A new analysis of Arizona Department of Education financial data shows per-pupil funding is roughly $8,500 per student, significantly more than the $5,000 reported by the National Education Association and very near the U.S. average. Opening the Books: 2006 Annual Report on Arizona Public School Finance is a joint research effort of the Goldwater Institute and the Friedman Foundation.

Many reports on Arizona public school funding examine only a portion of total school funding. Opening the Books pulls together all sources of funding to give policymakers and taxpayers a true account of the total amount being spent on education.

“We believe Arizonans need to know exactly how much is spent to educate children. You can’t make an informed decision on what to buy if you don’t know how much it costs,” said Robert C. Enlow, executive director of the Friedman Foundation.

The report compiles data from the Arizona Department of Education for all 218 regular Arizona public school districts and shows the changes in spending between the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years.

Although K-12 expenditures amount to more than $4.5 billion annually, Arizona continues to report one of the highest reported dropout rates in the country, and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores are flat.

“Transparency is a first step to accountability. Once we know how much schools receive, we can determine what all this funding buys. Unfortunately, we find increased funding has not led to improved student academic achievement,” said Goldwater Institute president Darcy Olsen.

The report’s findings are available in the online Goldwater Institute K-12 Funding Index, posted at www.goldwaterinstitute.org. Users can select their local district to see per-student spending in their neighborhood schools. Also available for downloading is Opening the Books: 2006 Annual Report on Arizona Public School Finance.