Arizona ranks near the bottom when it comes to per-student education spending, according to a report released Monday from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 2008 annual Survey of Local Government Finances looks at funding during the 2007-2008 school year.
Arizona is ranked 49th in the report with per-pupil spending of $7,608. Only Idaho ($6,931) and Utah ($5,765) rank lower. The report includes Washington D.C.
The national average was $10,259. No. 1 in per-pupil spending was New York, at $17,173.
The report breaks down the spending by sources. In Arizona, 10.8 percent of funding comes from federal sources, 48.5 percent comes from state sources and 40.7 comes from local sources.
Nationwide, about 8 percent of public education comes from federal sources, 44 percent comes from local sources and 48 percent comes from state sources, according to the U.S. Census report.
stan000 posted at 9:01 am on Wed, Jun 30, 2010.
I'm not really concerned about how much we are spending per student but about how much we are getting for our money. The kids I see graduating from public high school do not impress me as being employable or ready for taking much but remedial classes if they go on to college.
thebuckstopshere posted at 3:43 pm on Thu, Sep 16, 2010.
Don't anybody believe for an instant that spending more money per pupil will result in a better education for our students. I took a hard look at this a year ago using US census data for spending plus another report (can't remember the name of the service, but it has been around for something like 35 years or so) in order to decide whether or not I should vote in the affirmative for a local tax override. It took many hours to sift through and plot the data. There was NO correlation between the two. Based on that review, Az ranked # 50 scholastically, Utah was #38 and Idaho was #20! Both Utah and Idaho ranked higher academically even though they ranked below Arizona in spending.
You can't and you won't ever buy a better education by throwing more money at it. If parents and students want a better education, they better start looking at something else...maybe like....WORKING for it.
That tax override was defeated (60/40 against) with only 40% of registered voters bothering to vote for a simple MAIL-IN ballot. The obstacle to a better education in Arizona as I see it is between the parents and the students and is spelled A-P-A-T-H-Y instead of M-O-N-E-Y.