Legislation that would mark the first significant update in decades to Arizona’s K-12 public school funding formula by centering it on students rather than by type of school passed the House Appropriations Committee on Monday.

An amendment by Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, to S.B. 1269, sponsored by state Sen. Vince Leach, R-Saddlebrooke, would allow school districts, with approval from their voters, to opt into a “State Student Funding Formula,” which would be comprised of state base level support and state additional assistance. 

School districts whose voters approve the shift to the new funding system would no longer be able to ask those same voters to approve bonds and overrides or other local tax levies. 

“The time is now to fix these issues we have been talking about for years,” said Matthew Simon, vice president for government affairs and advocacy for Great Leaders Strong Schools. “This is an opportunity for school districts to have a different kind of conversation with their voters and adopt a stable, reliable source of funding for their schools; it’s an opportunity to close the glaring inequities for students simply based on where they attend school. The status quo attempts and fails to equalize funding between systems. This legislation seeks fairness for students.”

Under the current funding formula, the per-pupil funding rate can vary widely from district to district, as some districts are unable to pass bonds and overrides, while others’ voters reliably support the measures at the polls. 

“Some of the largest funding disparities are between school districts where taxpayers build and improve schools and those districts where the will or wealth to do so does not exist,” according to research released last month by A for Arizona.

According to the same report, rural school districts, such as Lake Havasu Unified School District, only received 63% of the funding per student that Phoenix Union High School District received in fiscal year 2020. Maricopa and Pima counties are the only counties in the state where voters in more than half of districts have approved override funding.

Simon pushed back against critics of the legislation who claim that poorer districts are likely to face a cut under the modernized funding model.

Simon pointed to three high-poverty urban school districts, Isaac, Balz, and Murphy Elementary, all of which are in line for funding increases. 

“Opponents of this bill will continue to proclaim that we just need to infuse a billion more dollars into an already unfair system,” he said. “However, the strike everything amendment is a fiscally prudent solution to incrementally reform our system to better reflect our state’s current realities.”

Leach, the bill sponsor, said reform to the formula has been a long time coming.

“It is time we do something. The current formula was put together when I was still a kid,” he testified during the committee hearing. “It’s time we look at it, revise it, and even things out to get the best results.”

Sean Rickert, the superintendent of Pima Unified School District in rural Graham County, said that going to his voters to approve an override is unlikely.

“In order for me to get an override, I’d have to double my local property tax because I don’t have very much assessed valuation,” he said. “You’re not going to get voters to vote for that.”

The legislation to create the new opt-in formula, however, would be a boon to districts like Rickert’s.

“This provides an alternative,” he said. “This provides a way for me to get the funding that charter schools get, and I can fund my schools at that level.”

In addition to Great Leaders Strong Schools, supporters of the bill include business community groups like the Arizona Tax Research Association, and school choice and reform groups. 

Opponents include interest groups for school system employees, as well as supporters of Proposition 208, a 2020 ballot measure to increase Arizona’s top income tax rate by 78% that was ruled to be unconstitutional earlier this month. 

The bill passed the committee on a party line vote. After some procedural steps, it can be considered by the full House and then the Senate for a final vote. 

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A for Arizona, a group focused on K-12 policy reforms to improve access to a high-quality education, recently that explores the disparities in education funding across Arizona public schools. 

Despite Arizona laws since 1980 requiring that state tax dollars broadly follow students rather than school systems, voter-approved supplementary funding from local property taxes have nonetheless created disparities in education funding between the state’s communities. 

Supplementary school funding from local property taxes varies widely from neighborhood to neighborhood depending on local property values and the number of voter-approved spending increases. 

“Some of the largest funding disparities are between school districts where taxpayers build and improve schools and those districts where the will or wealth to do so does not exist,” the report said. Total funding from local “override elections” approving supplemental funding for schools totaled nearly $700 million.

Rural school districts, such as Lake Havasu Unified School District, only received 63% of the funding per student that Phoenix Union High School District received in fiscal year 2020. Maricopa and Pima counties are the only counties in the state where voters in more than half of districts have approved “override funding.”

Additionally, despite Arizona being on the leading edge of education innovation, Arizona students attending public charter schools often receive less state funding than their peers attending traditional public schools. 

According to A for Arizona, public charter schools in fiscal year 2020 received $1,308 less per student than public school districts, on average.

“Our kids need us now more than ever to create the best conditions for their future, and that requires changing how we fund students and demanding high quality education for all,” said A for Arizona Founder and CEO Emily Anne Gullickson. “Every child in rural, urban, and suburban Arizona deserves an education that sets them up for success.” 

The report recommends non-voter-approved base funding for schools to be standardized among charter and district schools. Base funding for schools is appropriated by the state, however, disparities remain between public charter and public district schools. For example, charter schools receive no funding for facilities, while district schools 

The paper also recommends that the state offer a new opt-in funding formula that accounts for disparities in overall funding between school districts and charter schools and among different school districts in the state. The report recommends that Arizona incorporate results-based funding into the funding formula. Schools would be rewarded for achieving better results by ensuring the money goes directly to the school rather than a governing board. This funding would continue to recognize results at the state’s low-income schools by providing increased tiered funding based economic indicators.

