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HOW PROPOSITION 320 COULD MEAN ARIZONA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS LOSE HUNDREDS
OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
A Beam investigation — republication package
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By Katie Wilcox
Originally published by The Beam, October 27, 2026
Canonical URL: https://thebeam.org/prop-320-penalty-could-cost-districts-millions/

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WHAT'S IN THIS PACKAGE
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1. 01_README-prop320_penalty_20261027.txt
   This file.

2. prop320_penalty_20261027-article.rtf
   The full article text. Open in Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs. Copy and paste the body into your CMS as you would any wire story. Keep the headline, byline, and excerpt intact. Bracketed markers like [INTERACTIVE EMBED — ... — goes here] and [PHOTO 1 — ... — goes here] show where the embed and each photo belong (the lead photo marker sits just above the first paragraph, for CMSs without a featured-image slot); delete the markers whether or not you use the embed and photos.

3. prop320_penalty_20261027-district_lookup_embed.txt
   Embed code for one interactive: "How Proposition 320 would affect your school district," a searchable lookup of the 87 affected districts. Readers type a district name to see its FY2025 instructional spending share against the 60% target, the first-year reallocation it would need, the classroom site fund penalty it would risk, and its enrollment. The tool is hosted by The Beam; you host nothing.

4. prop320_penalty_20261027-lead_photo-litchfield_raised_hand.jpg
   Lead photo — use as the featured/header image. Caption and credit:
   Litchfield Elementary School student raises hand in class. (Katie Wilcox/The Beam)

5. prop320_penalty_20261027-photo1-litchfield_classroom.jpg
   Photo 1. Caption and credit:
   Students at Litchfield Elementary School in the West Valley of Phoenix study math on October 23, 2026. (Katie Wilcox/The Beam)

6. prop320_penalty_20261027-photo2-medically_fragile_program.jpg
   Photo 2. Caption and credit:
   Students engage with a classroom nurse and support staff in a program for medically fragile students. (Katie Wilcox/The Beam)

   All photos may be used only with this story and must carry the credit "Katie Wilcox/The Beam." Please do not crop in a way that changes their meaning.


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HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER
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A typical republished version looks like this, top to bottom:

  Headline:    How Proposition 320 could mean Arizona public school districts
               lose hundreds of millions of dollars
  Dek:         Prop 320 includes a penalty for some school districts that
               spend less than 60% of operational spending on instruction:
               loss of classroom site funds.
  Byline:      Katie Wilcox / The Beam
  Lead photo:  Litchfield Elementary student raising hand, as the featured/
               header image (or at the top of the body).
  Body:        Article text from the .rtf
  Embedded 1:  District lookup tool, placed after the paragraph ending
               "...could reach 100% after four years of noncompliance,
               barring any waivers." and before the subhead "Most districts
               spend less than 60% of operational spending on instruction."
  Photo 1:     Litchfield Elementary classroom, placed after the paragraph
               beginning "Other operational spending categories include
               administration..." and before "Glendale Elementary School
               District Assistant Superintendent Mike Barragan said..."
  Photo 2:     Program for medically fragile students, placed after
               "Opponents said reducing districts' classroom site funds would
               make it even harder to increase instructional spending." and
               before "Jimmy Arwood is the government relations director..."
  Footer:      Required attribution line — see below.

The "Key Takeaways: What Proposition 320 would require if passed" section is a bulleted summary box in the original. Run it as a bulleted list, a sidebar, or a callout box, whichever suits your format.


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REQUIRED ATTRIBUTION
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Use this credit line at the top of the byline area, the bottom of the article, or both:

   This story was originally published by The Beam on October 27, 2026. Reused with permission.

Please link "The Beam" to https://thebeam.org/ and, where space allows, the canonical article URL above.


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EMBED NOTES
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- Paste the iframe AND its script as a single block into one Custom HTML / Raw HTML / Embed block. Do not split them across two CMS blocks.
- The script resizes the iframe to fit the tool as readers search and pick a district. It only responds to height messages from the embedded tool and only adjusts that iframe.
- Most modern CMSs handle the embed code cleanly via their HTML / Embed / Code block.
- WordPress.com (free tier) and some locked-down corporate CMSs strip <script> tags. On those sites the tool still displays and works but won't auto-resize. The fixed height of 840px fits the tool on phones and desktops, so you don't need to adjust anything; on wide screens there may be some blank space below it.
- The tool follows the reader's light/dark system setting. To force a scheme, add ?theme=light or ?theme=dark to the end of the iframe src URL.
- If you can't use embeds at all, run the text only, delete the [INTERACTIVE EMBED] marker, and consider linking readers to the canonical URL to use the lookup tool.


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QUESTIONS / SOURCE DATA
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Mark Greenblatt - mark.greenblatt@asu.edu
Lauren Mucciolo - lauren.mucciolo@asu.edu

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