Doug Ducey thanks the crowd for their support in his campaign after winning the Republican gubernatorial candidacy was announced at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in downtown Phoenix on Aug. 26. Ducey met Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred DuVal in a debate in Chandler on Sept. 10.(Photo by Becca Smouse)The first of five gubernatorial debates in Chandler on Wednesday night focused on the economy and educational system as both Doug Ducey and Fred DuVal took on the tough issues of the budget deficit and Common Core standards within Arizona schools.
Both Ducey, a businessman, and DuVal, a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, used their histories as a basis for the decisions they made when focusing on the issues during the debate.
The budget deficit argument quickly turned toward education as both Ducey and DuVal made points on funding the K-12 education system as well as higher education throughout the state.
“We need to restructure our formulas to put money towards paying our teachers and the K-12 system,” Ducey said.
DuVal steered the conversation toward making education the priority and not a background issue in January when he might take office as governor.
“We must have the commitment to put education first,” he said.
The budget issue within the education system was steered towards the issue of Common Core standards by 12 News anchor and moderator Brahm Resnik as he tried to keep the candidates on topic.
DuVal, who supports Common Core, said if Arizona is going to be serious about investing in education, it has to tie that to the performance expectations of the students, teachers and the schools.
“We need to make sure our students can compete at a national level,” he said.
Ducey argued strongly against Common Core and said he believes it is unworkable after speaking with parents during the campaign.
“I'm for reforming these funding formulas so that we can make a difference,” he said. “We know how to educate a child. The problem is there are too many places where it isn’t being done.”
DuVal said funding schools to make sure students can thrive is his goal and that he wants all students in every school system to be their best.
“Gifted students occur in every house, every neighborhood, and at every school,” he said. “What we need to do is fund schools so those gifts can flourish everywhere. We are strangling our capacity to make sure every school can provide every student for the potential they can achieve.”
Leaving education up to the parents is what Ducey described when wrapping up his argument on the issue.
“I just believe that mom and dad know better to where their child should go to school than someone who writes the zip code lines,” he said.
The candidates agreed on growing the economy in Arizona but differed on how to get to that point with DuVal arguing for innovation and Ducey advocating for bringing in out-of-state business.
“We are an innovative and entrepreneurial state,” DuVal said. “This is not about taxes. We have lowered taxes 23 out of the last 24 years, and we are simply not growing.”
Ducey turned to his history in private business to lay out where he wants to lead the state.
“In the game of ice cream, people vote with their dollars,” he said. “In the game of states, people vote with their feet, with their Ryder trucks and their U-Hauls, and we’ve been leading in population growth for decades. What we haven’t been leading in is business growth and business relocation, and we need to profile our state for the warm, welcoming, wide-open state that it is.”
The budget deficit discussion turned to the economy and how fixing the economy will benefit the rest of the situations that need fixing like the educational system.
“There is no way to fix this budget without kickstarting the economy,” Ducey said. “I’m not going to raise taxes. I’m going to go through the budget like a businessman line-by-line and dollar-by-dollar to restructure the budget.”
DuVal agreed with Ducey that something needs to be done about the budget deficit and said that small businesses need to be nursed from the kitchen table to the first lease and also promoted trade with Mexico as an opportunity.
The night wrapped up with closing statements from both candidates and Ducey talked again about his life in the private sector while DuVal asked the people to do their share.
“Kickstarting the economy is what animates my reason to run for governor,” Ducey said. “I’ve spent my entire adult life in the private sector, in business building a brand that is known around the country and now around the world. I’ve been your state treasurer for nearly the last four years managing 12 and a half billion dollars of state assets that by any measure are in better condition and growing faster than when I came into office.”
DuVal said funding education will be his main priority if elected and made a call to the audience.
“We have to get back into K-12 funding to assure that our students have success and is an area where we disagree and is the key point to my campaign,” he said. “I’m hoping all of you will do your share to build the kind of education opportunities for our children to grow our economy.”
The next gubernatorial debate will take place Sept. 18 in Tucson.
Reach the reporter at jshanco2@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @joey_hancock
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
