HCR 2049

REFERENCE TITLE: reporting; teacher salary increases; schools..
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HCR 2049
Introduced by
Representative
  Kolodin
A CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
enacting and ordering the submission to
the people of a measure relating to school employees.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
Arizona, the Senate concurring:
1. Under the power of the referendum, as vested in
the legislature, the following measure, relating to school employees, is
enacted to become valid as a law if approved by the voters and on proclamation
of the Governor:
AN ACT
Amending section 15-189.05,
Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 15, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-248.01; amending section 15-903,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to school employees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of
the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-189.05, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE15-189.05. Charter school budgets; posting of teacher salary information;
annual report
A. The budget for each charter school shall
contain the following information:
1. The average salary of all teachers employed by
the charter school for the current year.
2. The average salary of all teachers employed by
the charter school for the previous year.
3. The dollar increase in the average salary of
all teachers employed by the charter school for the current year.
4. The percentage increase in the average salary
of all teachers employed by the charter school for the current year.
5. The salary schedule for eligible
teachers as defined in section 15-248.01 who are employed by the charter
school for the current year.
6. A statement identifying the
number of eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01 who are
employed by the charter school for the current year.
B. Each charter school shall prominently post the
information required by subsection A of this section on its website home page
separately from its budget.
C. On or before November 30 of each year, the
department of education shall electronically submit to the joint legislative
budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting
a report that compiles the information required by subsection A of this section
for all charter schools statewide. END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Title
15, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 15-248.01, to read:
START_STATUTE15-248.01. Teachers; base salary increases; teacher pay fund; eligibility;
annual estimate; definition
A. If the voters approve an
increased distribution rate from the state land trust permanent funds pursuant
to article X, section 7, subsection N, constitution of Arizona, each school
district and charter school in this state shall revise its salary schedule or
schedules to increase the base salary of all eligible teachers who are or will
be employed by a school operated by the school district or charter school.� If
salary increases are required under this subsection, the increase shall be all
of the following:
1. The amount estimated pursuant to
subsection F of this section.
2. The same amount for each
eligible teacher without regard to teacher experience levels.
B. Notwithstanding sections 15-502
and 15-544, if salary increases are required by subsection A of this
section, a school district or charter school may not reduce the base salary of
eligible teachers who are or will be employed by the school district or charter
school below the base salary schedule reported to the department of education
in fiscal year 2026-2027. This subsection does not restrict a
school district's or charter school's authority to adjust an individual
teacher's salary in a manner that is consistent with the applicable base salary
schedule, including an adjustment for any change in employment status.
C. In any
budget year that a school district's or charter school's estimated total
current expenditures per pupil for the budget year as prescribed by section 15-189.05
or 15-903 is below the total current expenditures per pupil that the
department of education calculated for the school district or charter school
for fiscal year 2026-2027 pursuant to section 15-255, subsection B,
paragraph 2, the school district or charter school may reduce the base salary
of eligible teachers below the base salary that the school district or charter
school reported to the department of education in fiscal year 2026-2027
by an amount that does not exceed the percentage reduction in the total current
expenditures per pupil for the budget year compared to the total current
expenditures per pupil for fiscal year 2026-2027. A base
salary reduction pursuant to this subsection applies only to the current budget
year.
D. The teacher pay fund is
established consisting of legislative appropriations and distributions from the
permanent state school fund pursuant to article X, section 7, subsection N,
Constitution of Arizona. Monies in the fund are continuously
appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190
relating to lapsing of appropriations. The department of education
shall administer the fund and establish procedures for determining WHETHER
school districts and charter schools are eligible to receive monies from the
fund. If salary increases are required under subsection A of this
section, the department shall allocate monies from the fund to each eligible
school district or charter school in an amount equal to the amount determined
pursuant to subsection G of this section multiplied by the number of eligible
teachers employed by the school district or charter school as reported pursuant
to section 15-189.05 or 15-903 to fund the salary increases made
under subsection A of this section. The monies distributed pursuant
to this subsection are in addition to any other monies, public or private, that
the school district or charter school receives from any lawful source and may
not supplant, replace or otherwise cause a reduction in other funding sources
for the school district or charter school.� The monies distributed pursuant to
this subsection are exempt from the revenue control limit prescribed by section
15-947.
E. Notwithstanding
subsection C of this section, if the legislature appropriates monies to the
teacher pay fund for salary increases not required by subsection A of this
section, the department of education shall allocate the appropriated monies to
each eligible school district and charter school according to the terms of the
appropriation.
F. On or before March 30 of each
year, The treasurer shall provide to the staff of the joint legislative budget
committee an estimate of the amount of distributions pursuant to article X,
section 7, subsection N, constitution of Arizona, that will be deposited
in the teacher pay fund for the budget year.
G. On or before March 30 of each
year, the staff of the joint legislative budget committee shall determine a per
teacher amount from the teacher pay fund for the budget year using the
statewide number of eligible teachers reported pursuant to section 15-189.05
or 15-903 and based on the estimate pursuant to subsection F of this
section.
H. Each school district and charter
school that receives monies from the teacher pay fund shall submit a report on
or before November 15 of each year to the superintendent of public instruction
that provides an accounting of the expenditures of monies distributed from the
fund during the previous fiscal year. The department of education in
conjunction with the auditor general shall prescribe the format of the report
required by this subsection.
