TUCSON, Ariz (KGUN) — In his four years as a preschool teacher at Maldonado Elementary School, Jimmy Wells has heard stories of peers who lost their jobs in the Tucson Unified School District because of budget cuts.
Tuesday, Wells was one of many teachers and members of the Tucson Education Association who came to the TUSD board's latest governing meeting. Wells and his union colleagues made their case for why board members should override the set budget for preschools next year.
“Moving from a half day to a full day program is more accessible to families, especially working families,” Wells said. TEA also shared stories of families who said they're having a hard time getting their kids the transportation they need to go to these preschool programs. “Most of the students in my class do not qualify for bussing,” Wells said.
TUSD has put in more than $7 million for preschool program funding. TEA president Jim Byrne said he supports an override to preschools’ budget because, he argued, it would keep preschools and on track to succeed and give them adequate staffing.
Byrne also said even though the staff cuts this year were smaller compared to years past, they still made a major impact. “The principals had to make hard decisions on what positions to keep out of the buckets of money,” Byrne said.
TUSD said they haven’t done a budget override since the late 1990s and are not currently having discussions to implement a new plan. Leaders said the board can leave it up to voters to decide — If voters approve an override, the board can allocate up to 15% more funding.
“Prioritizing early childhood education makes a big difference for our communities,” Wells said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
