Horne wants to increase education spending

by David Safier

Tom Horne said this to the folks at the Yuma Sun:

"Arizona spends $6,000 per pupil but if that were increased to the national average of $8,000 per pupil, I believe we'd be among the top states in the country in test scores because of our emphasis on academic rigor."

Be still my heart. Did I just hear Horne ask for a $2,000 increase in per student spending? Yes, I did.

"I believe it's my job to demonstrate to the Legislature that putting more into education will show academic results for those resources. We now hold our schools, teachers and students responsible for test scores."

Tom, it's going to take some serious immigration bashing on your part to balance out this moment of educational sanity. The crazy base is going to be very upset. (Are you on this yet, Sonoran Alliance?)

I know. Why don't you say we can increase our per student spending by getting rid of all the illegal immigrant children in the schools? Maybe you can do an in depth, expensive study on the Educational Crime of the Century — students crossing the border from Mexico to attend our schools. Oh, wait, you're already doing that. The roll out is set for late April, early May, right?