JANUARY 2025

On Monday, January 13, Gov. Hobbs presented her third State of the State address, outlining her vision for Arizona and her legislative priorities for 2025. Gov. Hobbs stated that “public education is the key to opportunity” and “success means outstanding teachers in every classroom.” Gov. Hobbs’ remarks related to public education and her support to seek bipartisan solutions to problems that Arizona must address are good starting points for this year’s session.

We were pleased to hear that the governor’s education priorities for 2025 align closely with many of Education Forward Arizona’s policy goals. These shared priorities, highlighted in the address, include:

• Advocate for Prop 123 in support of continued education funding
• Seek solutions to the Aggregate Expenditure Limitation for K-12 and Community Colleges.
• Create accountability and transparency for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.

Education Forward Arizona’s full list of 2025 Legislative Priorities aligns with three key areas emphasized by Gov. Hobbs. You can explore the complete list here.

To increase attainment in Arizona and bolster our 21st century workforce, funding our community colleges and universities, supporting Dual Enrollment, FAFSA completion, adult education, state financial aid, and teacher training programs are vital. There is broad public support for these efforts, but many were cut or deleted in last year’s budget and cannot be left behind.

Needs We See for Education

This Legislative Session

We need 500,000 additional certificates and degrees to meet the state’s Achieve60AZ attainment goal, which calls for 60 percent of all working adults between the ages of 25 and 64 to have a credential or degree by 2030—now just five short years away. To reach that goal and cut our workforce gaps, we must continue to invest in creating significantly more opportunities for education and training after high school. A recent poll by Education Forward Arizona found the vast majority of Arizona voters—close to 75 percent—believe that more should be done to support education and training after high school. In addition, almost every Arizona voter (96 percent) believe that we should expand access to technical training and education programs.

Education Forward Arizona will continue to advocate for increased access to education and training after high school, including:

• Increased funding for scholarship programs that encourage students with high financial need to attend Arizona’s community colleges and universities
• Supporting FAFSA completion, and
• Increasing access to dual enrollment opportunities for high school students.

We are confident that Gov. Hobbs and Legislature understand that Arizona has billions of dollars to gain in economic growth when more adults have the opportunity to earn industry recognized credentials, as well as associates, bachelor’s and advanced degrees.