Arizona Education Funding Challenge Remains Real

With the Governor and the Legislature arriving at a new funding amount, the question still remains if adequate revenue can be generated to legitimately fund the approved 2% inflationary rate. This will generate about $200,000 locally. It will not serve the greater good if the State comes back next year and sweeps up money during the school year as seen in 2008-2009. This district gave back last year over $290,000 that had been budgeted to teacher salaries, programs and materials. Can we with confidence bring back programs, teachers, or consider a pay raise for a dedicated staff with this unknown still very much a reality? It continues to amaze me how much energy and time is robbed annually from our students due to district and building staff placed through this yearly budget gauntlet. Hopefully, a legitimate funding formula will be created so our focus can be placed on student achievement not just surviving year-to-year. Maybe this is our reality in public education but it does come at a cost to our student achievement and continuous improvement efforts.