Horne administration clawing back millions in federal funds granted under Hoffman

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, a Republican, is clawing back tens of millions of dollars in federal grant funding allocated to community organizations by his predecessor, Democrat Kathy Hoffman, and will redirect most of those dollars to a new tutoring initiative to address pandemic-related learning loss.

The new program, announced Tuesday, promises school districts at least $40 million to pay teachers to tutor students struggling in math and reading and hire a testing company to regularly assess whether the tutoring program is helping raise student achievement, Horne said.

In a statement, Horne said he would "show increased academic outcomes ... with this massive tutoring program.”

Under Hoffman, federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund dollars were distributed to organizations that work to improve academic performance, including through indirect initiatives such as focusing on improving students' social and emotional well-being, alleviating the educator shortage and expanding internet access.

The Horne administration sent a letter to grantees last month giving them five days to show their programs have had an academic impact. Otherwise, they would be required to return the rest of their allocated grant dollars. A little more than one year remains to spend the federal money.

“We want to make sure the funds were actually used for learning loss,” Horne said at a press conference.

When Horne's tutoring program website launches on Sept. 15, school districts or charter networks will be able to apply for tutoring funds for their staff. Students in first through eighth grade who did not test proficient in reading or math are eligible for the tutoring services at no cost.

The program will aim to have students receive tutoring from educators at their home schools. But if that is not possible, the administration will provide private tutors, Horne said.

In the most recent state test results — from last spring, when students took a newly administered exam — 59% of students did not pass the English component, and 57% did not pass the math portion. A 2022 report by Helios Education Foundation found that students in early grades experienced more learning disruption, and English language learners' academic efforts were particularly impacted.

The tutoring plan supports student academic success while offering a path for Arizona teachers to increase their income, Horne said at the press event Tuesday morning.

“The biggest complaints we have (from teachers) is their salaries. They need more income,” he said.

Public school teachers can expect to receive $30 an hour in the program, plus a $200 stipend for each student who shows a one-half-year gain from the tutoring. A teacher who tutors the maximum amount would earn an extra approximately $8,000, Horne said.

School districts in Arizona received a total of $4.6 billion in federal relief funds. By last summer, Arizona schools had spent almost half of that money, with a major portion going to bolster staffing needs, according to a report from the Arizona Auditor General.

Horne declined to say which grant programs funded under Hoffman had their funding cut and several organizations declined to comment on whether they were impacted.

The total amount that the Horne administration expects to recoup is around $70 million, though that number is uncertain because the administration is still reviewing grantees' responses. It's also unclear how money recouped beyond the $40 million Horne has promised for the tutoring program will be spent.

Horne said that there were no subjective measures for the decision on which grants to axe. Instead, he said, the Department of Education gave organizations five days to share concrete academic outcomes from their program. For those that were unable to do so, the department "canceled the contracts and took the money back,” said Horne. “If they can’t do it, we will do it.”

The Horne administration also took back funding from some organizations that were not spending their money at a fast enough rate to spend it all by the Sept. 30, 2024 deadline, he said.

A number of the initiatives funded under Hoffman include explicit support for social and emotional learning, a set of skills that advocates say help students understand their emotions and relationships with others. Horne has promised to eradicate them from Arizona schools.

The Valley of the Sun YMCA received a $3 million federal funding allocation from the Hoffman administration, and its leaders are now disappointed by what they see as a game-changing decision by the Horne administration.

"Our grant agreement did not at any point stipulate the measure of academic outcomes," said YMCA spokesperson JT Turner. "We feel it is unreasonable to retroactively hold a grantee accountable for undisclosed metrics."

The YMCA may have to stop offering free teacher memberships in the future and possibly lay off staff in response to the change in its funding landscape, Turner said.

The Boys and Girls Club of the Valley was granted $3 million to help fund wellness coaches and support staff to help students with homework, provide mentoring and offer art and cooking classes.

Those coaches help students with homework and discuss issues like drug use and truancy, but the program is not primarily an academic program, said Boys and Girls Club of the Valley spokesperson Cassidy Campana.

The Boys and Girls Club of the Valley will not request reimbursement for a little over $2 million, said Campana. However, through broader fundraising efforts, the organization will continue the program even without the federal funding allocated by the state education department.

"Our program will continue uninterrupted," said Campana.

A “not insignificant” portion of the funding that the Horne administration can now redirect will go to hiring a test provider to assess the performance of students receiving tutoring under the program, said Joseph Guzman, who will oversee the effort as associate superintendent of accountability, research and evaluation.

“At the end of the six-week session, they will test for grade level gains,” said Guzman.

Yana Kunichoff is a reporter on The Arizona Republic's K-12 education team. You can join The Republic's Facebook page and reach Yana at ykunichoff@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tom Horne clawing back education funds given under Kathy Hoffman