Only hours before the start of the 49^th legislative session, members of the Arizona School Administrators (ASA) gathered outside the state Senate building urging state lawmakers to tread carefully when making cuts to the public K-12 education budget.

"What we are asking the Legislature and the incoming governor is to take our help," said Greg Wyman, president of ASA. "We are here to help and work with them in a positive fashion to resolve the issues of the budget crisis."

The nonprofit organization with members from each of the 226 school districts in Arizona recognizes budget cuts are "a necessary evil" when the state faces a $3 billion deficit in fiscal 2010. But the group's members asked to be brought into budget discussions to help legislators understand the type of cuts that could be made to the state's public education budget without crippling the whole system.

"Our educational communities are the experts," Jill Hicks, a parent of children attending school in Phoenix's Washington School District. "You wouldn't rewire your house without consulting an electrician. Therefore, I find it amazing that budget cuts in education are made without consulting those with an expertise in education: our working teachers."  

Any cuts having to be made to the budget, Wyman said, should be applied equally to elementary and high school districts, both public and charter.

Finally, ASA members encouraged legislators when making cuts to keep in mind the importance of local budgetary control.

"Each school district represents a different kind of cliental, and each school district has its own issues that it has to resolve," Wyman said.

Money spent on public education makes up approximately 43 percent of the state budget. More than 80 percent of the money appropriated to public school districts are spent on faculty salaries.