You may have seen it: a 30-second ad touting education funding in Arizona, with cheery teachers and kids intended to give the impression that, gosh darn it, Arizona schools haven’t been as neglected and downtrodden as you’ve been told.
It’s PR from a new nonprofit called the Arizona Education Project, which is funded by organizations such as the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
And these groups just happen, of course, to be major supporters of Gov. Doug Ducey, who is seeking re-election and wants to burnish his image on education.
Arizona Education Project spokesman Matthew Benson would not give specific dollar amounts, but said the group would spend “six figures” in its first week running the ad.
But no number of feel-good TV spots will change the fact that Arizona comes in last, or almost last, in numerous rankings of per-pupil state spending in the nation.
When you’re starting at such a low bar, any increase appears generous.
So while it is, on its face, factual to say that Arizona has increased the amount of money spent on education over the past several years, it’s also less than half the story. The increase also includes funding taken from the state land trust after voters approved Prop. 123.
Arizona spends less per pupil now than 10 years ago. Adjusted for inflation, Arizona spends about $4,100 per student today — roughly $900 less than it did in 2008, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
Arizona is still digging itself out of a hole simply to get back to ground level.
The same is unfortunately true when it comes to student achievement numbers. Students are making progress, but they are still underperforming in many categories.
Ducey has put forward a $400 million spending plan for schools in this legislative session. Sounds good, right? Yes, but about 30 percent of that — $116 million — is legally required. Again, we must look at the fine print for the more accurate financial picture.
We must resist the idea that criticizing Arizona’s low funding for public education is a criticism of teachers, students and individual schools. It is not. There are schools doing amazing work with students in academic and economic need, made all the more amazing given the challenges of low funding, a teacher shortage and lack of substantive support from the Legislature.
Highlighting the positive is commendable, but we can’t put a sheen on the facts. So while, yes, Garrick Taylor of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is right to note that five of the 10 top public high schools are in Arizona, it’s also right to point out that there are about 2,195 other public schools in the state, too.
Good things are happening in many Arizona schools. But an ad campaign won’t change the reality that Arizona students are being — and have been for years — short-changed by our state elected officials.
