Education in Arizona vs. Federal Spending on Education: Where does this leave the children

Spending on education in Arizona is notoriously dismal, which is why it’s interesting that you can find competing data that Tucson is spending its money very efficiently and reports that Tucson is cutting spending on education and spends the least on students. 

Data Set 1 (source: https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-least-efficient-spending-on-education/9390/)

Here the amount that localities and states spend on education is taken from the US Census Bureau and then broken down by the standardized test scores in reading and math with grades 4-8 and then divided by the total spending per capita.  By this standard, Tucson, who spends very little on its students ranked high.  This brings into question whether or not we need to spend money on students for them to succeed? As someone who went to school in Tucson I’m not sure that lowering spending on students is what causes good test scores, I think teachers who teach to the test is what causes decent test scores.  Further, this statistic of spending would have me think that Tucson is spending money efficiently and has nothing to do how the tax is being collected.

Data Set 2 (source: http://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/arizona-ranks-no-in-education-spending/article_e7961de8-49ac-5a79-a51b-8fa0205de2ea.html)

The Census Bureau report ranks Arizona as a state 49^th in spending on public education but the same report says the state ranks 19^th on wage and salaries in public education.   This results in Arizona spending $7,608 per pupil, 64.1% of that is spent on wages.

C hart 

Chart 1 - State and Local Spending in Arizona

                

Chart 2 - Federal Outlays 

Source for both charts: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/

When keeping the amount spent per student and the percentage spent on wages in mind, we can then step further to look out at the difference between federal and state spending.  The tax collected reveals our preferences as a nation.

The vast difference in spending on education between the federal government and the state or local government (seen on graphs 1 and 2) causes the disparities discussed above, the local spending on education in Tucson is allowed to be so drastically different from other states because of the lack of federal funds.  States defining how money is spent on children leads to what I suspect is a teacher who is paid by their ability to teach specifically to a test so that a state doesn’t have to suffer the shame of letting down their students.  I personally doubt that the national standpoint on education is that children from Arizona don’t deserve to have access to the same public schools as children in New York.  I suggest that there should be a revisit towards the percentages spent on children at the federal level so that states can focus on equality on a local level with out stressing over where their funds are coming from.