x
Breaking News
More () »

Ducey says he'll veto any budget that doesn't guarantee 20% raise for teachers

The Arizona governor woke up earlier to join the 12 Today team live in Studio 12A answering questions on education, where he wants to take Arizona, and immigration.

Governor Doug Ducey is wasting no time hitting the campaign trail after announcing his re-election campaign earlier this week.

Ducey's office released his campaign video Monday. The video, entitled "Securing Arizona's Future," is focused heavily on what Ducey has done for Arizona jobs, education and border security since taking office in 2015.

READ: What Ducey gets right in campaign video, and what he doesn't tell voters

And on Thursday, the governor woke up earlier to join the 12 Today team live in Studio 12A. Ducey answered questions on education, where he wants to take Arizona, and immigration.

Ducey said he would veto any budget that doesn't guarantee a 20 percent raise for Arizona teachers.

"We've advanced appropriated those budgets so that's happened, those teacher are going to get the 20 percent raise, they deserve the raise, they've earned it," he said.

Ducey said he's on the "side of the teachers," and is focused on the dollars going directly to teachers. He wants to solve the teacher shortage with more pay and raises for entry-level teachers.

"Our state is growing, our economy is growing. We want to see the outcomes and results inside education," he said. "It's our teachers who really do that work, they're the ones that are benefiting our kids."

RELATED: We spoke to real people being used as pro-Ducey Twitter bots. Here's what they said.

But he also said he wants to make sure there's money available for support staff, from counselors to crossing guards, as well.

On school safety, Ducey said "a lot of governors deal with this school issue reactively, I want to deal with it proactively." Meaning, "dollars for behavioral and mental health, counselors inside the schools, better background checks and something I call the S.T.O.P order."

The S.T.O.P. order, or Severe Threat Order of Protection, is "something that can prevent and avoid what we've seen in Parkland, in Texas and Kentucky and way too many parts of our country," Ducey said. The order would allow police to take someone into custody if they were deemed an imminent threat.

When it comes to the border and immigration, Ducey said the safety and security of Arizonans is his "number one priority," but added he doesn't want to see children torn away from their families.

"I think we can have border security while we can keep families together," he said.

Ducey said both political parties are to blame in Washington for the problems at the border and he hopes there will soon be some action on "some improvement on how we handle immigration."

Before You Leave, Check This Out