Student performance was a point of contention in the recent Clean Elections Commission’s debate between the two candidates for the office of Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Incumbent superintendent, Kathy Hoffman, could offer little defense of the dismal test scores recently released by the Arizona Department of Education.
To her credit, Hoffman did not seem to even try. Instead, she dismissed them as less important than students’ social and emotional well-being, which she acknowledged also took a hit due to school administrators’ approach during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The poor results come after several years of massive spending increases passed by the Arizona Legislature and voters, including increased teacher pay and billions of new dollars flowing into K-12 schools. School choice proponents are expected to point to these bad test results as additional proof that too many district schools are delivering a bad product to their students and that parents have more reasons than ever to want the option of taking their kids to better performing schools.
A review of the 20 largest traditional public schools in Arizona shows that only half can boast that more than half of their students were proficient in basic skills.
2022 tests ade biggest schools final