A Phoenix coalition is gathering forces to campaign against school district unification on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Preserving Phoenix School Districts filed its political action committee paperwork with the Maricopa County Elections Department.
It's the latest group that organized a campaign urging voters to turn down a proposal to unify 14 districtsinto a K-12 system that would serve more than 116,000 students in central Phoenix, including the Phoenix Union High School District.
Members of the coalition say redistricting caused them to mobilize but its long-term mission is to advocate for central Phoenix school districts.
The group's mission, to advocate for stellar education for urban students, criticized the unification measure as a "poorly written law" pieced together in a hurry that will harm existing districts, that include finances and education programs for students.
Paul Lowes, Preserving Phoenix School Districts chairman, also noted most members of the School District Redistricting Commission, created by Arizona lawmakers, are lobbyists.
"It's easy to see that the voices that dominate the . . . commission are those of corporate lobbyists, and not educators, parents of public school-age children, or neighborhood leaders," Lowes said. "This isn't being done for educational success. I think that's a smoke screen. It's being proposed for the good of corporate coffers."
About 50 people have joined Preserving School Districts, Lowes said. They include educators, parents, governing board members and neighborhood associations, he said.
Marty Shultz, chairman of the redistricting commission, welcomes the group because he sees it creating a healthy debate about how to improve education in non-unified districts.
However, Shultz took issue with the new group's criticism of the commission. They are not all lobbyists, he said, and pointed out the commission has executives, a mayor, a teacher, a professor and a superintendent.
"I'm going to challenge them. . . . There is non-sense in this debate," Shultz said. "What do they mean by corporate coffers? I'd like to know the facts. Which corporations are benefiting? I think it's irresponsible to throw these cheap shots out there without facts."
If voters pass the unification measure, the law allows a new governing board in new unified district to figure out how to finance transition cost, align teacher salaries and create a seamless K-12 curriculum.
Some governing board members criticize this part of the law saying the mandate is unfunded and it would force districts to dig deeper into its pockets especially in a sluggish economy.
Other groups also filed their PAC paperwork tied to redistricting. They are Preserve Madison and a pro-unification Maricopa County Unified for Student Success.
Article by Betty Reid taken from the Arizona Republic, July 21.