The Classrooms First Initiative Council met Wednesday, Dec. 2 to unveil its final recommendations for reforming Arizona’s outdated school finance system to Governor Doug Ducey.
The Council shared 17 findings, including three additional recommendations, on what was needed to improve school finance.
However, the most significant conclusion was that the group needed another six to nine months to continue its work, in an effort to be thorough and thoughtful in revising the $8.8 billion system to meet the needs of Arizona’s students. Gov. Ducey was supportive of the extension. As a result, the Council will provide a timeline for its next steps in January. Click here to view the findings.
Among the findings, the Council concluded that the state can achieve a single funding formula for all public schools, but must consider differences in education delivery, funding formula and statutory inequities such as bonds, overrides and desegregation funds.
The findings also acknowledged that schools in poorer communities face unique academic challenges that result in an achievement gap and need to be addressed; a desire to learn more about serving special needs students and funding those services; and the necessity for policies to recruit and retain highly effective teachers.
Although this process will extend throughout next year, the Governor seemed willing to consider adding a few of the findings into his 2016 legislative agenda, although specifics were not discussed.
The Arizona Charter Schools Association has served as technical advisors to two of the subcommittees and will stay heavily involved in the process as the state continues to move toward building a system that will benefit all of Arizona’s students.
