Several district-sponsored charter schools were in a panic about the possibility that because lawmakers omitted a line in the state budget, they could be on the hook to repay the state millions of dollars of funding from previous years.

When lawmakers approved the state budget in March, they accidentally left out one key part. Because of the omission, several longstanding district-sponsored charter schools – public schools that have reorganized as charter schools to capture more state funding – will be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in back payments.

The Department of Education will ask the attorney general this week to issue a formal opinion on cuts to funds that support smaller schools.

Cuts to one component of charter schools’ funding are higher than what lawmakers had assumed when they phased out additional support for small schools, the Arizona Education Department announced today.

Legislation implementing Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's plan to use state cash to back loans taken out by charter schools is still being polished, despite his budget including $24 million for the plan, he said Monday.

School choice has fostered competition, and with that has come student recruitment, growing marketing budgets and branding for public schools.

For some Arizona charter school operators, Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposal to allow high-performing schools with large wait lists to use other schools’ vacant facilities was a big step toward achieving a persistent goal.

For some Arizona charter school operators, Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposal to allow high-performing schools with large wait lists to use other schools’ vacant facilities was a big step toward achieving a persistent goal.

Charter schools will be looking for ways to obtain buildings in the next legislative session through laws that would give them more favorable financing and preference when public school districts sell property.

Arizona's charter schools are not entitled to another $135 million of taxpayer funds, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.