A new report on Arizona school spending sews doubts on Gov. Doug Ducey’s promise to raise teacher salaries by 20%. The promise may fall short.
In 2018, the governor promised to raise pay 20% over a four-year period. A report from state Auditor General Lindsey Perry says while school districts are being provided the cash with the intent of increasing salaries, that money can be used to pay for other expenses because there is no requirement by law.
Perry says the cash is being distributed based on the number of students instead of how much each individual district would need to give each teacher the targeted increase. Also, in keeping with Ducey’s schedule, salaries last year should have been up by 15% but instead increased just over 13%.
PHOENIX Arizona schools continue to increase the amount of each dollars they spend on instruction.
But it s still less than in 2001 when the state began to monitor this metric.
A new report Monday finds the average school system was spending 54.9% of its cash on instruction last academic year. That includes teachers, aides, substitutes, general instructional supplies, field trips and athletics.
By contrast, that figure dropped as low as 53.5% in the 2015-2016 school years.
At the other extreme, instructional spending was as high as 58.6% in the early 2000s. And it was 57.7% when the state first ran the report.
That 54.9% figure, however, does not paint the whole picture.