"It should be the last thing we do."

The state of Arizona is in a serious hole right now financially. We have not done well as a state at balancing our budget and have put ourselves into a pickle that we must deal with now before it spirals completely out of whack. It is inevitable that cuts to the budget must happen. Without cuts, there is no hope for stability. Unfortunately, the plan put forth by John Kavanagh & Russell Pearce takes aim at education in the state first. You can read the article, but the highlight of it is this: In the GOP options plan, education is targeted for the biggest cuts over the next year and a half. The K-12 system is penciled in for a nearly $1 billion cut for this year and next. "That's $1,000 a kid in Arizona over 17 months," said Rep. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa. He predicted that the proposed deep cuts to education won't win enough votes to pass. Education advocates were quick to cry foul. "Cutting from the budget in a slash-and-burn manner and balancing the budget on the backs of students is the wrong way to go," said Rep. Rae Waters, D-Phoenix. I just do not think it is a wise idea to attack education first when figuring out what to cut from the budget. Arizona consistently ranks near the bottom for education in the United States. It makes complete sense why when you see that education is always in the crosshairs for the GOP dominated legislature. I worry about raising my kids in an environment where education is not considered a priority. When the budget is out of control, there will always be cuts that are unpopular. Everyone has to suffer with cuts. However, it is beyond wrong when education and then healthcare are the first things to get cut. I hope that these draconian proposals of slash & burn on our state's education budget are not approved - for the sake of not only today but the future of the state of Arizona.