Historical public education information in Arizona

in  Arizona

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## Contents

* 1 State agencies
* 2 Regional comparison
* 3 Demographics
* 3.1 Enrollments by region type
* 4 Academic performance
* 4.1 NAEP scores
* 4.2 Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
* 4.3 Dropout rate
* 5 Educational choice options
* 6 Education funding and expenditures
* 6.1 Revenue breakdowns
* 6.2 Expenditure breakdowns
* 6.3 Personnel salaries
* 7 Organizations
* 7.1 Unions
* 8 Taxpayer-funded lobbying
* 9 Transparency
* 10 Studies and reports
* 10.1 State Budget Solutions education study
* 11 See also
* 12 Footnotes

This page contains archived information on Arizona's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view Arizona's public education page.

The Arizona public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 Arizona had 1,080,319 students enrolled in a total of 2,252 schools in 662 school districts. There were 50,800 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 21 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. There was roughly one administrator for every 420 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average Arizona spent $7,666 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 48th highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 76 percent in 2012.[1]

## State agencies[edit]

See also: Arizona Department of Education

The Arizona Department of Education, through the Superintendent of Public Instruction, is responsible for "providing for the students of Arizona a uniform public school system kindergarten schools, common schools, high schools and normal schools."[2]

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is a publicly elected state official tasked with the following responsibilities:[2]

* "Superintend the schools of this state."
* "Request the auditor general to investigate when necessary the accounts of school monies kept by any state, county or district officer."
* "Subject to supervision by the state board of education, apportion to the several counties the monies to which each county is entitled for the year. Apportionment shall be made as provided in chapter 9 of this title."
* "Direct the work of all employees of the board who shall be employees of the department of education."
* "Execute, under the direction of the state board of education, the policies which have been decided upon by the state board."
* "Direct the performance of executive, administrative or ministerial functions by the department of education or divisions or employees thereof."

The State Board of Education is responsible for "regulating the conduct of the public school system." The State Board of Education is composed of 11 members, including the following:[3]

* Superintendent of Public Instruction
* The president of a state university or college
* The president or chancellor of a community college
* Four lay members
* The owner or administrator of a charter school
* A high school superintendent
* A classroom teacher
* A county school superintendent

Members are appointed by the Governor to four-year terms (with the exception of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is elected by the state's citizens).[3]

The mission statement of the Arizona State Board of Education reads:[3]

“  | To aggressively set policies that foster excellence in public education.[4] |  ”

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## Regional comparison[edit]

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how Arizona compared to three neighboring states in school year 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012

State | Schools |  Districts | Students | Teachers | Teacher/pupil ratio | Administrator/pupil ratio | Per pupil spending
Arizona | 2,252 | 662 | 1,080,319 | 50,800 | 1:21.3 | 1:419.5 | $7,666
Nevada | 649 | 18 | 439,634 | 21,132 | 1:20.8 | 1:449.7 | $8,527
New Mexico | 866 | 135 | 337,225 | 21,957 | 1:15.4 | 1:253.4 | $9,070
Utah | 1,020 | 126 | 598,832 | 25,970 | 1:23.1 | 1:450.2 | $6,212
United States | 98,328 | 17,992 | 49,521,669 | 3,103,263 | 1:16 | 1:295.2 | $10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a.

National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12"
U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

## Demographics[edit]

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in Arizona as reported in the Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.[5]

Demographic information for Arizona's K-12 public school system

Ethnicity  |  Students  |  State percentage  |  U.S. percentage**
American Indian  |  54,596 | 5.05% | 1.10%
Asian  |  30,079  |  2.78% | 4.68%
African American  |  58,029 |  5.37% | 15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl. Students  |  2,880 | 0.27% | 0.42%
Hispanic |  462,624 |  42.82% | 24.37%
White |  455,010 | 42.12% | 51.21%
Two or more  |  17,101 | 1.58% | 2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

### Enrollments by region type[edit]

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

In the 2011-2012 school year, a plurality of students in Arizona attended city schools. Nearly 65 percent percent of the state's students attended city or suburban schools, compared to the approximately 35 percent who attended rural or town schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)

State  |  City schools  |  Suburban schools  |  Town schools  |  Rural schools
Arizona |  48.5% |  48.5% |  10% |  25.2%
Nevada |  38.5%  |  32%  |  6.6%  |  22.9%
New Mexico |  32.6%  |  11.9%  |  27.4%  |  28.1%
Utah |  16.5%  |  50.9%  |  12.9%  |  19.7%
U.S. average  |  28.9%  |  34%  |  11.6%  |  25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD) (timed out)

## Academic performance[edit]

Education terms

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For more information on education policy terms, see this article.

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School board elections portal
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### NAEP scores[edit]

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah), Arizona'a fourth and eighth graders fared worse in reading than the same students in Nevada and Utah for the 2012-2013 school year.[6]

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013

| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8
Arizona | 40% | 31% | 28% | 28%
Nevada | 59% | 47% | 45% | 44%
New Mexico | 31% | 23% | 21% | 22%
Utah | 44% | 36% | 37% | 39%
U.S. average | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

### Graduation, ACT and SAT scores[edit]

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state
See also: ACT and SAT scores in the U.S.

