The Arizona Department of Education is stepping in to protect funding for a program that might have lost funding under Gov. Katie Hobbs.
As a statement from the department Monday said that the Hobbs administration would put Project Momentum Arizona under review, the DOE decided that they would renew the contract themselves for $10 million.
“My job is to make sure student learning increases and test scores improve. Project Momentum Arizona has proven to be remarkably effective where it has been implemented. Every school in the Avondale Elementary District is now either rated A or B, and students in the Buckeye Elementary District outperformed the state average in the latest statewide achievement test,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said in a statement.
“All other districts that use Project Momentum Arizona principles report similar success as well as improved teacher retention. Teachers want to teach, and when they see students doing better year-to-year, that is one of the strongest incentives to stay in the profession. Approving continued funding through the Department of Education was a very easy decision for me,” Horne continued.
Project Momentum Arizona essentially targeted schools in low-performing districts in an effort to boost their schools’ grades. According to KTAR News, the program provides an additional $150 for each student, which schools generally use to support teachers.
The most successful examples are, as Horne mentioned, in Avondale and Buckeye. The project was touted by the Ducey administration and Republican lawmakers, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