I. The department of education, on
report from the auditor general, shall determine whether school districts and
charter schools are complying with the rEQUIREMENTS prescribed in this
section. If the department determines that a school district or
charter school is not in compliance or has failed to correct a deficiency
within ninety days after receiving notice from the auditor general, the school
district or charter school is ineligible to receive monies from the teacher pay
fund pursuant to subsection D or E of this section from the date of the
determination until the auditor general reports that the school district or
charter school is complying with the requirements prescribed in this section.
J. For the purposes of this section, "eligible
teacher":
1. Means a person who is employed
by a charter school or a school operated by a school district in this state and
who either:
(a) Meets
both of the following:
(i) Is
employed for a full school day, or its equivalent, or for a full class load, or
its equivalent, as determined by the department of education.
(ii) Devotes
more than seventy-five percent of the person's time at work to nonadministrative
activities that provide instruction to students.
(b) Meets
both of the following:
(i) Is
employed as a special education teacher for a full school day, or its
equivalent, or for a full class load, or its equivalent, as determined by the
department of education.
(ii) Devotes
more than fifty percent of the person's time at work to support student
academic achievement as prescribed by the school district governing board or
the charter school governing body.
2. Includes current teachers and
teachers who begin work for the school district or charter school after the
effective date of this section.
3. Does not include an
administrator or a person who has been designated in either of the two lowest
performance classifications after an evaluation conducted pursuant to section
15-189.06 or 15-537. END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Section 15-903, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE15-903. Budget format; prohibited expenditures; annual report
A. The superintendent of public instruction in
conjunction with the auditor general shall prepare and prescribe a budget
format to be used by all school districts.
B. The budget format shall be designed to allow
all school districts to plan and provide in detail for using available
monies. The budget format shall contain distinct sections for, but
need not be limited to, maintenance and operation, debt service, special
projects, capital outlay, adjacent ways and classroom site fund. The
maintenance and operation section shall include, but need not be limited to,
separate subsections for regular education programs, special education programs
and operational expenditures for pupil transportation. Each
subsection shall clearly distinguish classroom instruction
expenditures. The special education program subsection shall include
a subtotal for the disability classifications as defined in section 15-761
and programs for gifted, vocational and technical education, remedial education
and bilingual students.� The total expenditures for each of these programs
shall be included on the budget form.� The pupil transportation subsection
shall include all operational expenditures relating to transporting pupils,
including all operational expenditures within a contract if the school district
contracts for pupil transportation.
C. The capital outlay section of the budget shall
include a subsection for unrestricted capital outlay. The
unrestricted capital outlay subsection shall include budgeted expenditures for
acquisitions by purchase, lease-purchase or lease of capital items as
defined in the uniform system of financial records and shall include:
1. Land, buildings and improvements to land and
buildings, including labor and related employee benefits costs and material
costs if work is performed by school district employees.
2. Furniture, furnishings, athletic equipment and
other equipment, including computer software.
3. Pupil and nonpupil transportation vehicles and
equipment, including all capital expenditures within a contract if the school
district contracts for pupil transportation.
4. Textbooks and related printed subject matter
materials adopted by the governing board.
5. Instructional aids.
6. Library books.
7. Payment of principal and interest on bonds.
8. School district administration emergency needs
that are directly related to pupils.
D. The budget format shall contain distinct
subsections for the following:
1. Special programs to improve academic
achievement of pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one through three as
provided in section 15-482.
2. School plant funds.
3. Capital outlay budget increases as provided in
section 15-481.
4. Property taxation, including the following:
(a) The primary tax rates for the school district
for the current year and the budget year.
(b) The secondary tax rates for maintenance and
operation, K-3 and capital overrides for the school district for the
current year and the budget year.
(c) The secondary tax rates for class A bonds for
the school district for the current year and the budget year.
(d) The secondary tax rates for class B bonds for
the school district for the current year and the budget year.
5. A description of any corrections or adjustments
made to the budget pursuant to section 15-915.
E. The budget format shall also contain:
1. A statement identifying proposed pupil-teacher
ratios and pupil-staff ratios relating to the provision of special
education services for the budget year.
2. A statement identifying the
number of eligible teachers as defined in section 15-248.01 who are
employed by the school district for the current year.
2. 3. The
prominent display of the average salary of all teachers employed by the school
district for the current year.� The school district shall also prominently post
this information on its website home page separately from its budget.
3. 4. The
prominent display of the average salary of all teachers employed by the school
district for the previous year. The school district shall also
prominently post this information on its website home page separately from its
budget.
4. 5. The
prominent display of the dollar increase in the average salary of all teachers
employed by the school district for the current year.� The school district
shall also prominently post this information on its website home page
separately from its budget.
5. 6. The
prominent display of the percentage increase in the average salary of all
teachers employed by the school district for the current year.� The school
district shall also prominently post this information on its website home page
separately from its budget.
F. The special projects section shall include
budgeted expenditures for state special projects, including special adult
projects, career education, deficiencies correction fund projects and new
school facilities fund projects, such federal special projects as ESEA title
programs, vocational education and title IV Indian education, and other special
projects.
G. A school district shall not make expenditures
for campaign literature associated with school district or charter school
officials.� If the superintendent of public instruction determines that a
school district has violated this subsection, the superintendent of public
instruction may withhold any portion of the school district's apportionment of
state aid.
H. The budget format shall include an electronic
format that shall be submitted for each proposed, adopted and revised budget.
I. On or before November 30 of each year, the
department of education shall electronically submit to the joint legislative
budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting
a report that compiles the information required by subsection E, paragraphs 2
through 5  6 of this section
for all school districts statewide. END_STATUTE
2. The Secretary of State
shall submit this proposition to the voters at the next general election as provided
by article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona.