Arizona Charters The Real Wild, Wild West
Education Still Reigns for Voters https://azednews.com/education-is-voters-1-issue/
Voter Priorities for Education https://azednews.com/education-is-voters-1-issue/
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 http://www.azcsa.org/uploads/3/9/2/3/39234099/charter_pp_pdf..pdf
History of Charters in AZ ❖ First approved, along with open enrollment, in a 1994 special legislative session ❖ Originally, three approval pathways: through local school district, AZ Department of Education, or AZ Board for Charter Schools ❖ In the beginning, state agencies could only approve 25 per year ❖ Annual limit soon lifted, charter contracts changed from 5 to 15 years, and ability to apply for additional money if enrollment exceeded projections allowed ❖ GOP-led Legislature added seats to state Charter Board and authorized governor to fill them ❖ With 2015 budget, the Legislature stopped allowing districts to charter schools ❖ AZ charters educate 17% of public school students in 28% of public schools https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/12/14/charter-schools-take-root-arizona-1994-legislation/ 2015754002/
How Schools are “Chartered” ❖ Either the state board of education or the state board for charter schools grants charter status to qualifying applicants ❖ A pplicants must pay $6,500 and submit a detailed education plan, business plan, and operational plan to a proposed sponsor ❖ Sponsor can be ❖ State Board of Education ❖ State Board for Charter Schools ❖ A university under AZ board of regents, or community college district ❖ Must also submit fingerprints to the approving agency for the purpose of obtaining state and federal criminal records check ❖ Charter schools operate under state legislative contract, or charter, that outlines mission, curriculum, management structure, and accountability
Who Determines Charter Admission? ❖ AZ state statute (ARS 15-184) delineates charter school admission requirements: 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 ❖ Research however, shows that most charters do not educate the same numbers of 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** *https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona-education/2017/10/05/arizona-special-ed-funding-benefits-schools-fewest-special-ed- students/649712001/ **https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/07/12/arizona-charter-schools-get-more-state-funding-pay-their-teachers- less/686900002/
Two Charter Goliaths ❖ Mom and Pop schools dominated the first wave, but now the big boys rule ❖ Between 2014 to 2017, just 10 charter companies, including Basis and Great Hearts, accounted for 73% of the growth in students attending AZ charters ❖ Basis and Great Hearts combined, educate about 30,000 of AZ’s one million students, and have already tapped almost 2/3rds of construction loans given to 500+ charter schools ❖ Basis founded in 1998 ❖ Has 22 campuses in Arizona, three in Texas and one each in Louisiana and Washington, D.C. ❖ U.S. News & World Report says they have five best schools in country with a waiting list of 5,775 students ❖ Great Hearts opened in 2004 ❖ Has 22 schools in the Phoenix metro and seven more in Texas ❖ Say they have 12,000 students waiting for a spot https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/12/16/arizona-rise-big-charter-schools-fueled-powerful-friends/ 1822430002/
The Special Hookup ❖ Governor Ducey announced policies last year to help the “big boys” ❖ One gave more cash to schools with students who passed AP and International Baccalaureate exams — the primary focus of a Basis high school education ❖ A second gave extra money to schools with high standardized test scores, measures at which Basis and Great Hearts excel ❖ A third program provided low-interest construction loans to 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 https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/12/16/arizona-rise-big-charter-schools-fueled-powerful-friends/ 1822430002/
District vs. Charter Funding https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/12/15/what-does-take-open-charter-school- arizona/2284765002/
Funding Differences Type School District Charter ❖ Property tax collections ❖ State General Fund Funding ❖ State General Fund (equalization) ❖ Additional Assistance ($1,700-$2,000 Sources ❖ Federal Funding more per student than districts) ❖ Locally-Supported Funding (Bonds, ❖ Tax Credit Donations ❖ Federal Funding Overrides, Deseg) ❖ Tax Credit Donations ❖ Fees requested of Parents ❖ School Facility Board (less than 1% of total education funding dollars)* ❖ State = $6,748 ❖ State = $5,389 per student 2017 Amounts ❖ Local/State/Federal = $9,474 ❖ Local/State/Federal = $8,523 Per Pupil ❖ Only 28% of students live in districts ❖ Taught only 16% of students, while Rest of the Story that can reliably secure local funding receiving 27% of state education ❖ When students leave district for another dollars option, 19% of fixed costs are left *https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/07/12/arizona-charter-schools-get-more-state-funding-pay-their- teachers-less/686900002/
Spending Differences - Administration ❖ District schools spend approx. 75% of revenue in classrooms (only 10.4% on administration in FY2017)* ❖ Charters spend at least twice as much on administration** ❖ Profit off large management fees (BASIS had $10M no bid management deal with founders) ❖ No-bid deals to furnish IT services or facilities for themselves ❖ Spent $57M more on administration than if the students had been in district schools ❖ BASIS alone spent $13M more on administration in 2014-15 than a public district of same size*** *https://www.azauditor.gov/sites/default/files/18-203_Report_with_Pages.pdf **https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/fact-check/2015/10/13/arizona-charter-spending-fact-check/73518748/ ***http://www.azcsa.org
Accountability Differences Type School District Charter ❖ Must run deficit-free, have restrictions as to ❖ Allowed to run deficits and pay out Budget how much can be carried over distributions (for-profits) even when “in ❖ Administrator’s salary negotiated in public the red” ❖ Compensation for executives is and published ❖ Debt restricted by capacity for local support unchecked ❖ Allowed to exist with excessive debt/ income ratios ❖ Must undergo annual comprehensive state- ❖ Must have annual audit performed by Audit run audits auditor of their choice ❖ Are included in AG’s annual district ❖ By law, state auditor general can’t efficiency report monitor charters ❖ Are subject to detailed performance audit ❖ Not included in AG’s annual district by same that requires district to appear efficiency report ❖ Only state agency receiving public funds before legislative committee not monitored by AG *https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/12/17/arizona-charter-schools-spend-more-district-school- admininstration/2015982002/#
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