by David Safier
In a segment on the second episode of "Education: the Rest of the Story," Ann-Eve Pedersen goes over the 2011 U.S. Census figures that detail how much each state spends on education. Ann-Eve has made herself an expert on school funding. She's president of the Arizona Education Parent Network which spearheaded Prop 204 to increase school funding through a continuation of the one cent sales tax. The proposition was defeated, and the one cent sales tax is history as of May 31. Her 5 minute discussion is comprehensive, going into the recent history of education funding in Arizona as well as the census figures.
A few stats. The Census, which has no dog in this hunt, puts Arizona near the bottom of per student spending in the nation. Lest you think that's because we're a low income state, we're 49th in the amount we spend per $1,000 income on education, down from 45th four years ago. And the conservative notion that we'd have plenty of money if we just cut back on our bloated administration? Arizona has the lowest amount spent on school administration of any state in the nation. We're 51st if you count Washington D.C.
NOTE: "Education: The Rest of the Story" is produced by Carolyn Brown through Access Tucson Community Media. It can be seen on Thursdays at 4:30pm on Cox Channel 20 or Comcast Channel 74.