APPENDIX C RESPONDENT COMMENTS FINANCE AND ADEQUACY 1-1001 Students Equalization assistance formula needed for over-ride and bond elections. Currently only moderate to wealthy districts can pass these measures. Formulas over-all is well thought out -- just needs additional dollars. Inflation funding has actually improved the last few years compared to Symington era. We have 3 employees --- extremely small schools should be funded differently. We are always hurting for funds. We currently have small class size. NCLB & other requirements are placing a heavy burden on staff with more reporting, more details, etc. We can increase our budget buy our small population already feels that taxes are too high. The major issue in our district is attracting and keeping quality teachers. This, in part, is a funding issue. The other issue, or at least perceived issue, is lack of a coherent plan for increasing the number of teachers available. IDEA is extremely burdensome both fiscally and with paperwork. Teachers should have portability. Our district will grow (projected) to over 14,000 students in 6 years. SFB is not helping keep pace with this growth, est. if we unify K-12. Current legislation for funding a new school (9-12) is prohibitive. We have already had as many overrides as we are able to have. We have full day K, funded by an override, and it has made a significant difference with our students - especially ELL students. Smaller schools and smaller classes don't make a difference unless teachers teach better. We have 12-15 students per class in K-3 and Grade 5 and the good teachers teach them well (as they did w/larger classes) and the less effective teachers don't teach better w/ fewer students. Teacher training is critical and universities need to do a better job of teaching teachers how to teach. We need more funding to meet our childrens' needs (e.g. SES, ELL, SpEd). Teachers need to be paid well for what they do. Many state pay systems, ours included, start at $25K. Teachers need to be, at a minimum, $30K per year to start. (3 of my new teachers qualify for food stamps -- this is just not right. The Arizona system is needlessly complicated and is based on revenue limits that are punative in nature. The whole system needs to be thrown out and redesigned from scratch. We cannot afford UNFUNDED Mandates! Small, rural schools suffer. Funding is biased toward large districts and their economies of scale. We need to pick up Arizona and move to a state that realizes the importance of education. Funding unfair to rural areas. Last year we implemented all day kindergarten, reduced our kindergarten class size to less that 15, assigned K-3 to one administrator and provided intervention tutoring to Kdg. Students. The results were phenomenal -- achievement rates skyrocketed. School Facilities Board --- YEA! I think that the formulas are unfair and 40 & 100 day counts should be when the weather is good. We get "creamed" on 100 days count due to illness throughout the fall and winter days. I think the state should tell us, "Here's your amount" and we go with it. It is too complicated and time consuming. It is time t simplify all our weighted counts, special adjustments along with all the reporting requirements get ridiculous. We play a lot of games with funding allocations. Establish a significant base rate. Allow increase for" SpEd, ELL and poverty. Very small districts do not fit "formulas". We already have an over-ride in place. Just because someone is certified doesn't mean they are "quality" teachers. Some of the best instructors I have seen with children do not have a Bachelors degree. It is a disgrace to be 48th in spending. Is AZ 48th in state economics? I doubt it. We are growing rapidly. The legislature needs to bund education period! Our school is classified as highly performing. Consolidation/and a unification would not improve our performance and might have a negative impact. 1001-5000 Students We are already at our capacity regarding M&O overrides. The entire BSL increase in the past year did not cover the costs associated with health & accident insurance, ASRS contributions and energy costs. Special Education costs far exceed the Group B add-ons, even when including federal support. It would be impossible to provide K-3 class sizes of 15-18 financially. While questions #17 & 18 are both very desirable, the reality of space and availability of qualified staff do not make it feasible in our current conditions. Without faster Student First approval of schools we do not have rooms. We are currently doing nationwide searches for teachers and are still not able to fill all our current needs. Capital & M&O K-3 overrides should have equalization otherwise property poor districts cannot raise additional funds in an equitable manner over property wealth districts. Give funds directly to Districts. Audits can determine proper use of funds. #18 - for after school tutoring. There is no guarantee that higher pay will produce better teachers. Put Capital funds back to local Districts rather than a Mged fund at the state level that doesn't meet local District needs. I would be happy if we could, at least, get the inflation amount! 5001 Students and over B Bonds, overrides (M&O & Capital) are unfair for districts with low assessed valuation. We don’t have equity in Arizona in spite of Roosevelt v. Bishop. Overrides – we are at max now. The Rodel Report advocates both a reallocation of current resources and increased state support. The whole issue of adequacy is an important one. As long as the district is growing I have the money I need to operate/I also will need to continue my 10% override. Override system is fair; however we should adjust the system for a standardized salary schedule state-wide – then communities can decide on use of overrides. The entire education funding system should have a comprehensive review and change. In reference to #11 – because we are growing rapidly, without growth there will be belt tightening. There remain a number of inequities in school funding: 1) Career ladder funding is available to a fraction of the districts in the state; 2) The costs to fund M&O & Capital overrides varies significantly, depending on property wealth. 3) The costs to educate ELL students and students in poverty are greater than the amount the state & federal governments provide and 4) the preponderance of emergency – certified and under qualified teachers in schools serving students of color and students in poverty. #13 – This district is currently on a 10% override and will need renewal in 4 years. #17 – It may be unnecessary to reduce K-3 class sizes in all schools based on socioeconomic level of families. Funding should be at least at national average (per pupil) Poverty plus ELL issue creates a challenge for teachers and schools and are rated accountable or not based on formula made for every one in the state. When districts experience normal population decline they are penalized by a loss of funds. This means they cut programs or increase class size – how can we “compete” when we are penalized for things beyond our control? I was unsure of the affect of an inflationary index increase to the formula because it depends on the index. Oversight and inequality accountability for charter schools are issues to address as well.