Below are AEA’s ballot recommendations for the 2010 election.  For more information about education issues:

• Visit www.march4schools.com
• Sign up for the AEA Legislative Update
• Visit AEA’s Politics and Legislation Information page
• Find Your Elected Officials and Districts

AEA 2010 Ballot Recommendations

AEA Recommends Voting NO on Prop 107
PROP 107, better known as the Anti-Equal Opportunity initiative, will eliminate important programs that ensure academic success for Arizona’s students.  Today’s students are the workforce of the future.  Without programs that help students learn study skills, access internships, and prepare for the workplace, Arizona’s students will fall behind. 

Passage of PROP 107 will eliminate many programs that support academic progress and improved student achievement.  Among those programs is WISE (Women in Science and Engineering), an ASU-sponsored program that supports women studying math, science, technology, and engineering.  WISE provides extracurricular programs in the field, helps students apply for internships and jobs, and supports young women through the application process for graduate programs.  Also on the chopping block would be Upward Bound, a program designed to help college students learn study habits, enroll in the right classes, and prevent dropouts.  Upward Bound will be eliminated because it is designed for low-income students of color.  The Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program will also be eliminated.  This program provides Hispanic girls in grades 7-12 and their mothers five years of preparation for college. 

Arizona’s diverse student population is served well by these and many other programs like them.  The Arizona Education Association requests that you vote NO on PROP 107.

AEA Recommends Voting NO on Prop 302
PROP 302 will repeal the First Things First Program, an early childhood initiative that was passed by Arizona voters in 2006. Voting NO on PROP 302 will protect the decision made by Arizona voters to fund early childhood health and development programs.

This repeal will divert over $300 million from the early childhood services program and put it into the general fund.  Arizona voters approved a new tobacco tax in order to fund this program and taking these funds betrays the trust of Arizona voters and robs vital services from Arizona’s families and children.  Arizonans approved this tax increase for a specific purpose and repealing this program and diverting the funds for another purpose deceives Arizona voters.

As voters in this state, we must trust that the initiatives and funding we approve at the ballot will be respected and instituted as written.  If we allow these funds to be raided by the state legislature, then Arizona voters will lose their rights to approve initiatives.  Arizona will become a state that is governed by politicians and not its citizens.

Protect the decisions of Arizona’s voters.  The Arizona Education Association requests that you vote NO on PROP 302.

AEA Recommends Voting NO on Prop 113
Prop 113 is an anti-employee ballot measure that would limit workers’ rights and their ability to organize a collective voice by forming a union.  Arizona workers should be able to decide if they want to form a union.  This decision should be theirs alone and not their employers’. 

The Arizona Education Association requests that you vote NO on Prop 113. 

Arizona workers deserve a fair opportunity to determine whether or not to organize together.  They have a right to make this decision free of employer harassment, delay, and other unfair tactics commonly practiced.

Do not be fooled by the deceptive title of this proposition.  Under current federal law, an employer can choose to request a secret ballot election by the workers, even if more than 50 percent of the workers request union representation.  The employer also can choose to accept the union as the workers’ representative without the time and expense of an election. 

Prop 113 would require an election, even if 100 percent of the workers request union representation.  Prop 113 would require an election by workers even if the employer agrees that no election is needed.  Requiring an election under these circumstances is an unnecessary waste of time and money for both business and employees.

Arizonans can defeat Prop 113 and still use a secret ballot.  Secret ballot elections are often part of the current process for forming a union; however, this election process can be manipulated by the employer, who may fire, intimidate, or otherwise unfairly treat workers in order to influence the outcome of an election.

On behalf of 31,000 public school teachers and employees across the state, the AEA asks you to vote NO on Prop 113.

 
AEA 2010 Ballot Arguments

AEA submitted the following statements in the election pamphlet for this year; however, the Association has not made an official recommendation on these ballot measures.

Argument for Prop 110
PROP 110 authorizes land exchanges and requires that each individual exchange is approved by voters.

PROP 110 includes several measures of accountability, including requiring land appraisals and assessment and public meetings and review prior to any exchanging of state trust lands, with the added measure of voter approval for each exchange.  This level of transparency and accountability will ensure that the citizens of Arizona get a fair exchange.

This ballot measure will also address military facility concerns as well as conservation of wildlife habitat or other issues.

Argument Against Prop 106
The Arizona Education Association believes health care reform is an education issue.  Right now Arizona has the fourth highest percentage of uninsured children in our nation with more than one in five children in some counties in Arizona without health care. 

Students who come to school healthy and ready to learn will one day be prepared to be contributing members to the well-being and prosperity of our state and the nation.

We cannot close the achievement gaps when so many of our student’s families don’t have job security, health care coverage, or access to living wages and benefits. We know that poor children (children below the poverty line and likely without health care coverage) are more likely than better-off children to suffer from a wide array of chronic health problems, such as asthma and digestive disorders,  that affect school readiness in many ways.

Right now Arizona has the fourth highest percentage of uninsured children in the nation.  PROP 106 moves Arizona backwards and away from providing quality, affordable health care to our children. 

Argument Against Prop 301
PROP 301 will divert funding from the Public Conservation Account in the Land Conservation Fund, which was established by Arizona voters in 1998. Voting NO on PROP 301 will protect the decision made by Arizona voters to fund this land conservation account.

If approved, this measure will divert $123.5 million in funds to the general fund. PROP 301 ignores the will of Arizona voters.  Raiding the Public Conservation Account allows the legislature to reject the cause for which Arizona voters approved these monies.

As voters in this state, we must trust that the initiatives and funding we approve at the ballot will be respected and instituted as written.  If we allow these funds to be raided by the state legislature, then Arizona voters will lose their rights to approve initiatives.  Arizona will become a state that is governed by politicians and not its citizens.