arizona business and education coalition

2005 Principles of Agreement

General Fund, Revenues, and School Finance | Student Achievement
Accountability, Assessments, and Information | Teacher Quality | Back to Policy Briefs

General Fund, Revenues, and School Finance

Back to top

Investing in education is an investment in both the present and the future. The return on that investment is the foundation for economic growth. Arizona cannot continue to depend on the importation of talent to meet our goals for economic success; we must grow our own.

Policy makers, educators, citizens, and business leaders must hold each other jointly accountable for improvements in the financial and academic condition of our schools by working proactively to create long-term funding that supports long-term investment in Arizona and its future.

Budgeting for Arizona's general fund will require difficult decisions. A budget is a statement of priorities and Arizona's top priority should be the education of its children to ensure the quality of the future workforce and citizens of the state. Arizona's education budget must fund enrollment growth and inflation in order to promote continuous improvement and quality.

An adequate school funding formula is one that includes all of the funds a local educational agency needs to cover all of its costs and is flexible enough to allow for the funding of new costs as they arise. Teachers, schools, and school administration are held increasingly accountable for student achievement through state and federal laws. Funding for schools must be adequate to meet the standards to which Arizona's schools are held accountable, and increased where necessary to cover gaps in the existing funding formula. Arizona's school funding formula is two decades old and badly in need of revision. Educators must continue to seek efficiencies to target as much funding as possible toward student achievement.

ABEC believes that revenues used to fund schools should be raised in an equitable manner among all taxpayers, and not place an undue burden on any one community or constituency. A complete and thorough review and revision of the adequacy and equity issues is in process. ABEC is eager to participate in further discussions and actions as appropriate.

ABEC believes that quality learning cannot occur without quality facilities. ABEC believes that significant work remains to be done to create a sustainable framework for school capital finance.

Student Achievement

Back to top

Advancing student achievement throughout Arizona's K-12 public school system is ABEC's foremost priority. All statewide education policy should pursue the ultimate goal of high student achievement of rigorous, challenging academic standards as measured by trusted, reliable, and valid assessments.

A public school system that promotes a high level of student achievement is key to the infrastructure that Arizona must build to compete in a global economic environment and to create the workforce of the future.

ABEC supports effective evidence-based remediation and prevention strategies to support the number of students who do not meet standards, drop out of school, or fail to graduate.

Though focused on K-12 education, ABEC recognizes the importance of linking pre-Kindergarten through post-secondary education in a continuum. ABEC supports policies and programs aligned with the principle of readiness for elementary school instruction and early childhood preparation for learning.

Accountability, Assessments, and Information

Back to top

The goal of an accountability system is to ensure that quality learning is occurring within a system of publicly-funded schools. Accountability encompasses a systemic approach to education that requires the responsible, transparent use and measure of:

Inputs: Highly qualified teachers and administrators, financial resources, and facilities;
Process: Curriculum and instructional delivery aligned with Arizona academic standards, with assessments used as an indicator of the acquisition of knowledge;
Outputs: Student achievement, as defined by the Arizona academic standards.

The absence of quality in any component of this system will have a negative impact on the rest of the system. To this point:

Arizona needs to maintain rigorous academic standards.
Assessments used to determine the degree to which students have met these standards must be fair, valid, and reliable.
Results of assessments, school profiles, and enrollment data used in state and national accountability systems must be accurate, accessible and understandable to the public, and delivered by the Arizona Department of Education to local educational agencies and the public at large in a timely manner.
Assessments are useful tools for measuring progress in student achievement. There are many different types of assessments that can measure student achievement, including assessments that measure acquisition of the content of the Arizona Academic Standards and assessments that compare achievement to students in other states.

Accountability-based reforms require a sound information management system that links enrollment data with achievement data. School administration should be held responsible for setting educational and budgetary priorities with the focus on increasing student achievement. Curriculum alignment is key to standards-based instruction and should be implemented across districts. Districts should seek opportunities to unify where such opportunities would promote alignment and efficiency.

Teacher Quality

Back to top

Teacher quality is the most critical factor outside of the influence of the home on student achievement. ABEC believes that teacher quality will flourish when the proper conditions exist in the state and the education system focuses on recruitment, development and retention at all levels.

High quality teacher preparation programs;
A well-defined career development path, including tools and training aligned with Arizona professional teaching standards and the incentives and time to participate;
Compensation systems based on performance and expertise; and
Teachers that are able to demonstrate competence and mastery within their subject area and are rewarded for excellence.

A well-designed performance-based compensation system for teachers must include key criteria that measure impact on student achievement. These should include, but not be limited to, a substantial percentage of the funds tied to assessments of student achievement based upon the state academic standards. Local school districts should evaluate their existing PBC against this standard and share successful models that support recruitment, development and retention with other districts across the state.

Approved by ABEC's Executive Committee: December 13, 2004

2630 South 20th Place ¤ Phoenix, AZ 85034 ¤ (602) 261-6700 ¤ Contact us