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Arizona and surrounding states for 2012 and 2013.[6][7][8]

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*

State  |  Graduation rate, 2012  |  Average ACT composite, 2012  |  Average SAT composite, 2013
Percent  |  Quintile ranking**  |  Score  |  Participation rate  |  Score  |  Participation rate
Arizona |  76% |  Fourth |  19.7 |  35% |  1,551 |  35%
Nevada |  63%  |  Fifth  |  21.3  |  34%  |  1,454  |  48%
New Mexico |  70%  |  Fifth  |  19.9  |  75%  |  1,626  |  12%
Utah |  80%  |  Third  |  20.7  |  97%  |  1,684  |  6%
U.S. average  | 80%  | 21.1  | 1,498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation).
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally.
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

### Dropout rate[edit]

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Arizona was higher than the national average at 5 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 5.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[9]

## Educational choice options[edit]

See also: School choice in Arizona

As of June 2015, school choice options in Arizona included: charter schools, tax credits (individual and corporate), online learning programs and inter-district and intra-district open enrollment policies. In addition, about 4.6 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-12 academic year, and 2.67 percent were homeschooled in 2012-13.

## Education funding and expenditures[edit]

See also: Arizona state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Arizona spent approximately 19 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. As a share of the budget, this was down 8.5 percentage points, or 30.9 percent, from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 27.5 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education.[10][11][12][13][14]

Comparison of financial figures for school systems

State | Percent of budget (2012)  | Per pupil spending (2011) | Revenue sources (2011)
Percent federal funds |  Percent state funds |  Percent local funds
Arizona | 19% | $7,666 | 14.69% | 41.22% | 44.09%
Nevada | 23.6% | $8,527 | 10.68% | 33.09% | 56.24%
New Mexico | 24.7% | $9,070 | 17.66% | 65.78% | 16.55%
Utah | 24.7% | $6,212 | 12.02% | 51.19% | 36.79%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures
U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

### Revenue breakdowns[edit]

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in Arizona totaled approximately $9.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including revenue sources, for Arizona and surrounding states.[15]

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)

| Federal revenue | State revenue | Local revenue | Total revenue
Arizona | $1,367,644 | $3,839,130 | $4,105,899 | $9,312,673
Nevada | $447,888 | $1,388,154 | $2,359,519 | $4,195,561
New Mexico | $641,925 | $2,390,635 | $601,508 | $3,634,068
Utah | $519,547 | $2,211,870 | $1,589,706 | $4,321,123
U.S. total  | $74,943,767 | $267,762,416 | $264,550,594 | $607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

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### Expenditure breakdowns[edit]

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in Arizona totaled approximately $9.6 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including expenditure types, for Arizona and surrounding states.[15]

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)

| General expenditures** | Capital outlay | Other*** | Total expenditures
Arizona | $8,157,006 | $796,052 | $634,413 | $9,587,471
Nevada | $3,712,313 | $324,287 | $270,077 | $4,306,677
New Mexico | $3,045,075 | $621,504 | $66,091 | $3,732,670
Utah | $3,600,074 | $693,458 | $234,361 | $4,527,893
U.S. total | $520,577,893 | $52,984,139 | $29,581,293 | $603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools.
***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

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### Personnel salaries[edit]

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.[16]

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in Arizona, the average salary decreased by 1.1 percent.[17]

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)

| 1999-2000 | 2009-2010 | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | Percent difference
Arizona | $50,430  | $50,119  | $49,501  | $49,885  |  -1.1%
Nevada | $53,830  | $54,999  | $55,467  | $55,957  | 4.0%
New Mexico | $44,488  | $49,378  | $46,381  | $46,573  | 4.7%
Utah | $47,757  | $48,980  | $48,961  | $49,393  | 3.4%
U.S. average  | $57,133 | $58,925 | $56,340 | $56,383 | -1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

## Organizations[edit]

### Unions[edit]

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. Arizona ranked 51st overall, or "weakest," which was in the fifth of five tiers.[18]

## Taxpayer-funded lobbying[edit]

See also: Arizona government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the Arizona School Boards Association.

Other taxpayer-funded lobbyists for state public schools include:

* Arizona Association of County School Superintendents
* Arizona School Boards Association
* Arizona School Administrators Association

## Transparency[edit]

On June 25, 2009, an Arizona Senate committee approved SB 1172, which would have allowed the state education department to collect data on students who could not prove that they were U.S. citizens. According to the bill, schools or districts that did not provide the information would be denied funding. The American Civil Liberties Union, however, said that they would file suit if the bill became law. The ACLU argued that the bill violated federal law (which bans collecting data with the intent of denying enrollment). Sen. Russell Pearce said that the bill was merely an effort to increase transparency. "All this is asking for is data. We passed a lot of bills out of here about transparency and disclosure this year. This is along the same line as that -- it says simply that the taxpayer has a right to know," he said.[19]

The bill did not become law in the 2009 legislative session, though some lobbyists said that they expected the bill would return for debate in the next session.[20]

## Studies and reports[edit]

### State Budget Solutions education study[edit]

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

## See also[edit]

* Public education in Arizona
* Arizona
* Education Policy in the U.S.

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD); Table 2.—Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011-12," accessed May 12, 2014
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Arizona Department of Education, "About AZ Dept. Education," accessed May 13, 2014
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Arizona Department of Education, "State Board of Education," accessed May 13, 2014
4. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
5. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey, 2011-2012," accessed May 7, 2014
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
7. ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
8. ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
9. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
10. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2011-2013," accessed February 21, 2014
11. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2009-2011," accessed February 24, 2014
12. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditures Report, 2010-2012," accessed February 24, 2014
13. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2009," accessed February 24, 2014
14. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2008," accessed February 24, 2014
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2010–11," accessed May 13, 2014 (timed out)
16. ↑ Maciver Institute, "REPORT: How much are teachers really paid?" accessed October 29, 2014
17. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 211.60. Estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, 1969-70 through 2012-13," accessed May 13, 2014
18. ↑ Thomas E Fordham Institute, " How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State-By-State Comparison," October 29, 2012
19. ↑ KTAR, "Bill would have schools collect info on illegals," June 25, 2009
20. ↑ Arizona Central, "Law tracking illegal students fails, but could return," July 1, 2009

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