During his recent State of the State Address, Gov. Doug Ducey stressed the need to make education a top priority for the state, which has added $1.7 billion for K-12 education over the last three years, including specific investments for teacher pay for the first time in over a decade. 

In his address, Ducey said his new executive budget will include more funding for public schools.

"This week, I will release my budget," Ducey said in his address.  "It will include a full commitment to accelerate the state’s K-12 investment, and restore long-standing cuts from the recession made before many of us were here.

"We all know what works and we know how to get big ideas done. We've done it before. Prop 123 was the result of a partnership between Democrats and  Republicans. The education and business communities.  The voters, for saying yes and of course our teachers, the biggest difference-makers of them all. If we are to succeed on future efforts around public education, we must work in the same way -- together."

During his address, Ducey also touted the state's successful education programs including all-day kindergarten; career and technical education; expansion of the best schools into underserved, low-income neighborhoods; teaching computer science and coding; and reducing wait lists at high-performing schools.