AZ legislature to vote on bill to tie school performance to AEL funding

With a deadline fast approaching, the House Education Committee voted overwhelmingly 8-1-1 this week to raise the aggregate spending limit or AEL. "I don't believe in playing political football with our kids," Representative Laura Terech (D) Phoenix/Scottsdale District 4 said during the vote. The resolution now heads to the House floor. The $1.4 billion at issue was actually appropriated last session as part of the education budget. But constitutionally mandated spending limits on education means the legislature must approve a year override. Schools have the money. They just can't spend it until that happens.