Due to a budget cap that was established by voters in 1980, Arizona's public schools are currently experiencing an urgent financial situation. Originally intended to regulate public school spending, the Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL) has become a frequent roadblock as educational expenses have increased over the years.
In actuality, Arizona schools continuously require more funding than this cap, which has existed for four decades. Schools risk significant budget losses and staff layoffs unless the state legislature proactively decides to ignore this expenditure cap each year. For districts around the state, this results in an annual uncertainty that makes long-term planning challenging.
Legislators recently acted to bring about some stability. With only a few Republican senators opposing, a bipartisan group of state senators voted 24-5 on Thursday to waive the expenditure cap for the upcoming two years. Senator John Kavanagh clarified that the statute may only waive the limit for a single year at a time, therefore the Senate is contemplating two different proposals that would each waive the AEL for a year.
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The earliest the state House of Representatives may enact these protective measures is Monday, as the house is currently on break until then. The state's public schools may experience severe budget cuts and maybe layoffs in the absence of legislative action.
Individual districts are struggling with sharply rising operating costs while the legislature attempts to preserve overall education spending. The recent approval of the Scottsdale Unified School District's first lunch price increase in eight years underscores how even the most basic school services are being impacted by inflation and post-pandemic economic shifts.
Through careful use of additional COVID-19 pandemic money, SUSD has been able to avoid price hikes since the 2017–18 school year, according to Patti Bilbrey, the district’s director of nutrition services. To keep meals inexpensive for families, the district decided to deal with growing costs rather than buy new equipment. But now that those additional funds have run out, the district is being forced to change pricing to reflect the state of the economy.
The district is dealing with significant expense hikes. Food prices have risen by 20%, supply costs have increased by 69%, and labor costs have skyrocketed by 106% since 2018. The increase in labor costs is a reflection of larger economic shifts, especially in the service sector, where the district now faces competition from fast-food chains that pay $20–21 per hour.
Meal costs are going to rise dramatically for all grade levels. Elementary lunch costs will go up from $2.85 to $3.95, while elementary breakfast rates will go up from $1.50 to $2.50. Breakfast costs for secondary students will increase from $1.75 to $2.50, while lunch costs will increase from $3.10 to $4.95, depending on the meal. Crucially, students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals will still be able to take advantage of those benefits at the reduced prices.
These two events highlight the wider financial strains on Arizona's public education system, which range from district-level operating expenditures that have increased recently to state-level funding caps that necessitate yearly legislative action.