Lastly, the report recommends the state reassess transportation funding and create a more flexible model. Currently, not all funding allocated for transportation is required to fund transportation. Districts with reduced need for transportation funding still receive the same funding they previously received under the “Transportation Revenue Control Limit”, which now totals nearly  $200 million.

 
The state Senate last week to modernize K-12 student transportation and give educational providers greater flexibility in the vehicles in their fleets.

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The state Senate on Thursday passed a bill to modernize K-12 student transportation and give educational providers greater flexibility in the vehicles in their fleets.

Currently, certain classes of vehicles owned by public schools are unable to be used for regularly scheduled transportation. SB 1630, sponsored by Sen. Sine Kerr, R-Buckeye, authorizes school districts, charter schools, and contracted private entities to use motor vehicles designed to carry fewer than 16 passengers to transport students to or from school on a regularly scheduled basis. 

“As Arizona continues to strive to be a leader in modernizing K-12 transportation, this bill allows another opportunity to expand on the modernization and flexibility that our districts need,” Kerr said last month.

Under the legislation, the Department of Public Safety would be authorized to prescribe safety standards for vehicles designed to carry 11-15 passengers. Schools would be permitted to use these vehicles, currently only used for limited school-related activities, for regularly scheduled pick-up and drop-off to and from school. 

Also, the Transportation Advisory Council would be renamed the Student Transportation Advisory Council, and the council’s size would be increased from 9 to 13 members. The bill was amended to ensure one of the advisory board members would be chosen based upon their expertise in electric vehicle transportation

In an attempt to address the of school bus drivers, the bill changes the law to no longer require commercial driver licenses for those who would operate the school-owned vehicles designed to carry fewer than 16 people. 

“Right now, we have a school bus driver shortage, as people train and get the certifications necessary to drive a school bus, they are often hired off to the mines or large companies like FedEx and Amazon who pay them more,” said Mathew Simon, vice president of government affairs and advocacy for , during a committee hearing on the bill. “Not requiring a CDL for 11-15 person buses will allow more flexibility and use of vehicles.”

Dianna Diaz Harrison the director of Arizona Autism Charter schools, a charter focused on education for students with autism, testified in committee that “Our student’s zip codes span all over the county and it makes it hard to launch a transportation program that can help them. We need a micro-transit system that can shuttle students to our central Phoenix and West Valley locations.”

Simon says his organization is focused on creating transportation options to help students and families reach the education providers that best fits their needs.

“The challenge we see is the lack of flexibility in our transportation rules,” he said. “As new vehicles and safety features come online, this will allow them to have the regulatory flexibility to amend rules rather than to have to come back to the Legislature.”

The bill, which passed 17-10, now heads to the House of Representatives.

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If you’ve had children in school during the 2020-2021 academic year, you may be relieved that this year’s summer break has finally come. Even as we look forward to a summer without as many restrictions, it’s important for us to remember the challenges of this past school year and that our children, our neighbors’ children and others in our communities may have some catching up to do this fall. 

According to Oxford Learning, there are significant losses in students’ math and reading skills during summer break. Two and a half months’ worth of math skills that students spend learning during the school year are lost over the summer. In reading, students lose two months of learning by the end of the summer. To make up for these losses, schools usually spend six weeks re-learning these skills in the fall. 

“Summer brain drain” is real. And preventing it starts with us volunteering to stop it in its tracks. 

Be a volunteer

With many restrictions lifting, students are starting to gather for camps and learning programs, and most organizations need volunteers to help run these programs. This summer, students will be able to do in-person projects and hands-on activities they might have missed during the school year. These activities are fun and engaging for students, and from my experience, fun for adult volunteers, too. Seeing students’ faces light up after they’ve learned HTML, built a robot or saw a cool chemical reaction makes the time you give to them invaluable. 

Being able to gather in person is also giving students access to resources they might not have had last summer. For example, Boys & Girls Clubhouses here in Arizona and around the nation are welcoming students back to their Centers of Innovation, where they will be able to use computers, 3D printers, coding software and much more to engage in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects. They need professionals like us to show them what they can achieve with the right resources. Even if it’s not equipment we use every day, think of what we can achieve when we’re willing to learn alongside them. 

Share your skills

I’ve volunteered for Tucson youth programs for several years, and one thing I’ve learned is that diverse skills are useful in benefitting our youth. We can work directly with students. We can clean or organize classrooms. We can help with administrative tasks. We can help them develop curriculum. I’ve done many of these different tasks and each time, it’s been a fulfilling experience. 

Right now, I’m putting my STEM knowledge and management skills to use by serving on the Tucson Boys & Girls Club board of directors. In this role, I can help shape the organization’s initiatives and summer programming. Summer interns from my employer, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, recently volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club to help students launch rockets they had built, which gave the students and our interns great opportunities to lead, connect and grow their engineering skills. 

If you’re wondering where to get started, I recommend checking out the pages of local nonprofits to see what they’re up to and how you can reach them. At work, connect with the corporate social responsibility team or your company leaders to see what they’re doing in the community. If your employer is like mine, you can find some ideas. Remember your resources, and use them to do good for our youth this summer, who need to keep learning and keep being reminded of their potential. 

Sam Deneke is vice president of business execution for Land Warfare & Air Defense at Raytheon Missiles & Defense.

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