In December 2018, a survey of 600 likely Arizona voters was carried out as part of Expect More Arizona’s annual statewide public opinion survey. Results of the poll showed that voters believe education is the most important issue facing the state, ahead of immigration, healthcare or the economy.

The most significant education issues for voters continue to be teacher pay and a general lack of funding. Nearly identical results were found in a similar survey from a similar time and with a similar sample size, with the difference being the voters resided in rural Arizona. 

Including last year’s commitment to increase teacher pay 20 percent by 2020, increasing teacher pay outpaced other P-20 education issues as what voters would be most okay with paying taxes to support. Arizona voters also are thankful for the connection between education and the strength of our communities and believe every student, regardless of race, income or zip code should receive an excellent education every step of the way.

With nearly three years having passed since the Arizona Education Progress Meter was developed to provide a clear picture of where we stand today and to outline broadly supported goals the state aims to meet by 2030. 

In addition to funding and policy changes, significant change would not result unless local communities led the way. With this being known, organizations collaboratively developed a new advanced feature of the Education Progress Meter which readily provides county, municipal, both public and charter school district and individual school level data that matters most to local communities.

With help from the localized data, existing statewide data can be used to obtain a more comprehensive look at educational achievement and enables local decision makers to best direct attention and resources.