Voters in dozens of school districts decided the fate of well over $1 billion in bonds and budget overrides last week.

It was a big day for local voters and their neighborhood schools. It also was the culmination of months of work by public school officials throughout Arizona. They tried to convince voters to put up money to repair HVAC systems, build schools, pay teachers and myriad other needs.

One example that stuck with us came from the Sunnyside school district in Tucson, where a $120 million bond will be used to fix the electrical system at the football stadium’s snack shack, among many other projects.

Right now, the microwave loses power if the air conditioning is on at the same time. That’s bad news for fans who want hot nacho cheese while they watch the game. It’s even worse for the volunteers who make those nachos on sweltering September evenings.

In the run-up to last week’s elections, public school officials also were battling political headwinds, like the state’s massive school voucher program, growing anti-public education sentiment and the fact that voters generally don’t turn out for off-year elections.

But school officials and their allies apparently made a convincing case. Voters gave the green light to most of the roughly 40 bonds and budget overrides on the ballot last week.

Still, about one-third of the districts saw their bonds get rejected, particularly in rural areas of the state.

And money from bonds and budget overrides only goes so far. Public schools will need a lot of funding help from lawmakers when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Before we get into the election results, a quick note about what was on the ballot.

A lot of the bonds and overrides are really technical and hard to understand. We struggled through dozens of the publicity pamphlets that election officials put out.

If you want a refresher on bonds and budget overrides, check out this handy guide from Education Forward Arizona (which also happens to sponsor some editions of the Education Agenda).

OK, back to the elections.

Let’s start with the landslides.

More than three-quarters of voters in the Phoenix Elementary School District signed off on two measures that will bring in about $8 million for kindergarten, preschool and other services for students, along with a deal that will allow the district to sell or lease 15 buildings and properties.

It was a similar story, but on a much smaller scale, in the Clarkdale-Jerome Elementary School District in Yavapai County, where 73% of voters approved a budget override worth $362,000.

With that money, they’ll continue offering all-day kindergarten, keep art classes and gym at the grade school and help out struggling students.

As was the case in many other districts, the choice for voters in the Clarkdale-Jerome district wasn’t whether to add a new tax, it was whether to continue with an override that had been in place for many years.

At the Tempe Elementary School District, two-thirds of voters approved a $196.5 million bond to renovate and replace school buildings, one of many big-ticket measures that passed in the Valley.

Still, some bonds and overrides didn’t fare so well, particularly in rural areas.

Voters in the Florence Unified School District shot down a $98 million bond. But they did agree to sell or lease three district-owned properties.

Another “split decision” we saw pop up in election results was in Casa Grande, where voters narrowly approved a $48 million bond for the elementary school district, while rejecting a bond for the high school district.

And voters in the Higley school district made a similar choice. They rejected a $13.9 million budget override, but signed off on a sale/lease deal.

Voters in Tolleson apparently had enough with bad headlines about their public schools. The district has been in financial trouble and voters rejected a $125 million bond and a $16 million budget override.

Another district that’s gotten bad press lately for its finances is the Isaac Elementary School District. But voters there were more forgiving. They approved a $10 million bond and a $4.9 million budget override.

As for that nacho cheese at Sunnyside, voters gave it a resounding thumbs-up. So did voters in other Tucson school districts with $30 million worth of bonds at the Flowing Wells district and a $45 million budget override at Tucson Unified.

Now that the bond and override elections are behind us, the stage is set for what undoubtedly will be another year of haggling over education funding at the Legislature.

In just two months, lawmakers will be back at the Capitol. And that means another hundred or so education-related bills that could dramatically change how public schools are funded.

For example, how many of the bonds and overrides wouldn’t have passed last week if a ballot referral from Sen. Shawnna Bolick in February had become law?

It would have required school districts get approval from 60% of voters for bonds and overrides, instead of a simple majority. By our count, it would have blocked 11 measures last week.

And next legislative session will have a new twist.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled in August that the Legislature has shortchanged school districts by $7 billion over the last 25 years, the Republic’s Joe Dana reported.

The Arizona Constitution says lawmakers are supposed to provide enough money for a “general and uniform public school system,” but lawmakers rarely provide that money for much-needed buildings, renovations and repairs, Judge DeWain Fox found.

Nearly 70% of Arizona jobs will soon require more than a high school diploma, yet the state isn’t producing enough adults with postsecondary education or training to meet that demand. Without a major increase in attainment, Arizona risks falling behind.

A new report from Education Forward Arizona spells out the gap. The Future of Attainment in Arizona tracks progress toward the Achieve60AZ goal of having 60% of adults hold a degree or credential by 2030, a benchmark set years ago by business, education, nonprofit, and policy leaders. Progress has slowed.

The report calls for stronger alignment between education and workforce systems and highlights early-stage initiatives with the potential to move the needle: career-connected learning, short-term and stackable credentials, and deeper employer partnerships to build a more resilient economy.

📚 Read the full report: The Future of Attainment in Arizona

Students at Northern Arizona University have been working on special cameras for the past three semesters.

On Sunday, they watched four of those cameras get launched into space, as part of NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars, KJZZ’s Ignacio Ventura reports.

The 35 students involved in the project come from a variety of disciplines, like engineering and planetary science. Now the fruit of their collaboration is aboard a Blue Origin rocket headed to Mars.