California’s and Arizona’s Classroom Sizes Over Time

Classroom sizes have been an area of debate in education policy. Those who are pro-small class sizes argue that classrooms with a smaller pupil to teacher ratios lead to higher test scores. Others question whether the increase in academic achievement is worth the cost.

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Truth in Accounting took a look at the changes in pupil to teacher ratios in two states with large ratios, California and Arizona. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, California’s and Arizona’s pupil to teacher ratios have been on a roller coaster ride.

Arizona and California have the highest pupil to teacher ratios of all 50 states. Arizona ratio is 23.29 students to 1 teacher and California’s is 23.26 to 1. In 2017, Arizona’s pupil to teacher ratio surpassed California’s for the first time since 2010.

In 2011 California’s ratio took a huge leap from 19.8 to 1 to 24.12 to 1. During that same time period Arizona’s ratio increased from 20.75 to 21.42. Arizona’s biggest jump in the state’s pupil to teacher ratio was seen in the jump from 2003 to 2004 with a 7% increase. From 2003 to 2004 California’s ratio increased by 2.4%.

Arizona has seen a steady increase in their pupil to teacher ratio since 2012, unlike California whose ratio has decreased from 2016 to 2017. Both state’s have seen a steady increase in population since 1999, California’s population increasing by almost 6,000,000 and Arizona’s population has increased by more than 2,000,000.

How did the change in each state’s pupil to teacher ratio affect their education expenditures?

From 2016 to 2017 California’s education expenditures per capita increased by 3.2%. On the hand, Arizona’s education expenditures per capita decreased by 10.36% in the same time span.

You can learn more about your state’s public education data and make your own charts using State Data Lab.