Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Serious Problems With Arizona's K-12 Education System

By Gia Heller

In 2008 Arizona ( az ) rated 49th out of the 50 states in the amount spent per student per year. Arizona ( az ) spent approximately $6232 per student in 2008 which was $2741 lower than the national average of $8973 per student. The cost to move Arizona ( az ) to the national average in 2008 was approximated to exceed $2.7 billion, an unachievable total for the state.

With so many budget problems in Arizona ( az ), along with spending being reduced across the board, Arizona legislative district 7 candidate David Smith is deeply concerned about the school of our children along with the future of the state of Arizona ( az ). In the last 2 years Arizona has increased spending for school along with student/teacher ratios have decreased nevertheless our student performances as well as scores have dropped.

It's clear, throwing funds at public K-12 schooling will not aid our students until academic spending is revised. Arizona currently spends around $7,000 per student per year in its K-12 schools, however only 57% of that money is spent in the class room.

In past years many believed that by simply putting more money into the education and learning process and adding more instructors our kids would do better in the class room. However our students declining performances along with scores have proved this to be false as well as have raised significant concern in Arizona. With only 25% of our adult population having a college degree it is clear action must be taken to better our students future.

The question now turns into where do we start? David Smith says, "It's straightforward, we need to put more money into the class room! Az teachers currently receive approximately $2,000 per student per year, while the remaining $5,000 is used to pay administrators along with other non-teaching staff. This needs to change; we should be spending $3,000 - $5,000 per student on our teachers so we can bring in higher quality teachers as well as provide our kids with a better education and learning."

If Arizona put more funds in the class room as well as instructors were paid closer to $3,000 - $5,000 per student and only the remaining $2,000 were used to pay for administration along with other staff, a teacher with a class of 20 students in Arizona could earn a salary near six figures and would be in the top percentile in the united states for teachers salaries. In turn, this high pay would allow Arizona ( az ) to recruit along with attract the very best teaching candidates.

While Az has many wonderful instructors, statistics show that many of Arizona's teachers are hired from the bottom 1/3 of college applicants by SAT scores. Arizona's starting teacher salary ranks 30th in the country at an average starting salary at: $30,404. Over the last few months we spoke with several teachers as well as learned that some hold 2nd jobs to compensate for low salaries.

David Smith says, "We need to focus on getting teachers closer to $5,000 of the $7,000 spent per year per student, rather than the $2,000 they get today. With far better spending habit we can create more transparency along with waste less of our budget and Az can compete for the best educators and ensure our children receive the best possible school.

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