Budget will cost Arizona charter schools millions more

Arizona charter schools may have to carve millions more out of their budgets next year.

The elimination of extra funding for smaller schools is going to cost schools more than twice what officials promised during budget negotiations, according to the Arizona Department of Education. The department's interpretation of the law, released late Friday, equates to a $15 million cut next year, and not the $6.3 million originally estimated.

Charter officials say the department's interpretation of the law goes far beyond what Gov. Doug Ducey and the Legislature intended, and promise to challenge it. At least one state lawmaker said he never would have supported the budget cut if he'd known the impact would be that severe.

Arizona Department of Education officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment. The Governor's Office was still looking into the matter late Friday.

The education budget bill, Senate Bill 1476, implemented cuts over three years to the Small School Weight, which gave extra money to smaller charter schools.

Friday evening, the Arizona Department of Education sent a letter to the Arizona Charter Schools Association explaining how they interpreted SB 1476 and would be implementing it. At the same time, they issued a news release stating that, based on their interpretation, the costs would be higher.

"What's clear is the Arizona Department of Education has chosen to interpret this statute in the broadest way possible so cuts are applied to the largest number of schools, students and teachers," said Eileen Sigmund, president and CEO of the Arizona Charter Schools Association. "The ADE is eliminating funding for some schools immediately, which was never the intent of the Legislature or the governor."

She said she fears, based on the interpretation, that the cost to the schools could be even higher than $15 million.

"These impacts will be real and immediate and impact some of Arizona's very best public schools," she said. "It's crazy."

Sigmund said she is reaching out to lawmakers and the Governor's Office to try to find a solution.

Rep. Paul Boyer, R, Phoenix, said he never would have voted for the budget bill if he knew the cost would be so high for charter schools.

"I was told by the governor that it would be $6 million the first year," he said. "That was the agreement. Otherwise, I wouldn't have voted for it. It was a tough pill to swallow as it was."

Boyer said the cuts will disproportionately affect some of the highest-performing charter schools in the nation, particularly Great Hearts Academies, Imagine Schools and Basis schools.

"I don't even want to think about what kind of nightmare scenario that is for some of these schools," he said. "This could merit a special session, from my perspective."