Proposition 320 asks voters if the state should dictate how much public schools spend in the classroom. Republicans and powerful conservative organizations who say public schools spend too much on administration and unnecessary programs are urging voters to change state law to override local control and force public schools to spend a bigger percentage of their funding on “direct instruction.” Democrats and public school advocacy organizations are aggressively campaigning against Proposition 320, saying that because those same GOP lawmakers have left Arizona public schools chronically underfunded for decades, the only responsible way to boost classroom spending is to increase funding.
Republicans and proponents argue that putting a larger proportion of school spending toward student instruction will lead to better test scores and outcomes, and provide much-needed pay raises to Arizona teachers – without them having to spend any more money. But that ignores the reality that Arizona students need support beyond the classroom to thrive, public school advocates and Democrats say. Decisions to hire those vital support workers, like instructional coaches, counselors and school nurses, should remain in the hands of the local school boards that know their district’s needs, they argue.
If voters approve it in November, Prop. 320 would require the public schools that teach more than 80% of Arizona students to increase their direct instructional spending by one-half a percentage point annually until they reach at least 60% of their spending. School districts that don’t comply would see their share of the Classroom Site Fund decreased by 25% each year, until it reaches zero. That money goes toward teacher salaries and bonuses, smaller classes and support services for students.
But exactly what counts as “direct instructional spending” isn’t known: Prop. 320 leaves it up to the Arizona Auditor General to determine the definition and then evaluate how schools are complying with the law. For many schools, the 25% reduction in the Classroom Site fund would be a devastating loss. School districts receive millions of dollars from the fund. During fiscal year 2026, more than $27 million has been set aside for Phoenix Unified High School District, while Mesa Unified School District, the state’s largest, is slated to receive over $52 million from the fund.
The spending mandate would apply only to the 71 school districts in populous Maricopa and Pima counties, plus larger rural districts with at least 7,500 students. (There are five of those: Flagstaff Unified District, Florence Unified School District, Maricopa Unified School District, Yuma Elementary District and Yuma Union High School District). Collectively, those 76 districts educate nearly 83% of the state’s 845,000 public school students.
The proposition was sent to the ballot by the state legislature, in the final vote of this year’s legislative session at nearly 4 a.m. on June 13, after lawmakers had worked through the night. On that final day, the Republicans who control both chambers pushed through five ballot referrals, all on party-line votes, a strategy to bypass vetoes from Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Hobbs has vetoed hundreds of bills that got only Republican support, but ballot referrals don’t require her signatures.
“This is a measure that will markedly improve teacher pay in this state, and it will finally rebalance a broken system that currently is focused on bloating the administration rather than funding classrooms,” the referral’s sponsor, Sen. Jake Hoffman, said during a Feb. 19 Senate Government Committee hearing. Hoffman, leader of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, is a proponent of the state’s school voucher program, which provides public funding for any K-12 student to attend private school, or to be homeschooled.
A February analysis of school spending from the Arizona Auditor General found that the per-pupil share of school spending that is reserved to pay for administrative costs, l
