301 Funds Article Auditor_ Classroom Cash Being Diverted 2012

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14/12 Auditor: Classroom cash being diverted

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9:36 pm | 52February 14, 2012 |

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Adio: Claoom cah being dieed

bEmil Gersema - Mar. 4, 2010 12:00 AM

The Ariona Republic

Recommend Be he fi of o f iend o ecommend hi.

TeeTee 0

Sae adio ae concened ha ome Aiona chool diic ae illegall ing oe-

appoed a fnd inended o ead op eache o inead pa fo egla-eachealaie and ohe co.

The lae adi of pecial fnd fond ha oe-mandaed pending on pefomance

pa fo eache i conining o decline, and official acce chool of ndemining he

ae' goal of aiing den achieemen. Independen polic epe a he em i

no oking he a i a mean o hen inodced nine ea ago.

School official, hoee, cone ha he adi i flaed becae i did no ake ino

accon c o he ae' edcaion bdge and a he ae no miing an fnd

eamaked fo eache pa.

A nmbe of ae lamake, hoee, beliee ome di ic ae pending oo mch

mone on adminiaie co and no enogh on diec edcaion in he claoom andae looking a a of focing diic o e hei fnd bee.

Fnd o poide pefomance pa ee appoed b Aiona oe in 2000 nde

Popoiion 301, a 0.6-cen pe dolla ale a o coe pefomance pa fo eache a

adiional pblic and chae chool. Since he a en ino effec, he Adio Geneal'

Office ha adied annal diic pending of Pop. 301 dolla, alo knon a he

claoom-ie fnd, and oeall diic pending in he claoom, he blk of hich

coe eache alaie.

In he lae annal epo, adio fond ha fo he fifh ea in a o, he aeide

aeage fo diic pending on he claoom ha lipped, falling fom 58 pecen in

2004 o 57 pecen la chool ea.

Adio eimae diic cold be pending an aeage of 60 pecen on he claoom

b inead pend fnd on conelo, adminiaie alaie and ohe non-claoom

co.

Sae Adio Geneal Debbie Daenpo aid he pecenage of dolla pen in he

claoom ha eached he loe poin in nine ea.

The oe-appoed ale a ha poided $300 million o $500 million pe ea in

addiional fnd fo eache pa. Adio age he mone i ppoed o be pen on

eache alaie in addiion o he dolla poided fo alaie ia he ae geneal fnd.

"Thee monie ee mean o add o and no pplan," aid Ro Ehick, dieco of he

Adio Geneal' Office of School Adi.


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The office believes the funding switch violates state law.

School organiations question this conclusion and debate whether the audit is a fair

stud.

Chuck Essigs, a lobbist for the Ariona Association of School Business Officials, said

auditors failed to take into account last ear's state cuts to soft capital.

Legislators in November slashed the $215 million fund b $177 million.

"The should have mentioned it in the report," Essigs said. "The classroom-site fund went

from $500 million in fiscal ear 2008 to $330 million in FY 2009. That is all Prop. 301."

He rejects auditors' accusations that spending voter-approved dollars meant for

performance pa on regular- teacher pa instead is illegal because the mone is still

going for teacher salaries.

Some legislators and conservative groups sa the decline in classroom spending is a

clear sign that school districts are spending too much mone on administrators and

support services instead of teachers.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, last month

introduced a proposal in the Legislature to require districts to spend at least 65 percent

of their operational budgets on the classroom this upcoming school ear.

The committee adopted the measure, but it has not et come up for a vote b the full

Senate.

Chairmen of the education committees in both chambers agree something must be done

to increase accountabilit for school-district spending but believe the 65 percent

requirement is not the solution.

"The challenge ou have is it's a simplistic formula that doesn't appl well across all

districts," said Senate Education Committee Chairman John Huppenthal, R-Chandler.

"Smaller schools and smaller districts tend to perform better. The challenge is that those

smaller schools and smaller school districts tend to show a bit higher education costs."

The recent audit shows small districts, those with a few hundred students, spend 46

percent to 55 percent of their Prop. 301 budgets on the classroom, less than large urban

districts with thousands of students, which spend 56 percent to 59 percent on the

classroom.

To hold districts accountable, Huppenthal suggested providing more information to

voters.

"We need to publish teacher job satisfaction b school district," he said. "If a school

district is shorting their classrooms, that will show up prett quickl with teachers

measuring whether their schools were a great place to work."

Matthew Ladner, a researcher for the Goldwater Institute, a think tank, said the audit

shows the current sstem of school funding isn't working. And although the 65 percentrequirement is an attempt at a solution, he said, "there are so man games and tricks that

can be plaed with the numbers, there are limits to what the state can do."

Students' academic achievement, primaril test scores, can be a ardstick for a teacher's

performance and a school's success that could lead to improved accountabilit, he said.

"What the state can do is to take actions to punish failure and take actions to reward

success," Ladner said. "Right now, it's not going in the right direction."

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301 Funds Article Auditor_ Classroom Cash Being Diverted 2012