Arizona Public School Districts' Dollars Spent in the Classroom, Fiscal Year 2002

Based on our analysis of fiscal year 2002 data, Arizona school districts spent 58.2 percent of their dollars in the classroom, an increase from the prior year’s 57.7 percent. However, the most recent national average was 61.7 percent. If districts had spent their non-Proposition 301 monies in the same manner as in fiscal year 2001, the statewide average could have been 59.1 percent.  Even with the additional Proposition 301 monies, more than one-third of the State’s districts had lower classroom dollar percentages in fiscal year 2002 than in fiscal year 2001.

Districts spent Proposition 301 monies almost solely for instructional staff’s salaries and benefits, complying with the requirement to spend at least 60 percent of the monies for that purpose.  Some of the additional pay was for the other specified programs or purposes, including AIMS intervention, class-size reduction, drop-out prevention, teacher development, and teacher liability insurance.

The report also contains alphabetically organized one-page information sheets on individual districts, summarizing each district’s classroom spending and administrative costs, its reported Proposition 301 program results, and other comparative information.