We’re number one! We’re number one!
Great news, fellow Arizonans — decades of our GOP-led legislature’s effort to grift and gut AZ’s public schools have finally, fully paid off! We’ve achieved a truly rare status: Worst school system in the USofA!
That’s right, we beat out perennial winners, like Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi, to take home that top prize! Our state is now ranked not 48th, not 49th, not even 50th, but 51st in the nation for education.
But wait, you may be asking. How in the world could this happen?
Settle in and let me tell you a little story about the Republican legislature’s long-haul effort to get Arizona to the absolutely shameful spot we’re in today.
AZ Schools on the Bottom
Arizona reached a milestone of sorts this week: Our state is now ranked dead last in public education.
How could this happen? It’s pretty simple, really:
- Republican-driven voucher/ESA expansion means taxpayer money flows away from public schools and into private and religious schools.
- Funding cuts lead to low wages, budget deficits, and classrooms packed above capacity.
- Right-wing culture warriors, religious extremists, and conspiracy theorists in elected positions — from the legislature to the Department of Education to school boards — target public school staff as “woke groomers,” leading to harassment and intolerable working conditions.
- Educators quit in droves, because why wouldn’t they.
And the worst part? It’s all on purpose.
How did Arizona schools end up the worst in the U.S.?
It’s the intentional result of GOP-led efforts to gut Arizona’s public education system.
Arizona Republicans — including elected officials who make massive profits off of the very voucher/ESA expansion that they vote for — have worked tirelessly to both cut taxes and to funnel funding away from public schools and into private and religious schools. Of course, they’ve done this under the guise of increasing “choice,” so it all sounds really wonderful to those who aren’t paying attention.
You may remember attempts by the GOP over the years to expand the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts/ESAs/vouchers/education savings accounts/scholarship tax credits/opportunity scholarship/yada yada yada 
ad nauseam.
No matter what innocuous-sounding name these vouchers are given, they all do one thing: Strip funding from public schools.
Despite the fact that Arizona voters overwhelmingly said NO to attempts to expand vouchers, the AZGOP went ahead and blew up the program anyway with a universal expansion that has cost much, much more than its proponents promised it would.
A few years later, here we are and it ain’t pretty.
Keep in mind, the vouchers don’t actually offer enough $$ to fully pay for private schools. So the program that Republicans tout as increasing “choice” for everyone, in reality functions to funnel your tax dollars into the bank accounts of wealthy Arizonans who can already afford to send their kids to private schools.
In other words, vouchers serve the interests of the upper class, further exacerbating a system of haves and have-nots.
Throw in a lack of oversight on how voucher money (a.k.a. your tax money) is spent. That’s why we see so many media reports of parents using voucher money to pay for shady stuff: skiing trips, kayaks, trampolines, ATVs. While that trip to SeaWorld was very educational for little MacKennzeigh, I’m sure, that’s an unconscionable use of taxpayer dollars. But since there’s very little accountability, there are no consequences.
Speaking of spending, the voucher expansion costs millions more than it was supposed to, in a time when the state already faces budget shortfalls and deficits. Again, though, this is intentional. It’s not like these costs weren’t predicted; groups like ASBA, Grand Canyon Institute, Network for Public Education, Save Our Schools AZ, and so many other organizations have been sounding the alarm on the true costs of voucher expansion for years.
Plus, vouchers mean that your tax dollars are funding religious schools that can discriminate against LGBTQ+ kids and families, against non-religious kids, against non-Christian kids… you get the idea. This violates the Establishment Clause and the principles of secular government.
Religious Extremists, Low Wages and Packed Classrooms = Teacher Exodus
Then there’s the teacher shortage. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a virtual exodus of educators… and can you blame them? When school started in Arizona last month, 30 percent of teaching positions were unfilled. (This statistic actually shows improvement over 2023!) Superintendents are leaving in droves, too.
We can lay blame on low wages, budget deficits, and packed classrooms. According to Consumer Affairs September 2024 study, Arizona has the highest pupil-to-teacher ratio — the most crowded public school classrooms in America — and is ranked 50th in funding.
But it’s not just about the money. Those educators who stick around face a growing contingency of right-wing extremists, religious wackos, and MAGA culture warriors who see a conspiracy around every corner. Again, this is a concerted effort by dark money groups like the 1776 Project and Moms for Liberty, known for both their racism/bigotry and their sex scandals,
Here in Arizona, we’ve seen many school boards struggle to function, thanks to extremist members whose sole goal seems to be to disrupt proceedings, spread a hateful political or religious agenda, make things worse for students, and target and harass educators, students and other board members.
In other words, they’re there to burn it down… to destroy public education, just like the GOP legislature. And if you don’t think the GOP has the goal of dismantling and defunding public schools, just take a look at their platform, the Project 2025 playbook.
We’ve seen this playbook in action over the years, with teachers being targeted and harassed. Often, the behavior of school board members is beyond the pale, resulting in lawsuits and national news attention. (Our Executive Director breaks down board meetings on the Secular AZ Substack, and we recommend following it to keep up with what’s going on.)
So give yourselves a biiiiig hearty round of applause, Arizona Republicans! You’ve finally accomplished all you set out to do… and it’s Arizona students that are paying the price.
