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Based on
our analysis of fiscal year 2001 accounting data, Arizona school districts
spent 57.7 percent of their dollars in the classroom. Individual district
percentages (listed within this report), ranged from 32 percent to 89 percent,
with the vast majority of districts falling within 5 percent of the state
average. To determine the percentage of dollars spent in the classroom, we
used the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education
Statistics’ definition of instruction dollars. In 1999, the most recent year
for which data is available, the national average for dollars spent in the
classroom was 61.7 percent.
Certain
factors appear to affect a district’s percentage of dollars spent in the
classroom. Factors associated with higher classroom spending included
larger student populations, higher average teacher salaries, and higher
teacher experience index ratings. In contrast, higher food service,
transportation, and administrative costs were associated with lower
classroom spending. Other factors, such as district type, desegregation
expenditures, and budget overrides, did not appear to affect the percentage of
dollars spent in the classroom.
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