ABEC urges schools, businesses to form consensus on funding

The Arizona Business and Education Coalition sought input from Yuma business and educational leaders to reform the states school funding formula in order to make students competitive in a global economy Thursday.
 
Arizona public schools spend approximately $6,339 per student while the national average is $9,295 per student, according to a study by the American Legislative Exchange Council, Chuck Essigs, said.
 
Essigs, director of Arizona Association of School Business Officials and consultant to ABEC, explained the history and the funding formula used by Arizona to finance school operations to an audience of civic and education professionals at the Yuma Golf and Country Club. ABEC is a nonprofit, formed in 2002 to advance education and improve student achievement.
 
The formula is nearly 30 years old and ABEC believes revenues to fund schools should be raised in an equitable manner among all taxpayers and not place any excessive burden on any one constituency. ABEC is reviewing the current finance formula in eight forums across Arizona to make proposals to the state legislature for a new formula suited to 21 century needs. Yuma is the second stop of an eight-city tour ABEC will gather from across the state.
 
Essigs also said, the ALEC study indicated that in order for Arizona to reach the national average of per pupil spending the state has to increase education spending 46 percent and at 2 percent extra for the next 30 years comes to a cost of about $3 billion. And he said Arizona is 48th out of 50 states in per pupil spending for operational costs, according to the U.S. census.
 
"But in capital spending Arizona ranks near the top with Nevada and Florida," Essigs said.
 
Capital spending includes new school buildings and all the equipment need to operate them. Essigs stressed, Arizona is rapidly growing state and needs to boost education spending.