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AZ Schools Perform Miracles with Limited Funding

arizona department of education logoSedona AZ (February 27, 2015) – Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas expressed her appreciation for the work of Arizona’s public charter and traditional public schools after the release of the Arizona Auditor General’s Fiscal Year 2014 School District Spending Report. The report shows that Arizona lags behind the national average for per-pupil spending in almost every category.

“It is time to stop looking at percentages when we evaluate our schools and their spending,” said Superintendent Douglas. “Schools spend dollars, not percentages. I find it inspiring that our schools have continued to strive for excellence given the restraints placed upon them by limited budgets. The dollar-to-dollar comparisons of Arizona expenditures to national averages are truly sobering when we consider how much less our schools have to work with. Our schools are doing a miraculous job in comparison.”

The Superintendent also pointed out that the Arizona numbers are based on 2014, while the most current numbers to compare nationally are from 2012.

“If you take into account the increases made by other states during the last two years, there is an even more stark contrast. For instance, Arizona is a large state so transportation costs per pupil are much higher than in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or other more compact regions.”

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4 Comments

  1. Please accept my appreciation for your lively and free speech organization. I am surprised by a few who say it is negative to have political discourse, disagreements and exchanges of ideas. It is an overcast Sunday and I’m now enjoying time to read here.

    The Superintendent is correct. Our schools and teachers do incredible work with minimal resources. The voters need to support referendums when facts prove them to be of value, while parents need to be involved in the classrooms and in parent organizations. And children must be expected to be civil, respectful and studious and held fully accountable equally by all when not.

    It is the parent involvement which is crucial. No child will succeed without parental support and accountability because no school, no teacher, no peer will influence a child’s outcome and output more than a parent/guardian. Education must be a #1 priority for achievement in the home and for those without English, it must be important for the parents to learn from the children. Children and parents must teach each other.

    As a child of an immigrant, learning English allowed me to excel in school and go to college, and I taught my parents the language during homework time. They eventually landed good jobs and my mom went to college later.

    My father taught us that language was a tool no different than a wheel or fire, a skill builder and nothing more. He had little respect for those in our community who refused to learn the English language, and who clung to old ways that new knowledge or science debunked. My parents believed all ancestors had adapted to new societies and cultures or they would not have survived, and that American freedoms demanded integrity and honor. They are right.

    I believe it is racist to encourage lack of assimilation. Those that do not avail themselves of every freedom and opportunity America has to offer will never be more than subjects of others, whether your local grocery, employer, bank or religious leaders. Return to your old countries to understand the gifts America has given the poor and disenfranchised, the religious or the atheist. It is a gift to be living in America, so appreciate the source of that gift and honor it.

    To those of you with little money or education, may I suggest you join the military and earn a free education and medical care. You can volunteer anywhere to build your skills. It’s a worthy and honorable exchange for the right to live free of the old ways.

    Thank you for your patience reading my comment.

  2. BRAVO! says:

    GREAT JOB, MRS. B, VALLEY TEACHER.

    Thank you,
    Eddie S. Maddock

  3. Here’s a teach for West Sedona School. Signed all of us. Dry Creek reader

  4. George says:

    Thank you to all the teachers in AZ. You do a great job

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