Arizona Auditor General publishes the school district expenditure report

Tucson, ariz. (13 messages) – The General Auditor's Auditor's office published his annual report on the nationwide expenditure of the school district.

The report contains data from every school district of the state.

In total, the school district expenditure increased by 500 million US dollars to $ 13.1 billion, but teaching expenditure decreased.

“It is the second year in a row in which the schools in the state had had the lowest proportion of teaching spending since our surveillance in 2001,” said Scott Swagerty, director of the school exams department in the General Practice of the Arizona Auditor.

Swagry told 13 news that this could be due to the fact that the funds are assigned elsewhere.

“We saw a significant increase in expenses for school districts were planned,” he said. “It could be higher supply costs, it could be to maintain the same facilities with fewer students, it could be a combination of these reasons.”

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, adds that this could be good or bad depending on the district.

“The most important thing is the amount of the money they receive per student, not the total amount,” he said. “So you can have a big school with a lot of money, but not much per student or a smaller school with less money, but more per student. The second school is the one who would do better academically. “

The report includes local school districts, such as the Tucson Unified School District, which declined by 1.3%.

13 News asked the district, which changed last year, which led to less teaching expenditure, and they sent the following explanation:

“The biggest change was the significant decline in expenses Eating fund“ The district said. “The 2024 financial year was the last year in which these funds were nearby, and we spent the fewest dollars from Esser in the 2024 financial year than earlier years. This contributed the most if they compare it to the previous years. “

13 News also turned to the Catalina Foothills Unified School District, which said the quote:

“The total expenditure of the CFSD decreased from 57.0% in the 2023 financial year to 55.2% in the 2024 financial year. Several factors contributed to this adaptation, including rising operating costs, inflation pressure, expiry of the financing of eaters and necessary investments in areas such as plant operation and support services. Another remarkable trend is that more teachers fall in the salary scale within steps 1 to 20, while in previous years a larger proportion was 20–40. “

Swagerty adds that the report warns that the current financial year is the last one for Covid.

“Districts should really start to plan how to continue operating and how to continue these ongoing expenses if you use this Covid Federal aid money,” he said.

The report also shows that teacher salaries have increased in state schools, but enrollment continues to decrease.

Jim Byrne, President of the Tucson Education Association, said the report shows how much COVID relief has helped, and now that it is important is more funds.

“I think what we had in those years when we were able to use eating funds, a foretaste of how more financing can feel in Arizona,” he said. “The type of personnel programs, services and positions that we can support in order to achieve our students as far as possible.”

The Auditor General's office encourages everyone to look at the report and reach their districts with comments or concerns.

You will find the report HERE.

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