates in our public schools.

AS COVID-19 cases begin to rise again in Arizona and no knowledge of when children under 12 will be eligible for the vaccine, the Governor and the legislature are putting politics before our students.