THE STATE OF FUNDING IN ARIZONA'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS
A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE GOODYEAR CITY COUNCIL AND
THE LIBERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Written By Jen Barber
August 26, 2015
August 26, 2015
I'm sweating bullets thinking, 'How am I going to do it this year?' ~Andrew L Rogers, Ed.D, Liberty Elementary School District
Goodyear City Council Work Session, August 24, 2015
|
EDITING NOTE: Unlike many school districts around the country, the Liberty Elementary School District does not receive its funding from the cities in which its schools are located. In fact, LESD has six schools located in Goodyear and Buckeye, Arizona. The district relies on funding from taxpayers and the State of Arizona. As you may know, Arizona schools are demanding back payments to the tune of nearly $1.7 billion under the November 7, 2000’s election ballot Proposition 301. Estrella Mountain Residents® checked and discovered the settlement in the lawsuit over education funding “reached an impasse” just yesterday. The Arizona Republic reports, “The Arizona Court of Appeals on Tuesday afternoon restarted legal proceedings in the 2010 lawsuit that alleged the state shorted district and charter K-12 schools by not fully funding a voter-approved inflation formula during the Great Recession. The case had been on hold for seven months while the parties tried to work out a deal. Tuesday, the two sides admitted defeat.” In fact, Republicans proposed giving schools an additional $500M over the next 10 years. It’s reported Democrats did not, apparently, agree.
|
Arizona, right now, is about some kids getting a high quality education often times at the expense of other kids. ~Andrew L Rogers, Ed.D, Liberty Elementary School District
The Conversation
Monday night, Superintendent, Andrew L Rogers, Ed.D, presented an update to the City of Goodyear Mayor and Council on the state of the Liberty Elementary School District - LESD. He also discussed potential issues and policies impacting the City of Goodyear’s public, private, and community education partners.
Here are a few highlights from the meeting.
Here are a few highlights from the meeting.
The Liberty Elementary School District has six schools total with Goodyear students in each school. The district has an open enrollment policy allowing families to choose where they send their children to learn.
Liberty Elementary School District Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plan
|
Mission Statement:
The Educational Services Department provides service and support through various educational programs to ensure student academic achievement. Vision Statement: The Educational Services Department will deliver high quality services and support to all stakeholders (students, staff, parents, & community) in a professional and timely manner. Strategic Plan:
This spring, the district adopted a Strategic Plan. It's a grass roots document that began with surveys taken online. With hundreds of responses, the district rated the top priorities. |
Regarding quality teachers, Dr. Rogers says schools around the state are dealing with a teacher shortage. And with that comes a struggle to find quality teachers. Dr. Rogers says the district filled every teacher position going into the school year... which is not the norm for many districts in the state.
Schools in the Liberty Elementary School District
- Estrella Mountain Elementary School: Authorized International Baccalaureate in Primary and Middle Years
- Freedom Elementary School: S.T.E.M.
- Las Brisas Academy: Visual and Performing Arts & Dual Language Immersion Program in Spanish
- Liberty Elementary School: Center for Agriscience Education
Rainbow Valley Elementary School: Covey Leader in Me School - Westar Elementary School: S.T.E.M. with an emphasis in Art
Education Funding Struggles with the State of Arizona
|
Dr. Rogers discusses state cuts and the pressure put on LESD by those funds not being restored. He reports the LESD budget was cut 25% seven years ago. Per pupil funding, the amount of money the district gets per student from the state, is less in 2015 than it was in 2007. "Doing more with less," Dr. Rogers tells the Goodyear Council that he's pushed to look at other revenue sources.
Dr. Rogers admits he took grief from other districts about converting three of his schools to charter schools two years ago. But, he points out that the district received an additional $2.4 million that were put into LESD programs for three years. “Now the money is gone, they’re continuing these programs without one penny extra. But we needed those start up funds.” To maintain the quality, the district is now going to the voters with an Override ballot initiative this fall.
