South Pima News

In the 2023-24 school year, 39% of 7,633 Vail Unified District students failed their AASA/ACT Language Arts test, according to the Arizona Department of Education.

The students who took the AASA/ACT were assessed at four proficiency levels in each subject. Those at proficiency level one and two failed the test, while students who reached the third and fourth proficiency level passed the test.

Of those who failed, most achieved proficiency level one.

Callie Tippett Governing Board President | Vail Unified District website

Vail Unified District roughly covers schools within Pima County and has a main office in Vail.

A 2023 study from Scholaroo ranked Arizona last out of all U.S. states in terms of educational success, giving the state poor marks for school quality, student success, and teacher-to-student ratio.

Additionally, WalletHub also claimed Arizona’s school system ranked among the worst across U.S. for class size, performance, funding, safety, and instructors’ credentials.

Some data provided by the Arizona Department of Education may be incomplete due to the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

School Name	% Who Failed	Number of students tested
Pantano High School	> 90%	39
Desert Willow Elementary School	52%	401
Cottonwood Elementary School	51%	246
Sycamore Elementary School	50%	345
Acacia Elementary School	49%	395
Mica Mountain High	45%	330
Cienega High School	44%	445
Desert Sky Middle School	42%	740
Vail Academy & High School	42%	373
Vail Innovation Center	39%	111
Old Vail Middle School	39%	794
Rincon Vista Middle School	38%	704
Mesquite Elementary School	38%	338
Civano Charter School	36%	107
Andrada Polytechnic High School	36%	133
Ocotillo Ridge Elementary	34%	364
Copper Ridge Elementary	34%	208
Esmond Station School	31%	521
Corona Foothills Middle School	31%	579
Vail Blended Learning	28%	75
Senita Valley Elementary School	24%	354
Empire High School	21%	209