Every year, around the end of February, the Arizona Auditor General releases its
SCHOOL SPENDING ANALYSIS. The latest report, for fiscal year 2024, was released February 28.
These are very thorough reports. They include detailed data for the state overall and for each district in the state. This enables voters to learn exactly what is going on with their individual districts.
For the twentieth year in a row, the news is not good for citizens who are concerned about how their tax dollars are spent by most school districts. The report shows that while funding is at an all-time high, the share of funds spent on student instruction is an all-time low.
Not all school districts are equally irresponsible when it comes to this issue. In fact, 82 districts of 206 increased the percentage of funds spent on student instruction. However, that is only 39.8% of school districts. A significant majority of 58.3%, 120 districts, reduced their spending on student instruction. It is the action of those 120 districts that brought down the total numbers.
The following chart, which is part of the Arizona Auditor General’s report, shows clearly the 20-year decline in the percentage of funds allocated to instruction spending.
Lately, this pattern of reduction in the share of funds going to the classroom has gotten the attention of legislators. They continue to increase funding, often exceeding the expenditure limits imposed by Proposition 109 of 1980, yet most school districts continue to shortchange the classroom.
In a recent News Release, the chairman of the House Education Committee, Rep. Matt Gress (LD4), had this to say:
“Arizona school districts have more resources today than ever before,” said Chairman Gress. “The state’s $16 billion K-12 education program provides more than $15,000 per pupil. Yet, once again, district leadership has disproportionately allocated money to areas other than instruction. Collectively, school districts have $7.8 billion in ending fund balances—an astonishing sum. Arizonans have sent a message, loud and clear: they want more money spent in the classroom, and districts appear to be ignoring it.”
Perhaps in the future, more strings will be attached to school funding to ensure that instruction spending gets its proper share.