Effective Jan. 1, 2017, all minimum wage workers now receive 10 dollars an hour; a thoroughly discussed and equally controversial decision.

There are 400 minimum wage individuals working in CUSD, 200 of which are adults and 200 student workers. The lunch workers and janitors are some examples of these employees who have received an increase in income.

Whether this proposition will affect the district heavily or not, the school district is prepared. Principal Dan Serrano said, ““We’re looking pretty good. We had those overrides pass so Chandler is financially sound.”

Living in a fairly financially sound district, paying for the increased wages will be doable, but there will still be consequences. The money will come from the district’s Maintenance and Operations (M&O) fund, which accounts for teacher and employee salaries.

According to Sandy Cooper, the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources in CUSD, “The new law is unfunded, which means, at this time, school districts are not receiving additional funds from the State to pay for the increased expense.”

Principal Dan Serrano said, “Unless our budget goes up as much as minimum wage does, percentage-wise some people they may have to cut back.” This puts the district in an uncomfortable spot trying to decide how they will be able to delegate more funds to these workers.

Serrano said, ““If [you] don’t get funded the way you’re supposed to, I’ve seen that sometimes you have to go back and you have to start making cuts.”

Supporters of the increase in wages claim that if these minimum wage workers are paid more, they will be able to invest and increase economic activity and growth. They believe that this will help the people attempting to live on minimum wage to survive the challenging lives they already lead.

Opposers argue that an increase in minimum wage will cause there to be less work for those workers, force companies to fire employees, and potentially jack up prices.

Looking at this situation through CUSD’s eyes, it will not affect them too much in the long run because the majority of their employees are teachers and workers that make more than a minimum wage. As for the rest of Arizona, time will tell.