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Children attending school outside assigned boundaries the new norm
For decades, our state has been a national leader in education freedom – the radical concept that parents know their own children best and should be empowered to select a school for them that is the right fit. The movement has flourished. Consider public charter schools, where enrollment is booming and reached a record 185,000 students statewide this year.
New school funding error found, no solution in place
According to a letter sent to school districts and charter schools on Tuesday, the department under-allocated $15.2 million in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, funding. Department spokesman Stefan Swiat said a 2015 audit by the Office of Special Education Programs also found that $14.3 million was over-allocated, affecting about 400 charters and districts.
Ex-Board of Education president, charter school founder dies
A former president of the Arizona Board of Education who resigned his post last year amid an ongoing battle with state schools chief Diane Douglas has died.
State glitch gives some schools too much federal money, underfunds others
Hundreds of charter schools and traditional school districts in Arizona have been receiving more federal funding for low-income students than they were entitled to while others were left with far less for at least the past four fiscal years.
State ironing out performance pay program for public schools
High-performing schools got a temporary boost in state funding because of their standardized test scores, but the additional money has proven to be incredibly short-lived for some schools under Gov. Doug Ducey’s signature performance pay plan.
‘Institute’ report reads like hit piece, charter schools well regulated, transparent
I was disappointed to read that a loosely organized “institute” of former elected officials and politicians released a report – not on how to help all schools improve – but, rather, singling out charter schools for unfounded criticism. The report is riddled with errors and inconsistencies, and drips with sarcasm. Suffice to say, it reads more like a campaign hit-piece than a scholarly anal[...]
Legal, but unethical – most charter schools use public funds for questionable transactions
A majority of Arizona’s charter schools spend taxpayer dollars on non-competitive business arrangements with for-profit businesses that are owned by the charter holder, board members, or their relatives. Grand Canyon Institute’s research found that 77 percent of charter schools engage in ‘related-party transactions’ in a manner that is not in the best interests of Arizona’s students, par[...]
Shamless: Charter schools performing well and here to stay
Charter and private schools are here for the foreseeable future. The right answer is for leaders of the public school system to adopt what the “parallel schools” are doing right to help raise the performance of the traditional public-schools.
Ducey’s proposal will help only a few schools launch full-day kindergarten
An Arizona Capitol Times analysis shows that under the governor’s plan, full-day kindergarten expansion is going to be more limited than he has envisioned.
School choice a sham, profits on the taxpayers’ dime
It is time for Arizonans to take a hard look at who really benefits from school choice. While some families may want tax-payer funded options, the dizzying array of choices, combined with lax oversight and weak laws, make Arizona’s taxpayers easy marks for profiteering on the taxpayers’ dime.
What BASIS offers: A passport to 20,000 futures
On a blog maintained by the Network for Public Education, a blogger recently attacked BASIS.ed and BASIS Charter Schools with a series of falsehoods and innuendo. Ordinarily, we would not dignify such errors with a response, but as the Arizona Capitol Times was going to publish it, and offered us a response, we felt compelled to do so, with facts.
A critical year for school choice
The coming year will be a critical time for the school choice movement in Arizona and nationally.
