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PHOENIX — The share of state tax dollars that actually wind up in the classroom continues to shrink.

A new report by the state Auditor General's Office released Friday found the percentage of funds that go toward actual instruction has dropped for the fourth year in a row, to 57.9 cents out of every dollar in 2007 from 58.3 cents the prior year — and 58.6 cents two years earlier.

While the share of state money for education has decreased, the actual amount the state spends in the classroom has increased.

Auditor General Debra Davenport said the figures also are about three cents below the national average of 61.2 cents per dollar reported by the National Center for Education Statistics.

But Davenport said that difference is not because Arizona school districts are top-heavy with administrators. She said administrative costs in Arizona schools average 9.5 percent, lower than the national figure.

That's still too much, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said.

The fastest way to increase the share of dollars that wind up in the classroom is to cut the number of superintendents and other district staff, he said. And the best way to do that, he said, is consolidating districts.

If he had his way, Horne said, there would be only 20 districts in the state, not the more than 200 that now exist.

"When your administrative cost per student is too high, you have less money to spend on teacher salaries," he said. "And then you have trouble attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers. So it directly affects academic performance."

The new figures come five years after Gov. Janet Napolitano said she would work to ensure schools spent at least 62 cents of every education dollar in the classroom. But the figures for 2007 are less than when Napolitano took office.

Gubernatorial press aide Jeanine L'Ecuyer said staffers are still studying the report. But she said the numbers "certainly raise some concerns."

Davenport found that, in general, larger districts spent a greater percentage of their dollars in the classroom. She said, though, that's not necessarily a function of lower administrative costs.

"For example, both large and small districts generally provide facilities such as gymnasiums for students," she said in her report to the Legislature.

"However, the large districts can spread the costs associated with operating these facilities over more students," she said. "In fact, small districts maintain about twice the square footage per student as large and very large districts."

The report, using national standards, defines "classroom dollars" to include teachers and aides, instructional materials, field trips, athletics and activities such as choir and band.

One big difference, Davenport said, was in student support services, such as counselors and nurses. Arizona schools spent 7.3 cents of every dollar for these services, compared with 5.2 cents nationwide.

"The difference may reflect higher staffing levels to address Arizona's higher percentage of at-risk students," she said. Davenport cited Census Bureau figures showing that, on average, 18.9 percent of school-age children in the state live in poverty; the national figure is 17 percent.

Arizona schools also spend a bigger share of education dollars on food services. Davenport said that could be due to the fact that a higher percentage of students in this state are participating in the National School Lunch Program, which provides free or reduced-price meals to eligible youngsters.

The Tucson Unified School District ranked last for percentage of dollars spent in classrooms for districts with more than 20,000 students.

A few factors need to be acknowledged, said TUSD's new finance director, Bonnie Betz.

Across the state, construction and material costs have risen, and TUSD has many old buildings that need regular maintenance, she said. Instructional support costs also have risen because TUSD added 100 instructional coaches in 2006. Since 2005, TUSD has lost more than 2,700 students, which is a loss of about $13.5 million. So the dollar is further stretched, Betz said. Also, the districts TUSD was compared with are, generally, in high-growth areas.

Superintendents at other Tucson-area districts said their decreases also may be attributed to construction costs. They also questioned what categories are included in classroom spending.

Sahuarita Superintendent Jay St. John said the district's drop in classroom spending was most likely affected by the opening of the Anza Trail School in 2007.

"We had to spread the costs out overall to six buildings instead of five," St. John said.

He also said some funds that support students don't fall under the category of classroom spending. For example, the student-support and instruction-support categories can include salaries of classroom and playground aides and campus security monitors, he said.

Vail Superintendent Calvin Baker agreed with St. John's assessment of categories not included in classroom spending that still affectlearning.

For example, the district spends a lot of money on teacher training, which doesn't count as classroom expenditures, Baker said. "Training teachers has a very direct impact on classroom instruction," he said.

Flowing Wells Superintendent Nicholas Clement added: "It's a little deceiving. Dollars for after-school programs don't count toward dollars spent in the classroom."

Friday's report separately concluded that a new infusion of funds approved by voters in 2000 to boost classroom spending hasn't had that effect.

Davenport said the law, which increased the state sales tax by six-tenths of a percentage point for 20 years, restricts the use of those dollars to new classroom spending, including increases in teacher pay, smaller class sizes and dropout prevention. But she said many districts appear to be using their share of the funds — which totaled $366 million last year — to replace other dollars rather than adding to the total.

She said if all districts had used the extra funds strictly to add to instructional funding, the statewide classroom spending average would have been 59.7 cents out of every dollar, not the 57.9 cents actually recorded.

Potentially more significant, she said that replacement of other funds is illegal.