MOST MONEY SPENT IN CLASSROOM; NOW WHAT?

posted by Michael Chihak

Vail School District Superintendent Calvin Baker will be on Arizona Week Friday to discuss school funding in the wake of the state Legislature's passage of next fiscal year's budget.

Baker's district runs with great efficiency and effectiveness. The state Auditor General's report says Vail spends a greater percentage of its money in the classroom than other school districts. Nine of its 15 schools are rated "excellent" under the federal No Child Left Behind system; the other six are rated at "performing" or "highly performing."

Certainly Vail's performance, both fiscally and educationally, can be attributed to superior administration, management and teaching. At the same time, the dollars make a difference. So what is Vail to do in light of the state Legislature's budget action last week?

Legislators cut state funding for public schools by $183 million. While legislative leaders called it a relatively small amount -- 3.6 percent of total K-12 funding, House Speaker Kirk Adams said -- it is 5 percent of state general fund money.

In addition, it comes on top of an 11.6 percent reduction in state general fund money in fiscal 2009-10. And that came on top of an 8.3 percent decrease in state general fund money in fiscal 2008-09.

In short, state general fund allocations for K-12 public schools have gone down 19 percent in three years. That's expected to be reflected in per-student state funding, which this school year is down 19 percent from its historic high two years ago and will be down more next fiscal year.

We will ask Baker what changes he must make in how Vail schools operate and whether the district's record of excellence will be jeopardized as a result of the state funding cuts.