In Arizona's latest education funding saga, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has rejected Governor Katie Hobbs' request for an audit of the Department of Education. This development comes in light of reports that nearly $30 million intended for schools was never disbursed. According to Arizona Public Media, Horne's department failed to allocate the funds within federal deadlines, which has now prompted the need to return the money to the government.
After the revelation, six Democratic lawmakers demanded an audit. They pointed to the mishandling of the school improvement grants and the Department's alleged reluctance to share their data on how Title I grants were reduced for the upcoming school year. In her support for the move, making a statement on Monday, Governor Hobbs highlighted the concerns raised by state school finance officers. They "have tried and failed to re-create the reductions generated by the Department," leading to widespread "confusion and doubt regarding the accuracy of those calculations," as penned in a letter from the concerned lawmakers.
Title I grants are especially significant as they are designed to aid schools with a large demographic of students from low-income families. School improvement grants usually support essential training and staffing within qualifying schools. According to the Arizona Public Media's report, hundreds of schools were left in the lurch, having made plans based on funding they were later told they could no longer access.
In what appeared to be a quick response, Horne submitted a waiver request to the U.S. Department of Education to reclaim the lost funding. "The under-utilization of about $29 million in federal funds began in Fiscal Year 2020 under the previous superintendent," Horne stated, clarifying that the employee responsible for the mishandling of these allocations is no longer part of his department. His rebuttal to Hobbs continued, claiming that the allegations against his department were false and stating that the prior administration, led by Democrat Kathy Hoffman, was at fault. Horne affirmed his department is committed to rectifying the error as swiftly as possible.
