Teachers voice concern over Governor Ducey’s salary proposal

A wave of mixed emotions across Arizona following Governor Doug Ducey’s proposal to increase teacher salaries by 20 percent, after Ducey made the announcement Thursday.

According to Ducey, teachers would see a 20 percent increase in teacher salaries by 2020.

However, Kofa High School teachers said they’re skeptical and concerned over the proposal.

“Where is this money coming from?” John Elegood, a Kofa High School teacher said. “Are we stealing from another pot of education? Because that’s not what we want. We want funding.”

Kathy Hoover, a Kofa High School teacher for 13 years, said many teachers question the source of the funding.

“Where is the funding coming from?” Hoover said. “He said we can’t afford it, now all of a sudden we have nine percent?”

Moreover, teachers said they hope the community understands how public school funding works. Elegood and Hoover said they hope the governor doesn’t remove money from other public school funding sources.

“This is about Arizona’s future,” Elegood said. “This is about Arizona’s economy. He obviously is a huge supporter of the economy. You imagine the best educated work force coming out of high school and part of that is, funding education better.”