Charter schools do not have to meet a statutory requirement that students be mostly taught in English, the Arizona attorney general states in a formal opinion.

Arizona Revised Statutes 15-181 through 15-189.03 govern charter schools, and are exempt from all other “statutes and rules relating to schools, school districts and school district governing boards unless the statutes that govern charter schools or their own charters provide otherwise,” the attorney general’s opinion, released July 25, states.

Charter schools were created under 1994 legislation to serve as an alternative to more traditional public school systems. In November 2000, Arizona voters approved Proposition 203, an initiative that generally requires “all children in Arizona public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English, and all children shall be placed in English language classrooms.”

A charter school may choose to include the provisions of Proposition 203 in its charter, a contract between the operator of a charter school and the students who attend it.

Charter schools that do use so-called “English immersion” are eligible for additional funding from the state, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said. That additional funding amounts to about $300 a year per pupil. —