Arizona governor hopeful Andy Biggs says more funding doesn’t mean better schools

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, the Republican nominee for Arizona governor, said improved funding alone does not cause the education system to improve.

Biggs told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Monday the focus should be on parents, students and teachers.

“Educational attainment and funding have very little correlation with each other. I mean, an example is to look at what Louisiana [and] Mississippi have done. They’ve gone from the lowest attainment to some of the highest attainment. Look at what’s happened in Massachusetts. They spend more than anybody else and they’re now dropping like a stone,” said Biggs, who will face incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in the Nov. 3 general election.

Biggs added that he asked officials in Louisiana and Mississippi what they had changed to boost education attainment and was told local schools had returned to phonics-based reading and science-based math.

“It changed the whole way children learn and you got rid of anything that’s a distraction, quite frankly, from actually learning what you need to learn,” he said.

According to the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the state ranked first in the nation for reading growth and second in math growth, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

In Mississippi, the Department of Education reported it was one of only two states that improved in education growth from 2019 to 2024. It now ranks ninth in the country for fourth-grade reading levels.

Biggs said Arizona classroom spending is down, with money going to other parts of the education system.

“Right now, only 52% roughly of our money is going into the classroom. The rest is going through administrative and other stuff,” he said.

That’s the lowest percentage since tracking began in 2001.

Education funding on the ballot

A measure is set to appear on the November ballot that would require school districts with over 7,500 students and any district in Maricopa and Pinal counties to spend 60% of their budget on classroom instruction.

Republicans in the Legislature approved House Concurrent Resolution 2007. If the measure passes, schools that are under the 60% mark would be required to raise classroom spending by 0.5% each year until they reach 60%. If there is no growth, the district would lose state funding.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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