AZ Links School Funds to Performance

Incentives! Who'd've thought?

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is putting her weight behind a bill that would give more money to schools where students perform well or improve on state tests, but opponents fear the proposal could take money from struggling schools.

Senate Bill 1444, proposed by Brewer and sponsored by Senate Education Chairwoman Kimberly Yee, would base a portion of school funding on the state's A-F system, which grades schools and districts primarily on how students perform on state tests.

The higher the grade and the greater the improvement, the more money a district or charter group could earn.

In the first year, performance funding would make up 1 percent of formula funding to schools, or about $54.3 million. If the governor's proposal was followed, two-thirds of that would be new money, but a third would come from existing funds.