Teachers to Governor Ducey: You played us on education funding
PHOENIX (AP) -- Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is defending his decision to sign a massive expansion of the state's private school voucher program.
Tuesday's throaty defense of the legislation by Ducey comes a day after he met with six state teachers of the year. One said after the meeting that the governor had "played" them about his public education goals during last year's campaign to pass a school funding initiative known as Proposition 123.
Ducey said he listened to the teachers' concerns and told them the state can do reforms like voucher expansion while still adding more resources to K-12 education.
A letter the teachers gave Ducey talked about a statewide teacher shortage and said "funneling public money into private hands with a total lack of oversight will only exacerbate that crisis."