Arizona Educators Fight to Protect Education Funding, Revoke Unfunded Mandates in State Budget for FY2026

PHOENIX — Today, as Arizona state lawmakers prepare to return to budget talks for Fiscal Year 2026, the Arizona Education Association sent a letter on behalf of nearly 23,000 Arizona educators, urging negotiators to protect education funding and address key budget priorities for Arizona public schools.

“The Arizona Budget is a statement of our values, and it should reflect our state’s commitment to ensuring a high-quality education for every child,” wrote Marisol Garcia, President of the Arizona Education Association. “In light of looming cuts to the federal education funding…any reduction in state education funding will have catastrophic long-term consequences for Arizona’s ability to maintain an educated population that attracts employers and sustains economic growth.”

Priorities highlighted in the letter include:

• Waiving the Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL) for the 2025-2026 School Year. AEA is pushing for repeal or serious reform to the AEL – an outdated metric that imposes harmful limitations on how local revenues can be used to support public schools. 
   
• Reversing the K-5 Literacy Endorsement Mandate. The K-5 Literacy Endorsement is an unfunded requirement that has created significant financial and administrative burdens for educators and contributed to ongoing challenges with educator retention. AEA is pushing for the mandate to be repealed. 
   
• Maintaining Critical Funding Levels for Public Schools, including:
  
  • $342.1 million for the School Facilities Division, with:
    • $183.3 million for Building Renewal Grants 
    • $158.8 million for new and one-time new construction projects 
       
  • $285.6 million in ongoing funding to Basic State Aid from the General Fund to ensure that the expiration of Proposition 123 will not lead to a reduction in state support for Arizona public schools. 
     
  • The Base Level amount of $173.2 million, the statutory requirement for the inflation adjustment. This amount is necessary for school districts to account for the impact of rising prices on student services, including transportation. 
     
  • $37 million to Poverty Group B weight and $29 million to District Additional Assistance to fund day-to-day public school operations and provide much-needed funding to support Arizona’s most vulnerable students and rural communities. 
     
  • $3.8 million for school meal grants to fund nutrition assistance for Arizona’s most vulnerable students.  

In addition, AEA suggested a revision to the prior-year Average Daily Membership calculations to ensure that public schools can financially support the mid-year enrollment of students who withdraw or are forced out of charter or private schools.

To read the full letter, click here.