| |
On their Central campuses, the urban East
Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) and the rural Northern Arizona
Vocational Institute of Technology (NAVIT) offered vocational education
classes that were more extensive than those available at member and
nonmember school districts. These Central classes were generally taught by
instructors with more industry experience, in better equipped facilities,
and for longer instructional time, than the classes in conventional
districts. However, EVIT and NAVIT receive the majority of their state aid
and local property taxes based on the average daily membership (ADM) for
their Satellite classes, which are located at and taught by the member
districts. These Satellite classes were typically no more extensive than the
vocational education classes offered at nonmember districts, which were not
eligible for the additional funding. Based on our analysis, the trend of
converting vocational education courses to JTED Satellite courses and other
existing or possible JTED practices may have significant fiscal impacts for
the State. Although a temporary legislative moratorium took effect in fiscal
year 2002, restricting the formation of new JTEDs and limiting nonmember
districts’ ability to join existing JTEDs, their ADM nearly doubled in the
subsequent 2 years. The vast majority of this increase was due to growth in
Satellite classes. In fact, between fiscal years 2001 and 2004, Satellite
funding grew from $3.8 million to $31.7 million. Had all existing high
school-level vocational education courses been converted to Satellite
classes in 2004, the related state aid and local property taxes would have
increased by another $100 million.
|
|
