Monday, September 17, 2007

The stupidest law in Arizona strikes again

The East Valley Tribune clearly has an anti-tax slant and displays it here. Here is a quote:

Despite increased state funding for education in recent years, school districts remain dependent on having budget overrides — and asking voters to pay for the costly habit.

They make it sound like the schools have a $300 a day drug habit. Perhaps the reason that overrides are needed is because of this:

Expenditures per Student: The U.S. average per student expenditure for public elementary and secondary schools in 2003–04 fall enrollment was $8,248. States with the highest per student expenditures: New York ($12,325), Connecticut ($11,774), New Jersey ($11,390), Massachusetts ($10,772), and Vermont ($10,763). Utah ($5,091), Arizona ($5,347), Oklahoma ($5,976), Arkansas ($6,005), and Mississippi ($6,137) had the lowest per student expenditures (H-11). (From NEA 05 Educational Rankings report)

Could it be that they need extra funding because we are in the bottom four in spending. I am sorry, but anytime Alabama beats you it is time to rethink your strategy.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

$5000 is pretty good. What's the average cost for a private school education in Arizona?

A DemLament said...

I don't think worse than Alabama could ever qualify as good... Private school is 10K to 15K for a year in Arizona. I actually looked into it recently for my own son. That is part of the reason private school vouchers do not work well. They would not cover the cost of private school, just offset the cost for the kids already there.

Forgive me for making this argument, but we pay $22,476 on average to incarcerate someone, but only 5K to educate them. I am always amazed at how easy it is to finance prisons, but not so much for schools.

http://www.nicic.org/Features/StateStats/?State=AZ