Education stats exhibit poor results
Dominic DeCono
The evidence is always in the numbers.
Arizona’s education system has been behind the curb in many ways for the past few years due to underfunding, low test scores and lower enrollment.
According to the U.S Census Bureau, Arizona ranks 48th in spending per student since 2008 and ranks first in spending cuts toward education in that same amount of time.
And it only gets worse.
For fourth and eighth grade students testing in math, reading and science, all test scores on average rank below the national average.
Although the national dropout average has been steadily improving for the past five years, there is serious concern whether or not many of those graduating are actually college-ready.
According to the Research and Planning department at MCC, nearly 1 in 3 incoming students for the current fall semester failed to test into 101 courses for math, reading and English.
Jeff Andelora, head of the English Department at MCC, believes this is a problem. “There are too many students who are testing into remedial classes,” he said.
Although the responsibilities to make sure students are college ready are high school teachers, Andelora does not fault them.
“Full time teachers today can have anywhere from 180 to 200 students and they can’t give the individual time they need to. They are just being overwhelmed,” he said.
Two years ago Arizona passed a temporary sales tax increase, Prop 100, to help the state’s underfunded education system.
Prop 204, which is on the ballot for this election, would make that temporary sales tax increase permanent if passed. But even if Prop 204 passes, Andelora does not believe the state’s government is doing enough.
“The State Legislature just doesn’t support education here. They may say they do but with all the cuts they have made don’t show it,” he said.
Andelora also believes the school system has not adapted enough to help the growing number of Spanish-speaking students in Arizona.
“There are many Hispanic students in school who don’t speak much English and many of the teachers are not equipped with the right skills to handle that situation. It’s unfair to the the students who often have a much more difficult time as a result,” he said.
Doug Larish, a teacher at Mesa High School and former professor at the University of Arizona, says the state economy has been impacted negatively because of the state of education.
“Many companies have either left or threatened to leave Arizona if the state doesn’t start improving its education system here. Businesses can not be successful without educated workers,” he said.
