WASHINGTON – Arizona had the third-lowest per-pupil spending on public elementary schools in the country in 2010,topping only Utah and Idaho, according to a recent Census Bureau report.
Arizona schools spent an average of $7,848 per grade school student in that year, well below the national average of $10,615 per pupil, according to the Census report released in late June.
But Arizona school officials defended what they called efficient use of education dollars, noting that the state has posted some of the biggest gains on national standardized test scores despite the relatively low spending.
Since 2009, the state’s fourth-graders have posted the nation’s highest gains in the math section of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, said Molly Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Education. She said Arizona schools have to determine how to deliver a quality education to students based on the funds available.
“We are always on the lookout for ways to bring in additional dollars, but we also have a responsibility not to give up just because we aren’t getting as much money as other states,” she said.
In addition to spending less per student, state funds also made up a smaller portion of total school spending in Arizona than in most other states, the report said. Nationally, state funding makes up 45 percent of school spending on average, with the rest coming from local and federal sources; in Arizona, state support makes up just 35 percent of the $8.8 billion that was spent on elementary education in 2010.
That’s just not enough, said David Garcia, a professor of education at Arizona State University.
“Education is a state responsibility, and each state, in its constitution, decides how they are going to fund education,” Garcia said.
The Arizona Constitution says the state will ensure and fund a “general and uniform” education for all students. But all that guarantees is that each school district gets the same amount of funding per pupil, Garcia said, not that students get a good education.
With 65 percent of school funding generally going to teacher salaries, schools in underfunded states can face a difficult choice between raising teacher salaries or reducing class sizes, said Mike Griffith, a finance analyst for the Education Commission of the States.
“In states that have higher funding, you often will see both smaller class sizes and higher pay,” Griffith said. “But if you walk into a class room in a lower-funded state, often you will see larger classes and lower-paid teachers – it’s an indirect correlation between spending and student achievement.”
But he cautioned that higher spending does not automatically result in schools that are getting the results they should.
“You can also find districts that don’t have as much money but have high achievement – it’s all about how they spend the money,” Griffith said.
Garcia said that the first step in solving the funding problem in Arizona is recognizing that there is a problem.
“And for anyone in education, Arizona being one of the lowest-funded states, isn’t going to be news,” he said
Leon Ceniceros posted at 9:44 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
"And for anyone in education, Arizona being one of the lowest-funded states, isn't going to be news," he said.
Folks, you can sure tell when an article is written by an ASU-Cronkite School of Journalism reporter when the last sentence negatively portrays Arizona.
Now let's see just who is this ASU Professor of Education, David Garcia, is. He graduated from the University of CHIGAGO.
Member of the....LATINO RESEARCH ENTERPRISE.
(One of their positions was.....THE STATE OF "LATINO" ARIZONA).
(Another was ....Facilitating "LATINOS" becoming more actively involved and aware of the political landscape of our State).
(And let's not forget......Establishing the groundwork for future partnerships with local and national "LATINO" organizations including....MALDEF = MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND and CHICANOS POR LA CAUSA).
Nothing like having ........"UN-BIASED" ....sources being quoted to push your....I mean .....to "enlighten" your readers.........[wink][wink]
asuaguila posted at 10:14 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Leon (or whatever your real name is), we can't all be "unbiased" like you.
Mike McClellan posted at 11:38 am on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Whenever I read one of Leon's posts, I get the feeling that Happy Hour at the Ceniceros house begins sometime around 8 . . . in the morning.
Anyway, pretty soon, the "cut the waste" and "more money doesn't mean a better education" crowd will show up to post here.
A problem is, Arizona's been near the bottom for the last two decades; further, our state legislature -- since the early '90's -- has always tried to underfund education.
Finally, the critics of the statistics in the article always fail to do two things:
Identify the "waste" in education (here are two -- we need to consolidate the smaller districts and we need to pool health insurance plans across districts, if not have a single plan for the entire public school system).
Realize that when folks ask for an increase in spending in AZ, it's not an increase, really -- it's to help make up for the $500 million DECREASE in spending over the last three years.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 1:20 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
SORRY MIKE........YOU LOSE ONCE AGAIN TO THE ................."FACTS".
ARIZONA'S PLACEMENT IS 26TH AT A COST PER STUDENT OF = $7,848.00
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IS 30TH AT A COST PER STUDENT OF = $16,000.00
ARIZONA IS A RIGHT-TO-WORK STATE (WEAK UNIONS) WHILE THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST TEACHERS UNION IN THE NATION.
