Freshman literature teacher Michelle Callahan-DuMont at Sunnyside High School.
Updated at 11 a.m. MST with new information on days of briefings.
Republican members of the Arizona House of Representatives are being summoned to briefings by their leaders on discussions to boost funding for K-12 schools.
The meetings set for Tuesday and Wednesday come as Republican Gov. Doug Ducey presses his plan to tap the state's permanent Land Trust Fund to add more than $320 million a year to school funding.
Republicans who control the Legislature have their own plan that would lower the inflation adjustment for schools, add another $100 million in state funding, use some money from the state Land Trust Fund and take money from the voter-approved First Things First program for early childhood education.
Educational support groups and others have asked the governor to call a special legislative session this fall to deal with school funding issues, which have been a consistent topic of conversation and controversy in educational and political circles since the state budget was passed in March.
Budget assage came shortly before a U.S. Census Bureau report revealed Arizona was last in the nation in state funding per student in K-12 in 2012-13. The state was providing $3,018 per student then, compared with an inflation-adjusted $3,602 estimated for the current fiscal year.
The House meetings come three weeks after the breakdown of negotiations to settle a lawsuit brought by schools over the Legislature's failure to make voter-required inflation increases. A judge has ordered more than $330 million in new yearly school funding, but the Legislature is appealing.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.