9486 in the collection  

Teachers get less of budget pie

Why is the Arizona Education
Association surprised? Teachers know they can't
expect any sort of professional
leadership from their union. But can't they
expect something in terms of remuneration?


by Emily Gersema

Statewide, the percentage of money spent on
teacher pay and other classroom needs has
dropped off to its lowest level in eight years,
a special state study has found.

The Arizona Office of the Auditor General
released results of the study Friday that
examined school spending last fiscal year on
such areas as teacher salaries, textbooks,
administration and busing.

On average, the 240 school districts in Arizona
dedicated about 57 percent of their dollars to
teacher salaries, study guides and other
classroom needs.

That's nearly 4 percentage points behind the
national average, and dips below the statewide
average of 58 percent reported in the 2000-01
and 2006-07 school years.

Schools are spending more of their money on
special services, such as occupational therapy,
and other types of classroom support, the
report found.

Those services are often provided through
contracts because there is a shortage of
specialists.

Researchers also discovered a handful of school
districts, fewer than 1 percent, misspent
dollars that were supposed to boost teacher
pay.

The money is collected through a sales tax that
is six-tenths of a percent. The tax support,
known as Proposition 301, was approved by
voters in 2000 and provides about $300 million
a year in additional funding for teachers.

Last year, 223 school districts received this
support.

State law requires that the money be used for
teacher pay and other enhancements to classroom
education and that it supplement, not supplant,
regular school funding. Had school districts
maintained their previous level of overall
classroom spending, "the average teacher salary
would be about $7,500 higher," Auditor General
Debbie Davenport wrote to lawmakers in a letter
prefacing the report.

This revelation surprised representatives of
the state teachers union, the Arizona Education
Association.

The organization often points to surveys that
indicate Arizona schoolteachers' salaries are
among the lowest in the country.

AEA Vice President Andrew Morrill said the
auditor general's report definitely will affect
future negotiations between individual school
districts and the association's local unions.

"We want to push for fairer compensation,"
Morrill said.

State researchers didn't name the districts
accused of improper spending of classroom funds
but mentioned that in two cases, districts
spent them on ineligible workers. One district
misspent about $247,000 of the classroom money
on insurance for administration and plant
employees. Another misspent about $350,000 to
cover the salaries for four employees who
weren't instructors.

None of the school districts was issued
citations, but district leaders were informed
of the problems, said Ann Orrico of the Auditor
General's Office.

— Emily Gersema
The Arizona Republic
2009-02-28
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/02/28/20090228classroom0228.html

---

INDEX OF OUTRAGES

Pages: 380   
[1] 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>    Last >>