Arizona's rural schools squeezed by declining enrollment

[TexasTowelie]

PHOENIX (AP) — Schools in 10 of Arizona's 15 counties have together lost more than 10,000 students in the past decade. Meanwhile, school enrollment in the state's most populous county and home to most of metro Phoenix has risen by over 70,000.

For rural areas, declining enrollment can mean lost funding that makes it harder to recruit qualified teachers and cutbacks in student educational opportunities.

And unlike in suburban districts, rural communities can't easily offset state funding losses with local taxes.

The problems represent a cycle for rural Arizona communities, said Sean Rickert, superintendent of Pima Unified School District in the southern part of the state and a member of the Arizona Rural Schools Association.

Read more: https://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/arizona-s-rural-schools-squeezed-by-declining-enrollment/article_8dc8e995-5634-590f-9faa-7227e583535c.html