THROWING MONEY AT EDUCATION AND HAVING A STRONG TEACHER'S UNION DOES NOT A ...."SUCCESSFUL"....EDUCATION PROGRAMT MAKE, MIKE.
GOOD STUDENTS ARE MADE AT HOME NOT AT SCHOOL.....PARENTS ARE WHAT MOTIVATE STUDENTS...........NOT THE.....MR. KOTTER'S....OR MISS JEAN BRODIE'S OF THIS WORLD.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 1:25 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
MULTIPLY......20,000 - 30,000 (THE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL ALIENS AND ANCHOR BABIES IN ARIZONA)..............TIMES.....$7,848.00..........AND YOU CAN HIRE A HECK OF A LOT OF NEEDED TEACHERS AND THROW IN A GOOD PAY RAISE FOR TEACHERS TOO, MIKE.
IF YOU WANT MORE MONEY FOR SCHOOLS........TELL YOUR OLD TEACHING BUDDIES TO KICK OUT THE ...........ILLEGAL ALIENS.........STOP TEACHING MEXICAN, GUATAMALAN, EL SALVADORAN AND HONDURAN STUDENTS AND SEND THEM BACK TO THE SCHOOLS IN THEIR COUNTRIES.
samkat posted at 2:46 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Mike: Since you seem to be up to speed on our education system, what is the average amount given by the state to each charter school student? I am seeing mcmansions going up all over the place while our public schools are crumbling..
Sue S posted at 3:03 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
Arizona teachers bear the brunt and carry the load of low education funding. They work very hard for low pay to compensate for not having the resources that teachers in other states have. Our teachers make personal, financial, and professional sacrifices to ensure that Arizona's students have a good education.
chatmandu002 posted at 3:47 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
What's the problem? Test scores are improving. Like the article says, more money does not equate to better education.
Mike McClellan posted at 6:27 pm on Fri, Jul 13, 2012.
samkat, I can't give you the exact figure, but you need to know that charter schools get a higher per student funding but do not get any funding for building, unlike schools. Plus, they can't have overrides or bond votes like school districts can.
Thus, the state gives them more per pupil funding for operations, I think about $2,000 more.
Are we getting more bang for the buck?
The quick answer is "No, despite the fact that a handful of charter schools are among the best schools in the state, based on test scores."
soricobob posted at 6:18 am on Sat, Jul 14, 2012.
Not only are the charter schools better funded (they get around the bond issue for buildings by renting/leasing on operating revenue), but their owners are among the most highly "paid". That is the main reason for owe owner having multiple schools!
JMJ posted at 6:37 pm on Sat, Jul 14, 2012.
Leon, I think it's been a week since I called you a Froot Loop. FROOT LOOP.
Per Pupil Spending is low in Arizona, and teachers such as myself made up that gap by digging into our own pockets to provide resources and experiences for our students. That has happened for years. I never spent less than $1600 out of pocket per year, and tax laws give a $250 tax credit to teachers. BFD. Then, we had far more administrators than we needed, though Mesa always liked to flaunt that it had the least amount of administrative costs. Which administrators have left Mesa since the economic downturn? They haven't lost any that I can name. Some retired, but the vortex of the universe sucked back in some friend of theirs to take the place of the retiring stiff who left.
Per Pupil Spending has a direct correlation to success. "We", as a state, may be improving on NAEP, but the dumbing down of AIMS is telling. This year, some schools, for the first time, did not meet their academic goals on AIMS AIMS has been modified so that a monkey with a stylus could pass it by bubbling in "D" on all answers. And yet, we still have FFB and Approaching students. DUH.
Mesa, from what I know firsthand, is not improving. Resources have been taken away over the past three to five years that were proven, effective tools that helped students learn and retain information.
How many teachers have retired as soon as they hit their 80 points in the past five years? 1000? 1200? Do you think your newbie teachers are going to be able to dig that deep in their pockets to try to close the spending gap in underfunded classrooms? NO. Look at your own test results and, for Pete's sake, FINALLY read the handwriting on the crumbling walls that are about to hit you in the head.
ARIZONA SCHOOLS ARE A JOKE. Yes, we are trying to make up the millions that have been stripped in the past five years. It'll never happen. You are witnessing, firsthand, the sinking of the Titanic known as Mesa. Now that they have something like 7 people in their PR department, look at all the propaganda that hits the papers on a weekly basis, while the walls crumble around them.
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