/ Modified dec 10, 2015 5:29 a.m.

Report: Arizona School Funding Cuts Exceed All Other States

Most states put less money into K-12 schools in 2014 than previous years.

Classroom

Listen:

A report from the Center on Budget and Policy showed 31 states put less money into K-12 schools in 2014 than they did at the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008.

“The deepest cuts were in Arizona and Alabama which both reduced total state funding by over 20 percent per student since 2008,” said Michael Leachman, one of the report’s authors.

On a conference call with members of the media, he said Arizona cut school funding more than any other state.

The report shows in addition to classroom funding, teacher salaries have not kept up with inflation in recent years. The authors said that has caused teacher shortages in Arizona and other states.

Earlier this year, Gov. Doug Ducey proposed a plan to increase school funding. He wants to take more money out of the State Land Trust for a decade and put that money into the classroom.

The plan settles a long-standing lawsuit and requires voter approval. A special election is set for May 2016.

MORE: Arizona, News
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona