Kiera Riley
Arizona Capitol Times
The Arizona Department of Education clawed back more than $70 million in Covid grant funding to make way for a $40 million statewide tutoring program.
Superintendent Tom Horne announced today that funds are now slated to go toward a tutoring initiative for first to eighth grade students who failed to score as proficient in reading, writing and math in statewide testing.
Grant awardees, who received the funds under former Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, received a request for evidence that their programming had resulted in academic improvement on Aug. 18. They were given a five-day deadline.
The programs that the department found failed to provide adequate “data” saw their funding either walked back or cut entirely. In a press conference today, Horne and Associate Superintendent Michelle Udall said the department terminated or reduced funding for 27 Covid grant awardees.
