As states throughout the nation attempt to balance budgets in the midst of a national recession, a recent study shows that public education continues to reel from the effects of those cuts.
The Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, an organization that works at the state and federal levels on policies and programs that affect low to moderate income families and individuals, conducted a study in September resulting in data from 24 states regarding the funds being expended per student in public education. Included among those states was Arizona, which cut $183 million from K-12 education spending alone in 2011 and ranked second lowest for per student spending over a four-year period, followed only by South Carolina.
According to the report, from fiscal years 2008 to 2012, Arizona cut funding per student by 24 percent. While 17 other schools also cut funding to some degree, seven states actually increased spending per student. At the top of that list was Iowa, which increased its spending by 17.1 percent.
While these cuts can mean reduced funding for textbooks, curriculum, support staff and capital projects, a majority of K-12 schools in our region actually increased the amount of classroom dollars spent per student from 2008 to 2010. According to the Arizona Auditor General’s Office, per-pupil spending in the Holbrook School District increased from $5,730 to $5,843 in 2010; Winslow School District, $4,075 in 2008 to $4,120 in 2010; and Joseph City School District, $5,377 in 2008 to $5,723 in 2010.
The Snowflake School District experienced a decrease in student spending, going from $4,257 in 2008 to $4,053 in 2010.
According to Garry McDowell, business manager for the Holbrook School District, those figures can be deceiving as more dollars spent in the classroom don’t necessarily mean more dollars for the students. “The increase in classroom dollars is generally to pay for more teachers or an increase in salary. But there is also an increase in retirement costs and benefits for teachers,” he explained.
For McDowell, the figures of the study are a concern. “I view this as a disturbing trend for Arizona overall. I’m concerned with the direction we’re going and where education is as a priority,” he said.
According to the study, the states that showed a decrease in spending per student from 2008 to 2012 included New York and Michigan, each at six percent; Ohio at 2.2 percent; Maine, 2.6 percent; Colorado, 4.2 percent; Illinois, 4.6 percent; Kentucky, 8.5 percent; Utah, 11.3 percent; Virginia, 11.5 percent; Wisconsin, 11.9 percent; Texas, 12 percent; Mississippi, 12.2 percent; Georgia 17.6 percent; Oklahoma, 18.7 percent; California, 23 percent; Arizona, 24 percent; and South Carolina, 24.1 percent.
States showing an increase in per student spending from 2008 to 2012 included Iowa at 17.1 percent; Alaska, 14.6 percent; Maryland, 10.1 percent; Massachusetts, 7.9 percent; Pennsylvania, 4.6 percent; New Hampshire, 4.3 percent; and Montana, 1.4 percent.
