Arizona High Schools Turning To Fundraisers For Athletics Programs.

The Arizona Republic (9/1, Freader) reports that Arizona high schools are increasingly depending on fundraisers to cover the costs of athletics programs, which are growing more expensive while state education funding “continues to be squeezed.” Arizona Interscholastic Association executive director Harold Slemmer is quoted as saying, “Years ago the easy way to fund high school athletics was through the regular school maintenance and operation budget,” but now schools that want “to continue having good, well-developed programs” must turn to outside funding. The Republic notes that Coolidge Unified School District is among those charging student athletes a fee under a “pay-to-play” system to help “pay for athletic trainers...transportation and many other parts of an overall district athletic budget.”