The links to the right under Related Information provide statistics comparing educational spending and progress among U.S. states.  Read NEA's 2008 Education Statistics.

Nationwide in education Arizona ranks:

• Second in highest student-teacher ratio.  Utah is first.
• Second fastest growing student population.  Nevada is first.
• Ranks 35th in the nation for average teacher salaries and is $6,536 below the national average.
• Ranks dead last in per pupil expenditure.

Education Week's annual report, Quality Counts 2008, looks at education issues in all of the states. A portion of Quality Counts 2008 includes an examination of K-12 education spending in each state. Some important highlights from this report include:

• Arizona ranks 49th out of the 50 states in the amount spent per student
• Arizona expended $6232 per student which is $2741 below the national average expenditure of $8973 per student
• Arizona would have to increase per pupil spending by 44% to move to an amount equal to the national average expenditure per student
• The cost to move Arizona to the national average is estimated to exceed $2.7 billion

View Education Week's Quality Counts 2008 report on education spending by all states or view the entire Arizona report.