What’s on your ballot: Prop 320 would force certain schools to spend more in classrooms

This election season, Arizona voters are being asked through Proposition 320 if certain school districts should be required to spend more of their funds in the classroom.

Prop 320 would require districts in Maricopa and Pinal counties and any other districts with more than 7,500 students to spend 60% of their operating budgets on direct classroom instruction.

If the measure passes, districts below the 60% mark would be required to increase their classroom spending portion by 0.5% each year until reaching 60%. They will lose a chunk of their state funding if they fail to hit the benchmarks.

The Arizona auditor general would be tasked with determining what qualifies as direct classroom instruction.

Arizona schools spent 52.1% of their budgets on classroom instruction in the 2025 fiscal year, according to the latest Arizona Auditor General’s Office report. That’s the lowest percentage since tracking began in 2001.

The Republican-controlled Legislature referred Prop 320 to the ballot by passing Senate Concurrent Resolution 1032 in June.

What are the arguments for Prop 320?

Matt Beienberg, director of education policy with the Goldwater Institute, said the measure could help boost teacher pay and cut back on wasteful spending.

“This doesn’t actually even require cuts. Every year, the schools get additional funding, there’s an inflation adjustment, they get additional funds from the state Classroom Site Fund. So under Prop 320, this essentially says [the districts] need to start increasing the share that’s going [to classrooms]. It doesn’t say that you need to cut your existing budget,” Beienberg told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

State Rep. Matt Gress, who sponsored the House version of the resolution that sent Prop 320 to the ballot, said the goal is to increase teacher pay.

“We have over 3,000 teacher vacancies. … And yet we’re spending more money outside of the classroom year after year after year. We have to reverse that,” he said in a June interview.

What are the arguments against Prop 320?

State Sen. Lauren Kuby said Prop 320 could force schools to make cuts to expenses such as air conditioning, school nurses and safety personnel.

“It treats the whole educational system [as if] it is just defined by a teacher and their instructional aide. And it really does ignore the real needs of classrooms because it penalizes districts for basic necessities that schools require these days. … Fundamentally, it takes away power from local parents and school boards,” she said.

Kuby also said the auditor general should not be defining classroom instruction due to a lack of educational experience.

Jill Humpherys, a Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board member, said Prop 320 would force her district to cut services. For example, she said there’s a possibility of having to remove the behavior analysts that have helped with teacher success and retention.

“We want to have local control where the elected governing board members are making those decisions about what is needed in their community,” Humpherys said. “It’s always a very delicate balance to make sure that you’re providing for the needs of children, and it’s not a decision between needs and wants. It’s always the decision between needs and needs.”

What will Arizona voters see about Prop 320 on their ballots?

Here is the official ballot language for Prop 320:

OFFICIAL TITLE: AMENDING TITLE 15, CHAPTER 9, ARTICLE 1, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES BY ADDING SECTION 15-917.

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE: REQUIRES CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SPEND AT LEAST SIXTY PERCENT OF THEIR OPERATIONAL SPENDING ON DIRECT INSTRUCTIONAL EXPENSES AS DEFINED BY THE AUDITOR GENERAL; REDUCES CERTAIN STATE FUNDING FOR NON-COMPLIANT DISTRICTS.

A “yes” vote shall have the effect of: (1) requiring school districts with 7,500 or more students in any county or that operate in a county with 500,000 or more people to spend at least 60% of their operational spending on direct instructional expenses; (2) requiring the state Auditor General to define “operational spending” and “direct instructional expenses”; (3) requiring non-compliant school districts to gradually adjust their spending each year until they are in compliance; and (4) requiring the state Department of Education to reduce funding from the state Classroom Site Fund by 25% each year for non-compliant districts, subject to limited waivers that the state Superintendent of Public Instruction may authorize.

A “no” vote shall have the effect of maintaining the current laws governing school district budgets.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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