Republican House Speaker J.D. Mesnard has withdrawn his last-minute proposal requiring school districts to spend half of their yearly inflation increases on teacher raises.
The amendment to an unrelated education bill would have required school districts to spend about $38 million a year on raises for their teachers.
Mesnard says he wanted to focus on the issue and will continue to do so.
The state budget passed last week gave teachers a 1 percent raise at a cost of $34 million.
The Arizona School Boards Association quickly came out in opposition of the proposal. The group said the requirement directly violates a voter-approved law requiring the Legislature to provide yearly inflation increases and last year's Proposition 123, which added about $350 million in new funding for schools each year.
