Historical public education information in Arizona, 2011-2013

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on Arizona's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view Arizona's public education page.

The Arizona public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 Arizona had 1,080,319 students enrolled in a total of 2,252 schools in 662 school districts. There were 50,800 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 21 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. There was roughly one administrator for every 420 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average Arizona spent $7,666 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 48th highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 76 percent in 2012.

State agencies

See also: Arizona Department of Education

The Arizona Department of Education, through the Superintendent of Public Instruction, is responsible for "providing for the students of Arizona a uniform public school system kindergarten schools, common schools, high schools and normal schools."

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is a publicly elected state official tasked with the following responsibilities:

• "Superintend the schools of this state."
• "Request the auditor general to investigate when necessary the accounts of school monies kept by any state, county or district officer."
• "Subject to supervision by the state board of education, apportion to the several counties the monies to which each county is entitled for the year. Apportionment shall be made as provided in chapter 9 of this title."
• "Direct the work of all employees of the board who shall be employees of the department of education."
• "Execute, under the direction of the state board of education, the policies which have been decided upon by the state board."
• "Direct the performance of executive, administrative or ministerial functions by the department of education or divisions or employees thereof."

The State Board of Education is responsible for "regulating the conduct of the public school system." The State Board of Education is composed of 11 members, including the following:

• Superintendent of Public Instruction
• The president of a state university or college
• The president or chancellor of a community college
• Four lay members
• The owner or administrator of a charter school
• A high school superintendent
• A classroom teacher
• A county school superintendent

Members are appointed by the Governor to four-year terms (with the exception of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is elected by the state's citizens).

The mission statement of the Arizona State Board of Education reads:

“

To aggressively set policies that foster excellence in public education.

”

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how Arizona compared to three neighboring states in school year 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
Arizona	2,252	662	1,080,319	50,800	1:21.3	1:419.5	$7,666
Nevada	649	18	439,634	21,132	1:20.8	1:449.7	$8,527
New Mexico	866	135	337,225	21,957	1:15.4	1:253.4	$9,070
Utah	1,020	126	598,832	25,970	1:23.1	1:450.2	$6,212
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	1:16	1:295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12" U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in Arizona as reported in the Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for Arizona's K-12 public school system
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	U.S. percentage**
American Indian	54,596	5.05%	1.10%
Asian	30,079	2.78%	4.68%
African American	58,029	5.37%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl. Students	2,880	0.27%	0.42%
Hispanic	462,624	42.82%	24.37%
White	455,010	42.12%	51.21%
Two or more	17,101	1.58%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

In the 2011-2012 school year, a plurality of students in Arizona attended city schools. Nearly 65 percent percent of the state's students attended city or suburban schools, compared to the approximately 35 percent who attended rural or town schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural schools
Arizona	48.5%	48.5%	10%	25.2%
Nevada	38.5%	32%	6.6%	22.9%
New Mexico	32.6%	11.9%	27.4%	28.1%
Utah	16.5%	50.9%	12.9%	19.7%
U.S. average	28.9%	34%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah), Arizona'a fourth and eighth graders fared worse in reading than the same students in Nevada and Utah for the 2012-2013 school year.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Arizona	40%	31%	28%	28%
Nevada	59%	47%	45%	44%
New Mexico	31%	23%	21%	22%
Utah	44%	36%	37%	39%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state

See also: ACT and SAT scores in the U.S.

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Arizona and surrounding states for 2012 and 2013.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Arizona	76%	Fourth	19.7	35%	1,551	35%
Nevada	63%	Fifth	21.3	34%	1,454	48%
New Mexico	70%	Fifth	19.9	75%	1,626	12%
Utah	80%	Third	20.7	97%	1,684	6%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1,498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Arizona was higher than the national average at 5 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 5.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in Arizona

As of June 2015, school choice options in Arizona included: charter schools, tax credits (individual and corporate), online learning programs and inter-district and intra-district open enrollment policies. In addition, about 4.6 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-12 academic year, and 2.67 percent were homeschooled in 2012-13.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: Arizona state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Arizona spent approximately 19 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. As a share of the budget, this was down 8.5 percentage points, or 30.9 percent, from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 27.5 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
Arizona	19%	$7,666	14.69%	41.22%	44.09%
Nevada	23.6%	$8,527	10.68%	33.09%	56.24%
New Mexico	24.7%	$9,070	17.66%	65.78%	16.55%
Utah	24.7%	$6,212	12.02%	51.19%	36.79%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in Arizona totaled approximately $9.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table below presents further detail, including revenue sources, for Arizona and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
Arizona	$1,367,644	$3,839,130	$4,105,899	$9,312,673
Nevada	$447,888	$1,388,154	$2,359,519	$4,195,561
New Mexico	$641,925	$2,390,635	$601,508	$3,634,068
Utah	$519,547	$2,211,870	$1,589,706	$4,321,123
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in Arizona totaled approximately $9.6 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table below presents further detail, including expenditure types, for Arizona and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
Arizona	$8,157,006	$796,052	$634,413	$9,587,471
Nevada	$3,712,313	$324,287	$270,077	$4,306,677
New Mexico	$3,045,075	$621,504	$66,091	$3,732,670
Utah	$3,600,074	$693,458	$234,361	$4,527,893
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in Arizona, the average salary decreased by 1.1 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
Arizona	$50,430	$50,119	$49,501	$49,885	-1.1%
Nevada	$53,830	$54,999	$55,467	$55,957	4.0%
New Mexico	$44,488	$49,378	$46,381	$46,573	4.7%
Utah	$47,757	$48,980	$48,961	$49,393	3.4%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. Arizona ranked 51st overall, or "weakest," which was in the fifth of five tiers.

Government sector lobbying

See also: Arizona government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the Arizona School Boards Association.

Other taxpayer-funded lobbyists for state public schools include:

• Arizona Association of County School Superintendents
• Arizona School Boards Association
• Arizona School Administrators Association

Transparency

On June 25, 2009, an Arizona Senate committee approved SB 1172, which would have allowed the state education department to collect data on students who could not prove that they were U.S. citizens. According to the bill, schools or districts that did not provide the information would be denied funding. The American Civil Liberties Union, however, said that they would file suit if the bill became law. The ACLU argued that the bill violated federal law (which bans collecting data with the intent of denying enrollment). Sen. Russell Pearce said that the bill was merely an effort to increase transparency. "All this is asking for is data. We passed a lot of bills out of here about transparency and disclosure this year. This is along the same line as that -- it says simply that the taxpayer has a right to know," he said.

The bill did not become law in the 2009 legislative session, though some lobbyists said that they expected the bill would return for debate in the next session.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in Arizona
• Arizona
• Education Policy in the U.S.