About ADE
The mission of the Arizona Department of Education is to serve Arizona’s education community, ensuring every child has access to an excellent education.
The Arizona Department of Education is the only state-level agency led by a publicly elected official. The office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has existed in Arizona since the state’s inception, being included in the first Arizona constitution. The Superintendent of Public Instruction and the agency’s staff oversee the K-12 public education system in Arizona.
Quick Facts
A few quick facts about Arizona’s K-12 education system:
- The Arizona Department of Education supports 15 county-level education agencies, more than 200 public school districts, over 400 charter holders, and 13 Joint Technological Education Districts
- More than 1.1 million students attend publicly funded K-12 schools in Arizona. Approximately 950,000 of those students attend one of more than 1,700 traditional public schools, with the remainder attending one of more than 500 charter schools in the state.
- Arizona is home to approximately 90,000 certified teachers, with 50,000 working in traditional K-12 schools and 10,000 in charter schools.
The information above is taken from the most recent (FY2016) Annual Report of the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Past reports are also available on the School Finance reports page.
Constitutional Role of Superintendent of Public Instruction
From a fiduciary standpoint, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is charged with executing various education laws and State Board of Education policies; accurately distributing almost $6 billion in education funding to Arizona’s public school system and helping schools comply with the many national and state laws and State Board of Education policies.
Equally important is the state superintendent’s leadership role. Virtue of this constitutional, elected public office, the state superintendent serves on all statewide public education boards, including First Things First, the Arizona Board of Education, and the Arizona Board of Regents – governing bodies which, in aggregate, encompass a pre-kindergarten to graduate school perspective. This unique opportunity allows the state superintendent to develop best practices and strategies which take into account the needs of our children at every stage of the process: from birth to college to the workforce.
Basic State Superintendent Duties (as Outlined in ARS 15-251):
- Superintend the schools of this state.
- Request the auditor general to investigate when necessary the accounts of school monies kept by any state, county or district officer.
- Subject to supervision by the state board of education, apportion to the several counties the monies to which each county is entitled for the year. Apportionment shall be made as provided in chapter 9 of this title.
- Direct the work of all employees of the board who shall be employees of the department of education.
- Execute, under the direction of the state board of education, the policies which have been decided upon by the state board.
- Direct the performance of executive, administrative or ministerial functions by the department of education or divisions or employees thereof.
Budget
Fiscal Year 2018 Budget for the Arizona Department of Education (Required by Laws 2016, Chapter 115)
ADE is required to post budget schedules, statements and explanatory information for the agency’s operating budget request for Fiscal Year 2018.
