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.

K-12 FUNDING CUTS: LET'S DO THE MATH

posted by Michael Chihak

Teachers in Pima Unified School District in eastern Arizona clean their own classrooms at day's end because there aren't enough janitors, according to a March 20 story in the Arizona Republic. The alternative? Teacher layoffs and bigger classes.

Look for similar steps across the state in the coming school year as public schools strive to absorb a third straight year of significant funding cuts from the Arizona Legislature and the governor.

Gov. Jan Brewer in January proposed K-12 funding cuts of $80 million for next school year and said she would hold fast to that. The state Senate increased the cuts to $235 million. The state House reduced them to $183 million; the Senate went along. Brewer said the cuts really were only $148 million because of other available money. She called that "successful."

All sides are using numbers to defend their points of view. One Republican legislator said the cuts amount to a mere $300 a year per student. House Speaker Kirk Adams said the total cut to public school funding is 3.6 percent, which isn't much. Educational support organizations say it's the third straight year of such cuts, and the cumulative effect could knock some school systems over the edge.

Arizona Week on Friday will explore the numbers to try making some sense of them, including taking a look at how they will affect the average student in the classroom.

We will talk with sources knowledgeable about the numbers, knowledgeable about the politics behind school funding and those who know what's going on in the classroom.

ALL'S QUIET ON THE BUDGET FRONT -- UNTIL TODAY

posted by Michael Chihak

The Arizona Senate passed and sent to Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday a series of budget bills that put into place much bigger cuts in education than Brewer wanted. So far, there's been no comment from the governor, who had said in the last two weeks she was standing fast to preserve educational spending.

Her budget, introduced in January, called for $170 million in cuts for the three state universities, $71 million in cuts for K-12 and about $73 million, or half the state allocation, in cuts for community colleges.

Did she stand fast on those cuts and preserve educational spending? You be the judge.

The final budget heading for her desk Friday has $198 million in university cuts, $183 million in reductions for K-12 and $73 million less for community colleges.

Democrats were quick to criticize the governor.

"If (Brewer) was working to protect education, she failed," Senate Minority Leader David Schapira said.

"Gov. Brewer has failed. She has failed to stand up for education," Rep. Daniel Patterson said.