Arizona Charters The Real Wild, Wild West Education Still Reigns - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Arizona Charters

The Real Wild, Wild West

Education Still Reigns for Voters

Voter Priorities for Education

What are AZ Charter Schools?

❖ARS 15-181: “Public schools that serve as alternatives to traditional

public schools”

❖Funded by the state and “free”

to all Arizona students

❖Don’t operate by same rules as

district schools

❖Most loosely regulated in the nation ❖Essentially, charter operators are contractors that receive taxpayer

dollars to operate privately controlled schools

❖In 2017, there were 427 charter holders and 579 schools

History of Charters in AZ

Department of Education, or AZ Board for Charter Schools

ability to apply for additional money if enrollment exceeded projections allowed

governor to fill them

How Schools are “Chartered”

grants charter status to qualifying applicants

business plan, and operational plan to a proposed sponsor

• btaining state and federal criminal records check

• utlines mission, curriculum, management structure, and accountability

Who Determines Charter Admission?

Shall enroll all eligible pupils who submit timely applications, unless number exceeds set capacity

May give preference to returning pupils/siblings, children in foster care; homeless; and children, grandchildren or legal wards of those affiliated with school

May use lottery process for enrollees if necessary

Charters may not limit admission based on ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in English, or athletic ability

May limit admission to a given age group, grade level, or single gender and may refuse to admit pupils expelled from another school

• f special needs and low income students as districts

Charters Accept All, Right?

❖ State funding formula divides SPED students into two categories ❖ Group A = mild needs such as speech impairment or dyslexia

Group B = significant hearing or vision impairments, autism or intellectual disabilities

❖ Formula created in 1980s before school choice options existed

and assumes Group A students spread evenly among all schools

❖ Every district and charter gets extra funding for each student

enrolled, regardless of # of SPED students attending

❖ For every $1 districts get for SPED students, they spend ~$1.50 ❖ 2016 amount = $241 per high school student and $362 per K-8

Charters Accept All, Right?

❖ Of 50 districts and charters with the largest positive funding

gap per student, 45 are charters

❖ 16 Basis charter schools SPED population is 5X lower than

the average of schools and combined, they get $3.4M more per year in state funding than they spend on SPED students*

❖ 2017 ACLU charter report, found “illegal or exclusionary”

enrollment practices in AZ that recently forced documentation and policy changes at almost 100 charter schools in state**

Two Charter Goliaths

accounted for 73% of the growth in students attending AZ charters

have already tapped almost 2/3rds of construction loans given to 500+ charter schools

• ne each in Louisiana and Washington, D.C.

in country with a waiting list of 5,775 students

The Special Hookup

❖ Governor Ducey announced policies last year to help the “big boys”

AP and International Baccalaureate exams — the primary focus of a Basis high school education

standardized test scores, measures at which Basis and Great Hearts excel

public schools as Basis and Great Hearts were adding campuses

❖ Unfortunately, 53% of students at charters that received performance

funding were white versus 38% enrolled statewide and only 25% were Latinos although they account for 45% of enrollment statewide

District vs. Charter Funding

Funding Differences

Type School District Charter Funding Sources

Overrides, Deseg)

total education funding dollars)*

more per student than districts)

2017 Amounts Per Pupil

Rest of the Story

that can reliably secure local funding

• ption, 19% of fixed costs are left

receiving 27% of state education dollars

Spending Differences - Administration

classrooms (only 10.4% on administration in FY2017)*

management deal with founders)

themselves

students had been in district schools

2014-15 than a public district of same size***

Accountability Differences

Type School District Charter Budget

how much can be carried over

and published

distributions (for-profits) even when “in the red”

unchecked

income ratios Audit

run audits

efficiency report

by same that requires district to appear before legislative committee

auditor of their choice

monitor charters

efficiency report

not monitored by AG

Accountability Differences

Type School District Charter Procurement Rules

may not accept “gifts” not provided to public at large

from competitively bidding out contracts and purchases

Financial Reporting

Auditor General

System of Financial Records (USFR)

administration to private companies, shielding finances from the public

• pened by charter board members*

exemptions from the USFR

Governance Differences

Type School District Charter Board

member (may be CEO)

govern Ownership of Facilities & Assets

and equipment purchased by the charter school become sole property of the charter holder, even if the school goes bankrupt*

Governance Differences

Type School District Charter Open Meeting Law

must be made in meetings open to public

Nepotism

not allowed

management level (related party contracting)

Operational Differences

Type School District Charter Transportation

Parental Involvement

parents but are often not successful

volunteer a certain number of hours per month Teacher Hiring

certified teachers unless they can prove they aren’t available

certified teachers

Operational Differences

Type School District Charter Curriculum

required to prescribe a minimum course of study incorporating adopted academic standards

program of instruction but can have special emphasis

curriculum guidelines stipulated for district schools,

tests School Lunch

many also provide breakfast

Charter Student Achievement

“in Arizona, for example, on average, charter schools do no better, and sometimes worse than traditional public schools”

neighboring district school, when compared using the state’s letter-grade system

graduate in four years, districts graduate 88% in that time

validity of any conclusion questionable

So What Needs to Change?

Bottom line: Where public funds are spent

• n education, accountability

and transparency MUST be the same!

comply with Open Meeting Law, but won’t help unless they are required to have meetings

reports)

And Speaking of Public Funds…

Arizona needs to ensure the schools where 83% of our students are educated are adequately funded before we continue to shift resources to charters and private schools

#RedForEd Helped

Funding Increases for FY 2019

Name % Increase Avg Teacher Salary Amphi 9 $43,122 Altar Valley 10 $43,260 Basis OV 10 $42,573 Catalina Foothills 10 $51,057 Flowing Wells 9 $48,914 Marana 10 $38,738 Oracle 10 $53,856 Sahuarita 19 $55,421 TUSD 9 $45,303

Governing Boards worked hard To give teachers the 10%

Funding Increases for FY 2019

But…

$600

Million

❖ Funding is still short of 2008 levels by:

What Is the Answer?

❖ We must have a commitment at highest levels to:

❖ Equity of opportunity for all AZ students ❖ View education expenditures as investment ❖ Hire high-quality educators, pay to retain, and

trust them to do their job

❖ Voters MUST be informed and engaged ❖ We must all demand full accountability and

transparency

What You Can Do

• Get and stay informed
• azsba.org/advocacy/legislative/
• sosarizona.org
• RestoreReason.com
• dianeravitch.net
• Sign up for and make comments at AZ Legislature’s Request to Speak system
• Join the Friends of ASBA and refer to their Legislator Voting Record
• Communicate your concerns!
• To your state legislators at AZLeg.gov
• Write Letters to the Editor

Make No Mistake…

❖The war on public education is a systematic, concerted effort to:

❖Redirect $500 to $700B in funding for public ed to private entities ❖Eliminate local control and public voice in education

❖Whether by design or by default, these actions are destined to

ensure an oligarchy, not a democracy

❖Privatizing public education primarily serves those who “have” at

the expense of those who “have not”

❖The will continue to weaken our democracy as it solidifies power

and influence with those at the very top

Immediate Past President, Arizona School Boards Association

Linda Lyon

Blog: www.RestoreReason.com

lindalyon1222@gmail.com 520.818.8024