State of Education in Arizona on Here and Now

August 23, 2006

Tolleson Elementary School District Superintendent Diane Hamilton and Horizon Charter School President Larry Pieratt. (Photo Credit: John Tynan)

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( Phoenix, AZ ) It's back to school time for Arizona students. As parents ensure their kids have the supplies they need, some schools are scrambling for teachers, bus drivers, and the space needed to teach class. In this hour of Here and Now, we examined the state of education in Arizona. Topics included: a shortage of teachers, English language learner funding, AIMS Test results, tuition tax credits, all-day kindergarten, drop-out rate, and school choice.

State of Education Fast Facts

Student Characteristics

Number of students enrolled: 1,012,0
Number enrolled: 1,012,068
Percent in Title I schools: 53.8%
With Individualized Education Programs (IEP): 10.8%
Percent in limited-English proficiency programs: 15.4%
Percent eligible for free/reduced lunch: 45.1%

Racial/Ethnic Background

White: 49.2%*
Black: 4.8%*
Hispanic: 37.2%*
Asian/Pacific Islander: 2.2%
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 6.6%*

* 2002-2003 school year data

School/District Characteristics

Number of school districts: 313*
Number of schools: 2,031
Number of charter schools: 506
Per-pupil expenditures: $6,3881
Pupil/teacher ratio: 21.3
Number of FTE teachers: 47,507

* Source: U.S.Department of Education, 2003-2004 data

Charter Schools

There are 549 charter schools in Arizona as of the fall 2006 school year.

School Consolidation

During the 2005 Arizona Legislative Session, Senate Bill 1068 passed with bi-partisan support and signed by the Governor, established a 13-person School District Redistricting Commission. The Commission is charged to:

review all current common school districts that are not part of a unified school district and consider combining these common school districts into a new unified district or combining common school districts with a union high school district to create unified districts.

The legislation further states that the Commission's recommendations may include enlarging or diminishing the size of affected school districts but shall also include unorganized territories within recommended unified districts where practicable. The Commission may also determine that an existing common school district should remain a common school district and not be included in a new unified school district recommendation.

Source: School District Redistricting Commission

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LINKS:

Arizona Department of Education