Lessons in Arizona School Funding, Stimulus Money –
And the Case for Step UP!
Pay attention… there WILL be a Quiz at the end
In light of the Arizona budget crisis and its impact on public education, now is a great time to educate ourselves on how school funding works so that we can make wise choices for our children. For those of you with children in Cave Creek schools, I sincerely hope that your choice will be to write a check to Step UP! after taking these four simple lessons.
Lesson 1 –
Cave Creek Residents pay VERY LITTLE for education compared to our neighbors in Paradise Valley and Scottsdale School Districts.
This is due to the fact that we have a greater percentage of “empty nest” homes in our district compared to others. Low student saturation means that the cost to educate our students gets distributed over more homes, resulting in low property taxes.
Let’s give this lesson by example. If you live in Tatum Highlands at Cave Creek and Jomax Road, did you know you can lower your monthly house payment by $87 a month by simply living on the NORTH side of Jomax? Homes on the north side fall within Cave Creek Unified School District, homes to the south fall within Paradise Valley Unified. Here’s how 2008 school tax payments compare for the same exact house on opposite sides of the school district boundary:
Tatum Highlands Home |
North of Jomax Road |
South of Jomax Road |
|---|---|---|
Cave Creek Unified School District |
Paradise Valley Unified School District |
|
| Limited Full Cash Value | $300,000.00 |
$300,000.00 |
| School District Tax | 477.35 |
893.94 |
| Overrides | 55.01 |
263.91 |
| A Bonds | 0.00 |
149.95 |
| B Bonds | 28.67 |
299.23 |
| Total Tax for Schools | $561.03 |
$1,607.04 |
Here’s another tax bill comparison hailing from the Troon area, where some homes fall within Cave Creek Unified School District boundaries, and some within Scottsdale Unified School District:
| Troon Area Home | Cave Creek Unified School District |
Scottsdale Unified School District |
|---|---|---|
| Limited Full Cash Value | $2,000,000.00 |
$2,000,000.00 |
| School District Tax | 3,182.40 |
5,635.81 |
| Overrides | 383.70 |
949.90 |
| A Bonds | 0.00 |
1,056.38 |
| B Bonds | 441.63 |
783.20 |
| Total Tax for Schools | $4,007.73 |
$8,425.29 |
We recently took a survey regarding Step UP!, and one parent’s hesitation to donating was this:
“I already pay over $600.00 dollars a year for my son to participate in
high school sports. I feel like I am already supplementing the budget.”
For those of you that live within Cave Creek Unified School District boundaries, I hope you realize through this first lesson that...
Our neighbors to the south pay a MINIMUM of $1,000 per year more in school taxes before they’ve even paid for a pencil, let alone sports fees.
Lesson 2 –
Cave Creek Unified School District will receive Stimulus Money,
but not as an equal disbursement compared with
other school districts in the state.
This is because for the most part, federal funding for education is not “equalized.” Rather, it is distributed based on “need.” This is unfortunate for CCUSD, because “need” is defined by relative poverty level among the school population, and not the number of students attending school.
Here are examples of how 2009 “Title 1 Grants” and “IDEA Part B Grants” will be awarded to CCUSD compared with Tucson Unified School District:
| 2009 Title 1 Grants | Cave Creek Unified School District |
Tucson Unified School District |
|---|---|---|
| Allocations under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act | ||
| 2008 Students attending | 5,638 |
55,574 |
Grant Amount |
$189,434.00 |
$20,938,028.00 |
| Allocation Per Student | $33.60 |
$376.76 |
| 2009 IDEA Part B Grants | Cave Creek Unified School District |
Tucson Unified School District |
|---|---|---|
|
$844,000.00 |
$12,992,000.00 |
| Allocation Per Student | $149.70 |
$233.78 |
Lesson 3 –
The best way to convince the community that our schools
are worth investing in… is to invest in them ourselves.
And there’s no better time than the present to donate to the schools. The State of Arizona is truly hurting, and there is no denying that our schools will in-turn take a huge budget cut come fall. Despite the fact that district administration is working feverishly to keep these cuts as far from the classroom as possible, our schools and the students they serve will be negatively impacted by these cuts.
Cave Creek Unified School District has an advantage over most districts in Arizona. We are small at only eight schools. Most of us still have jobs, and most of them pay pretty well. Most of us pay very little in school property tax, and we should thank our empty-nest neighbors who contribute to educating our children by offering up some extra support voluntarily rather than asking for a tax increase. Those of us who live in Cave Creek with kids in school should do this always. The best advantage to giving a donation to the district is that the money stays in our community, unlike property tax dollars that get equalized throughout the state.
Step UP! donations will not only buoy our students and our schools in this tough economy, this statement of commitment to strong schools will also help us in the future when we ask the community for their vote of support with bonds and overrides. Other than bonds and overrides, donations are the only way to support schools at the local level.
Lesson 4 –
Here is a recap of anticipated budget cuts CCUSD faces for
2009-2010 school year, and how Step UP! can help.
| 2010 Budget Cuts We Face - As of May 19 | |
|---|---|
| First Cut to Soft Capital from 2009, not to return in 2010 | $757,000 |
| Prop 301 Reduction to Teacher Salaries | 962,710 |
| Lump Sum Budget Cut for 2010 | 1,019,000 |
| Start of 11 Year Phase out for Career Ladder | 115,222 |
| Elimination of funding for Early Kindergarten | 53,000 |
| Subtotal Anticipated Budget Cuts | $2,906,932 |
| 2010 Anticipated Expense Increases | |
| Loss of Excess Utilities | $1,700,000 |
| Health Insurance | 200,000 |
| Electric Rate Increase | 135,000 |
| Subtotal Anticipated Expense Increases | $2,035,000 |
| Total Estimated Budget Reduction | $4,941,932 |
| This translates to an anticipated funding cut per student of: | $876.54 |
| Step UP! Potential at $200 per student | $1,127,600 |
Here’s the Quiz –
Please take this short quiz to reinforce what you have learned!
- Find your most recent property tax statement. You know… that thingy you get from the Maricopa County Assessor once a year that you shove in a drawer or folder somewhere, but never look at. If you can’t find the one that was sent to you, you can look up your property here:
http://treasurer.maricopa.gov/parcelinq.htm
http://www.maricopa.gov/Assessor/ParcelApplication/Default.aspx
- Look at it. Add up the amounts you pay for Cave Creek Unified, Voter-Approved Bonds and Overrides. It’s usually the first three lines on the statement.
- If the amount you pay for these three items is less than $1,500 and you have students attending Cave Creek Schools, you are not paying enough! Please consider the Step UP! program to support the schools that educate our children.
Step UP! asks that parents donate or raise at least of $200 per student for the 2009-2010 school year.
Send Step UP! checks made payable to:
CCUSD PO Box 426, Cave Creek, AZ 85327
This is the District mailing address... all donations go straight to CCUSD.