Councilmember Joe Pizzillo asked Dr. Rogers if he knew about the status of the lawsuit we describe in the Editing Note at the beginning of this story. In the Goodyear work session, Dr. Rogers says the district knows it can’t count on those funds until there’s an actual agreement and, “We would love for that to be addressed before the next fiscal year because that $2.4 million dollar loss we had to account for, we’re using about $900,000 of reserves this year just to maintain our program.”
|
Dr. Any Rogers at Goodyear City Council Work Session, August 24, 2015
|
Why another Override?
I can't even buy a bus. ~Andrew L Rogers, Ed.D, Liberty Elementary School District
Dr. Rogers explained the Liberty Elementary School District has an Override on the ballot in November 2015 which will, “…be an increase from 10 to 15%.” The district is asking the voters for the increase just to fund the basic programs.
Rogers says, “You really have no recourse other than the courts to adequately fund education. And it literally is almost every state in the nation has some sort of court ruling compelling the legislature to fund education.”
Mayor Georgia Lord asks, “Would you please tell the public what an Override is?” Mayor Lord says she believes the term “Override” is a “negative” implying educators aren’t doing their job if they need an Override.
Dr. Rogers says “Override” is a term educators are required to use. Districts asks the taxpayers to increase their taxes for additional dollars to put into local schools to have higher quality schools. Right now, the schools are not being adequately funded. Districts across the state are using Bonds and Overrides to fill that gap that the state legislature isn’t funding.
*Council discussed the double standard in which legislatures say, “no new taxes,” but they are the ones who are causing the need for new taxes.
Rogers says, “You really have no recourse other than the courts to adequately fund education. And it literally is almost every state in the nation has some sort of court ruling compelling the legislature to fund education.”
Mayor Georgia Lord asks, “Would you please tell the public what an Override is?” Mayor Lord says she believes the term “Override” is a “negative” implying educators aren’t doing their job if they need an Override.
Dr. Rogers says “Override” is a term educators are required to use. Districts asks the taxpayers to increase their taxes for additional dollars to put into local schools to have higher quality schools. Right now, the schools are not being adequately funded. Districts across the state are using Bonds and Overrides to fill that gap that the state legislature isn’t funding.
*Council discussed the double standard in which legislatures say, “no new taxes,” but they are the ones who are causing the need for new taxes.
I don't think people are aware of the difficult circumstances. ~Andrew L Rogers, Ed.D, Liberty Elementary School District
Teachers Going the Extra Mile
Vice Mayor Sheri Lauritano has two children in the Liberty Elementary School District and says she’s heartbroken to see what’s happened to public education. She notes all of the after school clubs offered at her children's school and commends the teachers who stay late after work and on weekends to provide these programs with no additional salary. She sees how parents are pitching in with additional funding through donations of paper and supplies.
Old Buses. No Money.
Dr. Rogers responds to Vice Mayor Lauritano by stating, “I don’t think people are aware… This year, my capital budget is cut by 85%.” This is the 6th year in a row of cuts the capital budget has been cut in the Liberty District. The allocation should be $1.4 million. It’s currently about $100,000. That capital budget would cover issues like bus fleet maintenance, repairs, and replacement of buses for example. Dr. Rogers points out the LESD bus fleet has buses that are 20+ years old that have 400,000 miles on them. Dr. Rogers says they run great, “But, last Monday at 4 in the morning, my executive director of Support Services was putting Freon in buses because the AC units were on the fritz.” LESD didn’t have anyone else to do it because they only have one mechanic. “For me to buy one bus is more than I get from my capital allocation from the state this year. I can’t even buy a bus.”
A Difference in Missions
The LESD mission is to ensure each student receives a quality education. But, he doesn't feel the state feels the same way. Dr. Rogers says his opinion is, “Arizona, right now, is about some kids getting a high quality education often times at the expense of other kids.” Rogers says charter schools are just as underfunded as the public schools in Arizona. He wants the state to have a commitment to all kids… not just kids in specific neighborhoods. “Preschool, K-12, universities. We’re all being starved in terms of the funding here.”
Preschool, K-12, universities. We’re all being starved in terms of the funding here. ~Andrew L Rogers, Ed.D, Liberty Elementary School District